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Caregivers deserve care - a new group to help provide it
From the Director: An alternative to the
governor's Plan
Budget Cuts & Councils on Aging
Helen
Vanasse, Community Service Volunteer of the Year
Yvette
Bastow, Money Management Volunteer of the Year
Nutrition Volunteer of the Year
Jim Smith, SHINE Volunteer of the Year Award
Elder Services welcomes new volunteers
Elder Services celebrates National Volunteer Week
Francesca Byrne, Ombudsman Volunteer
Winner
Trainings offered to volunteers
A call to Action for elders
A Call to Action for Elders:
As members of the Board of Directors of Elder Services of Berkshire County
(ESBC), we are alarmed by Governor Romney's proposal to strip the Executive
Office of Elder Affairs of the cabinet-level status that has been critical to
its success in creating and maintaining vital services for elders.
When Massachusetts established the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA)
in 1971, under Governor Francis Sargent, it was the first state cabinet level
department in the nation with an exclusive mission to serve elders, and with
a mandate for elder advocacy. Its head, the Secretary of Elder Affairs,
reports directly to the Governor.
As a cabinet level department, EOEA has served as a strong advocate and voice
for Massachusetts elders, through good fiscal times and bad.
Because EOEA has been at the cabinet table for the past thirty years, many
important initiatives have come into existence, including the Protective
Services Program to protect elders who may be the victims of abuse or
exploitation, and the creation of a network of free-standing Aging Service
Access Points (ASAPs) to provide elders in each area of the commonwealth with
a single entry point for services. The Community Choices Program, the Family
Care Giver Initiative, and the Prescription Advantage Plan have been among
the most recent initiatives.
The powerful advocacy of a free-standing EOEA has made possible the enormous
impact of Elder Services of Berkshire County as the Aging Services Access
Point for all the elders of Berkshire County. It has also been critical to
the effectiveness and funding of programs geared to maintain elder
independence and dignity, including services needed to keep frail elders in
their own homes.
But now Governor Romney has proposed to submerge Elder Affairs within the
enormous bureaucracy that is the Executive Office of Health and Human
Services (EOHHS). EOEA will become lost within EOHHS, and the voice of
elders will go unheard and their needs unmet.
This is not the time to remove the hard-won access that the elders of
Berkshire County and of this commonwealth have earned. We think that the
Governor's effort to put Elder Affairs in the closet, rather than in the
Cabinet, is misguided.
The Governor's reorganization must have legislative approval before it is
enacted. Please let your legislators know that you do not want them to allow
this demotion of EOEA, and thus of the welfare of the commonwealth's senior
citizens, to occur.
The elders of this Commonwealth have earned the right to be accorded the
status of a cabinet level Office of Elder Affairs. This will ensure that
their voice will be heard even if all of their needs cannot be met at this
time.
We urge all elders and those who care about them to write to the Governor
(Governor Mitt Romney, State House, Room 360, Boston, MA 02133) and let him
know of your concerns.
Sincerely,
Legislative Liaison Committee, Elder Services of Berkshire County;
Barbara Bashevkin, Williamstown, Chair
Mary Ellen Ausman, Pittsfield
William Dudley, Williamstown
Anthony McBride, Adams
Mary K. O'Brien, Pittsfield