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From The Director
Together we can...
This month’s “From the Director” consists of the Executive Director’s Annual Report as delivered at Elder Services Annual Meeting on October 22, 2003.
The past year has been an active one in which advocacy has played a central role. The events of the past twelve months have proven that when the elder voice is strong, it is heard. The elder voice is strongest when we who comprise the elder network recognize all that we have in common, and advocate in a unified manner. Together we can ensure that our common goals will become a reality.
Throughout this past year, the staff and volunteers of Elder Services have continued to do what they do best... provide each elder we serve with the opportunity to live with dignity and independence and to achieve the highest possible quality of life. We remain committed to the principle that elders are entitled to choose where they receive the services they need, and are entitled to receive these services in their own homes if that is their choice.
As a result of its remarkable success the Community Choices program, which began as a pilot project in November 2002, was continued for a second year. If Community Choices (which provides sufficient funds for in-home support services to Medicaid eligible elders who would otherwise need nursing home placement) were extended to frail elders whose income is slightly above the Medicaid level, the state would be able to save even more money over the long term, and we would be able to honor the preferences of even more elders to continue to live at home.
This year, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, which has been a free standing and independent secretariat since 1973, experienced a major reorganization. It was moved from its cabinet level position to a position as one of five departments within the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and was to be given oversight of the $1.5 billion the Commonwealth spends on long-term care each year. The legislative intent behind this reorganization was to make Elder Affairs the single agency - a one stop shopping approach - through which elders would access the full spectrum of long term care services in both home and institutional settings. Elders and elder advocates must pay close attention to ensure that this reorganization does not instead become absorption of Elder Affairs into Health and Human Services, and that Elder Affairs does not lose its ability to advocate for elders and their needs.
As the Commonwealth seeks to develop a unified long term care strategy, three of the concepts currently under discussion not only provide elders with a greater level of choice but are also cost effective. The first would expand the income eligibility criteria so that more individuals who are at imminent risk of a nursing home placement would be eligible for Medicaid and would be able to receive services in their own homes. The second would create a uniform screening process prior to a permanent nursing home placement so that each elder could receive appropriate services along the entire continuum of care - home, community, and nursing home. And the third would allow the “money to follow the individual” so that elders will be able to choose where they will receive the services they need, and if nursing home eligible individuals choose to live in the community instead of a nursing home, their service dollars will follow them from the nursing home to the community. One step at a time... each in a direction that will ensure that every elder has the right to choose where they will live and where they will receive their services. Together, we can get there from here.
As effective as unified advocacy is, individual advocacy remains equally important. Time and again during these past twelve months, Berkshire County citizens played key roles at crucial times. Each individual phone call, letter, fax, or conversation gave weight to the message. Thanks to each of you who made your voice heard, and to the Berkshire County delegation for hearing your voices and for sharing your message with their colleagues on Beacon Hill. Thanks to Board President Karen Reilly and the Elder Services Board of Directors for your commitment to excellence and to Elder Services. Thank you to my predecessor Catherine R. May for all that you have done and continue to do for the elders of Berkshire County and for Elder Services; and, to everyone at Elder Services for all that you do, and for the professional and compassionate way in which you do it... you are an inspiration. And thanks to our extraordinary volunteers who give the precious gift of their own time to help others.
All of you have made a difference. Together we can continue to make a difference.