Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | 7:44 a.m.
1. Provide full support for 211 system, a one-stop shop for seniors looking for assistance with social services.
2. Establish and fund an Investigation and Prosecution Unit (I&P) specifically for crimes against seniors - including abuse, neglect, exploitation and fraud.
3. Require mandatory geriatric training, including dementia training, for all law enforcement personnel, judges and court personnel.
4. Provide incentives for elder-friendly home and auto repair/maintenance services by establishing an "elder-friendly" business program and a "gatekeeper" watch program.
5. Expand CHIP Waiver Program for senior day care to eliminate waiting lists, simplify and expand eligibility, and coordinate home health and personal care.
6. Provide family and volunteer caregiver stipends for personal care services for elders.
7. Combine local housing authorities and establish a regional affordable/attainable database of subsidized housing for access by the public and service providers.
8. Support efforts to provide innovative solutions on mass transit for senior citizens.
9. Fully fund geriatric mental health services, dental and vision coverage, and provide permanent and stable funding for all senior services at the state and local levels.
10. Create public outreach TV programming of a Senior Advisory Coalition to provide information on various service providers and a forum on senior policy issues and needs.
The easier part is done.
Last month's Senior Solutions Summit - which included elected officials, agency directors, service providers and business and community leaders - identified 10 key issues for Nevada's burgeoning population of senior citizens.
About 150 summit participants culminated a year's worth of surveys and other research that identified top senior concerns. Among them: permanent and stable funding for geriatric health services, reducing crime against seniors and expanding a waiver program that provides money for adult day-care services.
Now comes the much harder part - obtaining broad community support and, in some cases, the backing and financial help of the Nevada Legislature.
Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, D-Las Vegas, who helped organize the summit, said some of the group's initiatives are being sought through bill draft requests for the 2007 legislative session or through state agencies. Others don't require legislation and will be pursued by task force members.
McClain has submitted four bill draft requests based on issues outlined at the summit. They would:
While gaining legislative support for the last three proposals may prove difficult, the last one - changing the way tobacco settlement monies are distributed - looks not only to have a tough road to navigate, but may even be risky, some say.
In the 1998 settlement, 46 states and several territories reached agreement with American tobacco companies to receive $246 billion over 25 years to address public health problems posed by tobacco use.
In 1999 the Nevada Legislature adopted two bills that earmarked 50 percent of the money to the Fund for a Healthy Nevada, 40 percent for the Millennium Scholarship Program and 10 percent to the Fund for Public Health. About 60 percent of the Fund for a Healthy Nevada money goes to senior programs, with the other 40 percent split equally among tobacco prevention and cessation programs and improved health services for children and the disabled.
In fiscal year 2005, Nevada received almost $39 million from the settlement. Over the 25-year life of the program, the state will get about $1.2 billion.
Carol Sala, the state's aging services administrator, said she is not sure she favors the Legislature taking another look at the settlement formula.
"If they open up the statute and redistribute, I don't know what it would look like. Potentially, we could end up with less or even nothing" for senior services, she said. "Even if the percentages stay the same, each year the revenues go down, so each year we have less money, and the needs are growing."
Nevada's growing senior population presents another set of challenges, she said. Program funding must be requested in advance, but the ever-changing numbers make it hard to keep up.
For example, her division will request additional funding in its 2008-09 budget to expand the CHIP Waiver program, which helps pay for adult day-care services.
The proposal would eliminate waiting lists, expand eligibility and provide other services, including a sliding fee for higher-income Nevadans.
But Sala acknowledged that getting the extra funds will be difficult.
"That's always our goal, but it's a moving target because you've got continuous growth in the population in the state. Some people believe there is also a 'woodwork effect' in that the more money there is available, people come out of the woodwork to get it."
She said a more likely explanation is that there are just more people here, period.
Since 2000, almost 50,000 more people older than 65 call Nevada home; seniors continue to make up about 11 percent of the state's population.
These numbers are likely to increase, however, as Baby Boomers begin to reach retirement age.
Some see this growth as an opportunity for seniors to flex their political muscles.
Ken Mahal of the Las Vegas-based Nevada Senior Coalition points out that seniors vote at a much higher rate than the general population - about 70 percent nationwide.
"If we could all come together on the issues that mattered to us, we could control every voting issue in the state," Mahal said.
He cited Florida as an example where a large senior population has had a major influence on that state's Legislature.
McClain said it may take some time before seniors in Nevada have the same clout as those in Florida, but she sees events such as the Senior Solutions Summit as a step in the right direction.
"We have a few senior groups that back candidates, but we definitely need more lobbying and advocacy," she said.
McClain said she would also like to see a standing legislative committee established to provide a forum for senior issues.
Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said the time may be right for such a group:
"I think that's something we can look at. Having a body that can look ahead and plan ahead makes some sense."
Buckley acknowledged that the issues addressed during the forum are all important but said some may be easier to sell than others.
For example, she sees a lot of potential support to continue funding for the 211 system.
She also recognized the importance of programs to focus on crimes against seniors and to provide stipends to family caregivers and volunteers.
Other initiatives, such as mandatory geriatric training for law enforcement and judicial personnel, might be harder to get approved, Buckley said.
"A lot of times legislators are trying to devote limited resources to the most important issues (and) sometimes training doesn't make the list," she said.
Deborah Moore of AARP of Nevada said she is encouraged by the stakeholders involved in helping Nevada's seniors taking a serious look at such issues.
"We support the need for increased funding for (these programs) and access to services for seniors," she said. "We will also work with the new governor and the state Legislature to address funding for these vital programs."
McClain said she has high hopes that all 10 of the key issues identified by the summit will be addressed in some way.
She would also like the summit to be held annually and focus on a broader range of senior issues.
archive
