Senior issues newsletter [Vol. 31, No. 18 (Nov. 30, 2010)]

January CO-AGE Meeting Set at Art Institute of Atlanta

Senior Issues Newsletter

Please join us for the first CO-AGE meeting of 2011 to prepare for the upcoming Session. At this meeting we will offer a refresher on effective advocacy strategies and ways that we can all be involved now and during the 2011 Session. We will also update our participants on the progress that has been made on each of our 2011 CO-AGE priorities and hear about issues being followed by other advocacy groups.
The meeting will be held on Thursday, January 6 from 9:00 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. at the Art Institute of Atlanta located at 6600 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, N.E., 100 Embassy Row, Sandy Springs, GA 30328-1635. There will be a $15.00 registration fee to cover the cost of materials and morning refreshments. The official meeting notice and RSVP form will be sent out to CO-AGE participants on December 6th. For more information, call the Georgia Council on Aging office at 404-657-5343 or e-mail Eric Ryan at joryan@dhr.state.ga.us.
2011 CO-AGE Priorities Update

CO-AGE Priorities

Update

Funding for Home and Community Based Services

Georgia Council on Aging members and staff and the Senior Citizens Advocacy Project Coordinator are meeting with key legislators and budget office staff for the Senate and House. We are also preparing testimony for Appropriations Committee meetings to ask for retention of funding as discussed in the Budget Reductions article below. Local advocates should continue to speak with their legislators. Invite them to observe your services.

Funding for Elderly Nutrition

Advocates are meeting with key legislators and budget office staff to inform them of the need for this funding. Appropriations Committee members are well aware of the need to replace the ARRA funding, but this is one of many "holes" in the budget as ARRA funding ends. Local advocates should speak with their legislators and invite them on meal routes to see needs firsthand.

Department of Aging
Assisted Living/ Create Additional Long-Term Care Residential Options

A key legislator is considering sponsorship of this legislation. The issue is being received by legislators with understanding, but it may not be introduced as a bill until later in the Session. Local advocates should continue to inform their area's legislators about this need.
Representative Chuck Martin (47th Alpharetta) will sponsor legislation to create a voluntary licensure for Assisted Living Communities. He continues to work with advocates and industry representatives and plans a bi-partisan approach with co-sponsors.

Cuts to Aging Services Budget

With the additional 4% cut in state funds requested by Governor Perdue in August, 2010, Georgia Aging Services State Funding is now BELOW Maintenance of Effort for Older Americans Act programs. Further cuts jeopardize all Federal funds.

Maintenance of Effort (MOE) for Georgia's Aging Services

Budgeted for FY 2011

$ 21,528,817

Minimum MOE required

$ 19,933,040

State funding after August, 2010 reduction (-4%)

$ 19,927,099

Below MOE

(

5,941)

Maintenance of Effort (MOE) is required by the Federal Older Americans Act. Every state must provide the Act's core services and must maintain a level of non-federal financial support equal to the average of the past three years or lose ALL of the federal funds for ALL of the Older Americans Act programs.

The Senior Issues Newsletter is a publication of the Georgia Council on Aging, the Senior Citizens Advocacy Project and the Georgia Gerontology Society.
Volume 31, No. 18, November 30, 2010

Be There 4 Seniors Campaign
The Georgia Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Georgia Council on Aging, AARP and other partners throughout the state are once more joining in a coordinated effort to make the financial needs of aging programs visible to state legislators. Join us.
Be There 4 Seniors Rally on Thursday, January 28, 2011, at 11:00 am Senior Week at the Capitol February 22, 23, and 24, 2011
Dr. David L. Levine Honored as Georgia's Champion of Aging
Dr. David L. Levine was recognized with the Georgia Champion for Aging Award at Heritage Nursing Center in Athens, GA, where he lives. The Georgia Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the Georgia Council on Aging, and the Athens Community Council on Aging hosted a reception for family members and the community following the ceremony. He was nominated by the Georgia Association of AAAs, and the award was announced at the Southeastern Association of AAAs conference in September.
A Professor Emeritus of Social Work at the University of Georgia, Dr. Levine has been a member of the Georgia Council on Aging since 1990 and active in COAGE. He has been a particular champion for improved access to services, for expansion of home and community-based services and for creation of services for caregivers. He was a pioneer in bringing the fields of aging and mental health together to develop services for persons with dementia and their caregivers, and for older adults dealing with mental health issues such as depression. Dr. Levine is founding director of the Athens Community Council on Aging, has served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Gerontology Society, is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, and participated in White House Conferences on Aging in 1971, 1981, 1995, and 2005.
Kay Hind Celebrates a Special Birthday
Friends and co-workers of the SOWEGA Council on Aging feted Kay Hind for her 80th birthday in Albany, GA. Kay is currently the Chair of the Georgia Council on Aging and the Executive Director of the SOWEGA Council on Aging, where she has served in that capacity for 4 decades.
Kay is well-known in her area and throughout the state, where she has provided leadership and a strong advocate's voice to the Council and CO-AGE, the Georgia Gerontology Society, the Georgia Association of Area Agencies on Aging, and the Southeastern Association of AAAs.
Department of Community Health Releases New Personal Care Home Regulations for Comment
Proposed changes have been released for (Amend) Ga. Admin. Comp. Ch. 111-8-62, Rules and Regulations for Personal Care Homes. These first major revisions in over 15 years incorporate changes to comply with H.B.1040 as passed by the General Assembly this year to authorize use of proxy caregivers for certain health maintenance activities. Written comments may be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on December 30, 2010, by fax (404-656-0663) or by email to pjohnson@dch.ga.gov or by mail to Georgia Department of Community Health, 2 Peachtree Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30303-3159. Oral testimony of no more than 10 minutes per person may be given at a Public Hearing on December 29, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. in the DCH Board Room, 2 Peachtree Street, 5th Floor, Atlanta, GA. Unless revision of the proposed rule changes is indicated as a result of public comments, it is the intent of DCH to ask the Board to approve the rules for final adoption on January 13, 2011.
Board of Community Health Meeting: December 9, 2010, 10:30 a.m., 5th floor, 2 Peachtree Street,
Atlanta
Board of Human Services Meeting: December 8, 2010, 1:00 p.m., 29th floor, 2 Peachtree Street,
Atlanta