(Newswire.net — January 28, 2014) Brockton, MA —
Governor Deval Patrick drew praise from elder advocates when he released his Fiscal Year 2015 (FY 15) budget on January 22nd, lifting the enhanced home care and home care line items by an additional $16.48 million—an increase of 11%. This represents the largest investment the Patrick Administration has made in the Home Care Program.
According to Mass Home Care, the Governor “saved his best home care budget for last.” The Administration projects that this funding will ensure that there are no waiting lists in the enhanced (ECOP) and home care programs in FY 15. In ECOP, 9110-1500, the funding increase will allow more than 5,000 elders to remain living at home. According to the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA), the average ECOP client remains living at home twenty-one months longer than they would have without this program.
In the basic home care program, 9110-1630, the Governor’s investment will allow a higher level of services per month to the 31,000 elders enrolled in this program. Because the monthly service package average has not changed since 2009, the home care package has lost purchasing power. The basic home care services line item in 2014 is 8% below the 2008 level.
The Governor also created a new one-time line item with $1.2 million for workforce training. These funds are for “core training competencies and certification programs for care managers, as well as personal care/home care aides, and for protective services investigators.” The home care program is supporting a much more complex and acute consumer population. This fund will help ensure that elders get the best support available to remain living in their homes.
The Governor’s budget also adds 10 new supportive housing sites to the existing 31 sites now operating across the state. This program allows approximately 1,500 seniors in public housing to receive home care services more efficiently in their building.
Two items on advocates’ lists were not directly addressed in House 2, and are expected to be on the short list of items to seek from the General Court, while maintaining the Governor’s funding improvements:
• $3.34 million increase in the care management/operations
budget for the ASAPs, and
• $6.1 million homemaker salary reserve.
The Governor’s proposal to infuse new funding into home care comes on the heels of a recent demographic study from the U Mass Donahue Institute which concludes that the population age 65 and over in Massachusetts will increase by over half a million (548,699), expanding from 14% of the state’s total population in 2010 to 21% by 2030.
In response to the Governor’s budget for FY 15, Diana DiGiorgi, Executive Director of Old Colony Elder Services said, “Given the demographic pressures we are already facing in the Commonwealth, the Governor’s investment is certainly timely. It is a smart investment because keeping elders at home and out of nursing facilities saves money immediately.”
DiGiorgi said that elders and individuals with disabilities have the civil right to receive their care in the least restrictive setting possible for as long as possible. “This is an important legacy the Governor leaves for everyone. We desperately need a public policy emphasis on community-based care.”
A coalition of elder advocates, including Mass Home Care, the Mass Senior Action Council, the Mass Association of Older Americans, Mass Councils on Aging, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Boston wrote to the Administration earlier in January, urging a boost in funding for elder home care, which had fallen below the 2008 funding level.
“It seems that the Governor heard our message,” DiGiorgi concluded, “and his decision will keep a lot of seniors living at home–where they want to be.”
About OCES
Founded in 1974, OCES serves 20 communities in Plymouth County as well as Avon, Easton and Stoughton. OCES is a private, non-profit organization located in Brockton and designated as one of 27 Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. OCES’ mission is to support the independence and dignity of elders and individuals with disabilities by providing essential information and services that promote healthy and safe living. The agency has 173 employees and operates more than 15 programs serving older adults, individuals with disabilities, their families and caregivers. For more information call (508) 584-1561 or visit the website at www.oldcolonyelderservices.org.