A powerful voice for the elderly in San Diego County is facing the same budget threats already dismantling similar programs in other counties this fall.
Chris O'Connell, coordinator of San Diego County's long-term care ombudsman program for Aging and Independence Services, or AIS: "It really is going to be devastating."
"Right now we're in limbo," O'Connell said about the future of the program that hears complaints ranging from quality of care to elder abuse in the county's hundreds of long-term care facilities.
Earlier this fall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a line item veto, eliminated the $3.8 million in state funding for the program that trains and oversees volunteer ombudsmen who advocate for the rights of seniors living in long-term care facilities.
The concern is that inspections by other agencies only happen once a year or once every five years, O'Connell said, making the ombudsman the only regular "outsider" to hear and relay concerns.
If the program is cut, "the bottom line is, the residents will suffer."
Full Article and Source:
Cutbacks threaten voice for the elderly
See also:
Terminated Funding
State Budget Stripped
Postponing Protection for Seniors
Court Work Overload
Guardianship Legislation
Chris O'Connell, coordinator of San Diego County's long-term care ombudsman program for Aging and Independence Services, or AIS: "It really is going to be devastating."
"Right now we're in limbo," O'Connell said about the future of the program that hears complaints ranging from quality of care to elder abuse in the county's hundreds of long-term care facilities.
Earlier this fall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a line item veto, eliminated the $3.8 million in state funding for the program that trains and oversees volunteer ombudsmen who advocate for the rights of seniors living in long-term care facilities.
The concern is that inspections by other agencies only happen once a year or once every five years, O'Connell said, making the ombudsman the only regular "outsider" to hear and relay concerns.
If the program is cut, "the bottom line is, the residents will suffer."
Full Article and Source:
Cutbacks threaten voice for the elderly
See also:
Terminated Funding
State Budget Stripped
Postponing Protection for Seniors
Court Work Overload
Guardianship Legislation
2 comments:
Shame on you! Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I know how to start to fix your budget - take money away from the prison budget post haste. These are tough times and it is the right thing to do to take from those who are taking out of the system, the liabilities of oour society and give to those who were valuable assets to our society.
The level of abuse of the elderly in long-term care facilities is well known today.
Cutting the ombudsman's budget shows that The Terminator's only interest in the elderly is to terminate them.
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