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| Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday addresses the opening session of the 41st annual New Mexico Conference on Aging. (Rick Nathanson/Albuquerque Journal) |
By Rick Nathanson / Journal Staff Writer
In about a decade, one third of New Mexicans will be age 60
or older, begging the question, “have we as a state prepared to meet the
needs of that population?” asked Alice Liu McCoy, outgoing secretary of
the state Aging and Long-Term Services Department.
That
question is one of many addressed Tuesday at the 41st annual New Mexico
Conference on Aging, held at the Sandia Resort and Casino Conference
Center and offering more than 60 workshops on a variety of topics.
More
than 1,300 people are attending the conference, which continues through
today. Dedicated to highlighting New Mexico’s aging population, the
conference is geared for caregivers, family members and service
providers throughout the state. It is being sponsored by the state Aging
and Long-term Services Department, whose mission is to promote programs
leading to lifelong independence and healthy aging, as well as advocacy
for legislation and issues that serve New Mexico’s elderly and disabled
adults.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham addressed the
conference Tuesday morning and said her administration is working to
correct a number of problems, including those related to guardianship.
“Here
in New Mexico, veterans, senior citizens and disabled adults have been
taken advantage of by unscrupulous court-appointed, corporate
guardians,” she told the conference. “That means somebody decides that
you can’t control your own life and neither can your family. They
separate you and the court determines that a corporation can make life
and financial decisions for you.”
Corporate guardians,
she said, “have been stealing people’s property, separating them from
their families and hiding their benefits, as well as “locking folks away
where nobody can find them and nobody can visit.”
Her administration, she said, is working to prevent this and
adopt the best possible standards and safeguards. McCoy, who will
become the director of the state Developmental Disabilities Planning
Council, will lead that effort.
Lujan Grisham also said
the state was expecting a windfall of more than $1 billion from gas and
oil revenues. Out of that money, she will ask the state Legislature for
$25 million to help create a fund for recurring expenses for senior
programs and services. She also will ask for money to fully fund pre-K
programs.
Katrina Hotrum-Lopez, Bernalillo County’s
director of behavioral health services, who will replace McCoy as the
new secretary of Aging and Long-Term Services Department, said she will
focus on increasing the department’s budget and restoring “programs that
have been fractured during the last administration.”
Full Article & Source:
Governor vows to stop guardianship abuse
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