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| (David Ryder/Getty Images) |
This is not an abstract thought experiment. It is the backdrop we are
experiencing every single day in the fatality-ridden nursing homes where
many of our clients are unable to make life or death decisions for
themselves. Many have already died.
As part of the Guardianship Project, which I direct, our lawyers,
social workers and bookkeepers oversee services that keep the most
vulnerable New Yorkers safe and engaged in their communities. We are the
court-appointed guardians tasked with ensuring impoverished seniors
without relatives can live as independently as possible — a steep
challenge even before the pandemic arrived.
Now, faced with unprecedented overlapping economic and social crises,
New York City’s government is looking to cut costs. Lawmakers must look
elsewhere. If funding for our project is slashed, it will lead to an
onslaught of unspeakable tragedy. Even in normal times, many elderly,
economically disadvantaged New Yorkers and those with disabilities can’t
fully care for themselves, manage their money, and make important
decisions about health care and other life issues.
Without the Guardianship Project, they’re at risk of a wide range of
abuses. The alternative for many of our clients would be victimization
or ending up in expensive, publicly funded institutions where their
quality of life would deteriorate. Now their lives are in grave danger
as well.
The horrors of COVID-19 have already ravaged the lives of many of our
clients. Just prior to the pandemic, the Guardianship Project cared for
175 elderly New Yorkers. Of those, 33 have either tested positive or
been symptomatic of the virus. And 23 clients have died in the last
month alone. This represents a 1,200% increase in the rate of death over
the previous one-year average — and we expect these gruesome figures to
rise.
The situation in nursing homes and hospitals is even more bleak.
Twenty-nine out of our 33 symptomatic clients – approximately 88% – were
housed in one of these institutions. Many of the nursing homes are
understaffed and lack the appropriate personal protective equipment for
workers and residents. One of our clients who is ill from COVID is
completely bed-bound, suggesting they most likely caught the virus from a
staff member.
Despite this dire situation, the Guardianship Project’s staff is on the
ground every day in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten
Island serving clients outside of facilities, coordinating their care,
monitoring their health, and delivering everything from money to food to
medications. With no other family member or decision-maker offering
support, our clients have no other lifeline to help them receive medical
treatment, make decisions about their care, and convince medical
professionals that their lives have value.
While miniscule compared to the rest of the city budget, this program
is not only beneficial to the elderly, it is also a sound investment.
The total cost of the Guardianship Project to the city is only $750,000 —
an infinitesimal fraction of its $89.3 billion annual budget. In
addition, a recent cost-benefit analysis by the Vera Institute of
Justice showed that the Guardianship Project saves roughly $3 million in
Medicaid dollars annually by moving seniors away from long-term
institutionalization.
There’s no question that COVID-19 has forever changed the social fabric
of New York City in ways that will be analyzed for years to come. But
some facts are self-evident right now. Put simply: cutting funding for
the Guardianship Project is tantamount to a death sentence for the most
vulnerable New Yorkers. There is a better way to balance the budget than
on the backs of our elderly neighbors who are most at risk of illness
and death.
Full Article & Source:
Turning our backs on seniors in their hour of deepest need
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