Minutes - 09-12-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROVED MAY 1.2001 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS September 12, 2000 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, September 12, 2000 at 7:30 p.m. in the Boardroom of the Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners Margaret W. Brown, Stephen H. Halkiotis, and Barry Jacobs. COUNTY COMMISSIONER ABSENT: Alice M. Gordon (out of town due to death of her mother) COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr. and Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe. (All other County staff will be identified at the appropriate time.) 1. MASTER AGING PLAN REPORT Florence Soltys, Chair of the Advisory Board on Aging, made opening comments. She said that the task force has met with the Health Department, the Department of Social Services, Mental Health, UNC, Institute on Aging, and the various schools to discuss these goals. These groups have agreed that the goals and strategies are appropriate for them. Department on Aging Director, Jerry Passmore, spoke about the Master Aging Plan for Orange County for the period July 2000 -June 2005. He said that they tried to look at all issues for all people. The County Commissioners thanked the Committee for this report. They found it very informative. Commissioner Brawn asked about the statement, "The Department on Aging is not yet fully recognized as a central portal for persons to access information." Florence Soltys said that the Department an Aging needed to be presented as the focal point for services in the County. Commissioner Brown asked that the legislative goals in the report be forwarded to our State delegation. She also wondered if there could be a page that describes what the organizations shown in the report do, such as what the Department on Aging is and what the Nursing Home Advisory Committee does, etc. Jerry Passmore said that the purpose tonight was to present the vision and the issues and to receive feedback from the County Commissioners. Commissioner Brown would also like to have a list of services that are provided by the County at this time for the aging population. Jerry Passmore talked about the "Roundtable" that would bring together the providers in the community as well as other groups and departments, which have an interest in the quality of life in later years. The Department on Aging would coordinate this effort to provide services to alder adults. The Roundtable would meet quarterly ar bimonthly. Chair Carey made reference to page 23 and the issue of providing housekeeping for moderately impaired older persons. He asked to what extent this was happening in the County and who was providing the service. Jerry Passmore said that the issue was to provide assistance to caregivers. He said that it was cheaper to provide heavy housecleaning than to try to provide aids to go in and provide care and a little housecleaning. Kate Barrett said that currently there are three different programs that provide services in the home -Medicaid, DSS, and the Department on Aging. She said that what the Department on Aging does and what AAA mandates is that the system be objective and prioritize the services. The more acute people with the highest need get the most care. She said that there was a nurse's aid shortage. She said that for $15,000, they could put a cleaning service in once a month. If aids were used for this service, no agency would consider putting an aid in the home unless the County agreed to a minimum of four hours. The cost of that service would be $65,000 to serve 25 people.