Agenda - 05-04-2006-7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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a Florence Soltys stressed that this is again a top priority goal, particularly in the northern part of the county. Jerry Passmore said that at the next meeting of the Aging Boazd, they will have a presentation by developers on senior housing in Hillsborough and requesting input from the Aging Boazd and the Friends Boazd. Anyone can attend the meeting., Another houshrg issue she raised is to work with architects and builders to retrofit older homes and also when they build new homes to retrofit them for elders. We also need to do more education for the consumers who need housing and to formulate a strategy for increasing the number of affordable houses. In northern Orange, there is no HITD 202 housing for low income seniors. Chapel Hill has three such units. Another azea is to identify seniors who do not have adequate plumping, A/C, bathroom and kitchen facilities. We need support services for senior housing units (Age in Place). The other housing issue is property taxes. Many elders (living longer) over time cannot afford to pay their taxes anymore and did to look at how their assessments are done, They are not able to maintain their homes and pay their taxes. This is becoming an increasing problem hi parts of the County.. Senior Care of Orange County, Inc, is really looking at this very carefully to see what they as a nonprofit can do to help these people, realizing that everything can't be on county government. Another Goal (IIIAI is to support the efforts of informal caregivers. According to Florence Soltys this is a big issue and identified Kate Bazrett has an expert in this area. We need to develop a support mechanism like chat rooms, availability of computers, etc, Also, information for those who cazmot read and write, Also, training in multi_languages is very important. For severely disabled and institutionalized, anGoal IVA is for people in long-term care to have access to a continuum of quality care and be treated with dignity and respect, One of the issues is guardianship law and statutes in North Carolina. Last year the Aging Study Commission did produce a bill that asked for a task force to study the statute on guardianship, Everyone has been appointed to serve on this commission except the president of the senate has not named anyone, so they are moving to introduce another bill through the house, so the house with just have a bill. Hopefully they will get something from this session of the legislature, At the county level, we need to look at how guardianships are managed, With regards to Financing retirement and long-term care possibilities, they have a lot of problems with the nursing homes in this area, We need sensitivity training for first responders. One of the things the State recommended yesterday on mental health was the training of law enforcement to go into nursing homes and assisted living facilities to help with the mental health problems. This would help law enforcement to understand about elders, Another issue is exploitation of seniors (families, neighbors, banks, insurance, home care, etc.). This is becoming one of the biggest crimes in this country and need further attention. Further investigation is needed on a career ladder for care providers (without health insurance) of elders. Ann Johnson brought up the point that for many of the M.A.P, issues the County has not power to correct, but aze state and federal responsibilities and authority. She suggested that the functional subcommittees keep that in mind as they formulate their objectives. Jerry Passmore said that more effort needs to be placed at the state and federal level. We need to keep the County Commissioners informed as they recommend state and federal legislation annually. Linda Tuday mentioned that when the new M,A.P, plan is approved, the lead organizations for each objective needs to know what is expected of them and kept informed of their responsibilities. Arm .Tohnson mentioned the idea of establishing agreements with the lead organizations. Page .3 of 8