Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
The program will be continued after the end of the grant period because the <br />network of professionals, paraprofessionals, students and agencies will be in place with <br />established plans and printed materials in the agencies/organizations for training future <br />students and staff. This project will have been implemented by a multidisciplinary group <br />of professionals and all the agencies in the county that serve the elderly. Therefore, <br />their commitment to the project should in fact increase, not lessen, since project <br />completion will mean that "all the pieces are in place" and the foundation has been laid <br />to continue to help elders who are neglected or abused. All agencies that serve the <br />elderly will be encouraged to train their existing staff and include the elder mistreatment <br />training in their orientation of any new staff members. The professional students who <br />are trained will be asked upon graduation to train others at their new job sites. <br />Once the project is completed, it could readily be replicated in other counties and <br />states since the coalition members are willing to work with others and to share all of the <br />training materials. Training of our current professional students is one way to encourage <br />replication elsewhere. Such guidance and sharing would be facilitated due to the <br />involvement on the coalition by staff members from the North Carolina Divisions of Aging <br />and Social Services who have ready contact with the other 99 counties in the state. The <br />regional Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, housed in the Triangle J Agency on <br />Aging, is also active throughout the central part of the state. To date, two other counties <br />have expressed interest in our coalition and are considering starting one of their own, so <br />some precedent has been set for collaboration. <br />Organizational Capability: <br />The Orange County Elder Mistreatment Coalition, a non-profit organization <br />composed of professional volunteers, was formed in November 1998. We have spent <br />our first year recruiting members from agencies and organizations in the county which <br />serve elders, developing group cohesion, and educating each other on our roles and