Tag Archives for Joan Crawley

Delegates Head to D.C.

Published in Senior Digest on December 2005

Forty-seven years ago, Rhode Island Congressman John Fogarty successfully pushed legislation through Congress to create a national conference on aging issues. As a result of his forethought, the fifth White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) will be held this month.

Scheduled every 10 years this nationwide citizens’ forum focuses public attention on aging issues and consolidates all the policy recommendations originating from the WHOCoA into a report sent to the president and Congress.

According to WHCoA staff, leading up to this conference scheduled for Dec. 11-14, there have been approximately 400 local, state and national events held across the nation, involving more than 130,000 people. The events included WHCoA listening sessions, solution forums, mini-conferences and independent aging agenda events.

The theme for the 2005 WHCoA is “The Booming Dynamics of Aging: From Awareness to Action.” The them reflects the changing face of aging in America. The conference, mandated by the Older Americans Act, focuses on the interests and needs of current seniors as well as the 78 million baby boomers who will begin to turn 60 in 2006. (Rhode Island is home to more than 152,000 seniors who are 65 and older and has the sixth highest concentration of people in this age category in the nation).

Corinne Calise Russo, director of the state Department of Elderly Affairs (DEA) said her staff gathered information about the concerns of seniors by conducting listening sessions during May and June to in Newport, Cranston, Wakefield and Woonsocket.  Russo said 150 seniors attended.

There were seven members of the Rhode Island delegation attending the WHCoA. Russo was appointed to attend the upcoming conference by Gov. Donald Carcieri. She said her experience as a 1995 delegate was “very exciting” and that she is looking forward to going back to D.C>

Other delegates are: Kathleen Connell, director of AARP Rhode Island appointed by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed; Joan Crawley, director of the Leon A. Mathieu Senior Center in Pawtucket appointed by Congressman Patrick Kennedy :William Finelli, a retired teacher and librarian appointed by appointed by U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee; Ann Gardella, chairwoman of the state Commission on Aging appointed by Gov. Carcieri;  Angelo Rotella, chairman of the American Health Care Association and a nursing home owner, appointed by Congressman James Langevin; and Dr. Terrie Fox Wetle, associate dean for public health and policy at Brown Unversity and policy at Brown University; appointed by WHCoA officials.

According to Russo, the grassroots input gathered at the four listening sessions was hammered out into nine policy recommendations at a resolution development workshop in September. The 12-page  document was forwarded to the WHCoA policy committee charged with planning the agenda for the conference. That committee will bring 50  resolutions gathered from pre-WHCoA events to the conference floor for a vote.

“The submitted resolutions would have to impact the largest number of seniors and also translate into issues that would affect a large number of baby boomers,” Russo noted.  She believes that some of Rhode Island’s resolutions have a good chance of being selected for consideration by the delegates.

“It is probably the one opportunity in a 10-year period of time that local advocates and seniors from Rhode Island can provide input that could become national policy that could effect future generations of seniors,” the DEA director said.

Russo says that it is important to plan for future generations of people who will choose to remain at home for the rest of their lives. She noted that the No. 1 priority that came out of Rhode Island’s listening sessions was the need to provide for a continuum of care to keep older persons in the community.

Other resolutions include a call for increased access to employment opportunities for seniors, supporting caregivers, adequate funding for chronic disease management programs with an emphasis on prevention and maintaining the independence of older disabled adults by providing programs and services to allow them to successfully “age in place.”

In 1995, the number of delegates was almost double the umber that will be attending the 2005 WHCoA. But Russo has no concerns that this reduction of delegates will diminish seniors’ input and the quality of recommendations that come out of the conference. “Every state this year was concerned with the reduction of delegates,” she said, noting that what it ultimately did was provide the opportunity to gain input form older people and baby boomers via the listening sessions.

Connell does not believe that the WHCoA report will sit on a dusty shelf in federal agencies or in the offices of bureaucrats.

“Much of the future policy direction of the country will be affected by this final report. Because of this, the report carriers the weight of its congressional mandate,” she said.

State Wants its Resolution Debated in Washington

The state Department of Elderly Affairs (DEA) submitted nine resolutions to the White House Conference on Aging Policy Committee. It is hoped that the Policy Committee will recommend some of the resolutions for consideration during the conference. The resolution for national policies that:

  1. Establish standards for Medicaid coverage of both facility-based and community-based services; long-term care insurance portability; incentives for excellent care; federal support for assisted technology; an aggressive campaign to educate employers, caregivers and the public about community-based health care and social service options; state and federal coordination of services.
  2. Encourage employees through incentives to: hire and retain older workers; offer flexible work schedules; allow older workers to buy into benefits and adopt attitudes that value the older workers.
  3. Support proactive and informed retirement and long-term care planning for seniors and caregivers, including tax incentives for professionals who look after or provide services to the elderly.
  4. Establish comprehensive care programs for diverse elders, including education about prevention; accessible immunizations, screenings and treatments without regard to ability to pay; nontraditional culture-specific treatments; culturally sensitive end of life care; and an initiative to require that cultural proficiency be included in basic medical education.
  5. Encourage a proactive approach to the conversation within families regarding the preferences and responsibilities of care giving; mandate the Family Medical Leave Act for all workplaces; support caregivers through tax breaks and other financial incentives; design services that are more sensitive to the needs of caregivers.
  6. Promote flexibility and innovation in services, provide adequate same-day urgent medical transportation; support volunteer driver programs; expand community options such as delivery services and coordinated group trips to consumer destinations; and improve coordination of exiting public transportation.
  7. Address education about healthy lifestyles , which government should support along with chronic disease management. The support should include subsidized gym members and  home adaptation.
  8. Form a task force to review and revise standards of the Adults with Disabilities Act (ADA) to more closely reflect the needs of disabled adults; promote aggressive publicity and posting of ADA standards.
  9. Develop a response to housing needs for the next three decades that will include education of caregivers and baby boomers about housing options and the need for long-term financial planning; incentives for universal design to support aging in place, proximity to services; a commitment to esthetics and opportunities for social interaction.

Barbara Rayner Leaves Legacy of Support

Published in Senior Digest on August 2004

Barbara Ann Rayner was a tireless advocate for Rhode Island seniors and community-based services for the past 20 years, according to her peers who looked back at her life. They knew her as a dedicated professional with a great sense of humor.

Rayner, who served as Coventry’s human resource director, the first director of the community’s senior citizens center and later as director of Coventry Human Services, died last month after a long illness.

For five years, she served as director of the state’s Department of Elderly Affairs (DEA) being replaced by the then newly-elected Gov. Donald Carcieri.

She served on the Kent County Coalition of Nonprofit Executives and was a Rhode Island delegate for the White House Conference on Aging. She was appointed by the governor to sit on the Advisory Council on Health, the Commission on Care and Safety of the Elderly and the state’s Para-transit Task Force.

As a former director of the Rhode Island Association of Senior Programs and a founding member of CHOICES, a coalition of community-based care providers, Rayner fought to adequately fund services to keep Rhode Island seniors in their homes and independent.

At the national level, Rayner served as the immediate past chair of the National Institute of Senior Centers, a constituent union of the National Council on Aging (NCOA). She was also a contributing author of the revised Senior Center Standards & Guidelines, and was actively involved in NCOA’s policy agenda and international affairs initiatives.

Rayner was recognized nationally for her advocacy’s efforts when she received the Founders Award from NCOA in 1998, and was recognized on the state-level in 1999 with the Thomas A. Lamb Home Care Award.

Maureen Maigret, director of public policy for Lt. Governor Charles Fogarty, remember that Rayner was “very sensitive to the needs of the elderly and to ageism.”

The former DEA director was a passionate, dedicated professional, says Maigret, who noted that Rayner always knew the importance of laughter and having fund.

Under the DEA tenure of Rayner, home and community-based services greatly expanded in the state,” noted Maigret, saying that she recognized the value of the state providing family support services.

Rick Ryan, director of senior services for South Kingstown, worked closely with Rayner for more than 25 years. “We were very close friends and this grew out of our professional life,” he said.

Ryan says that Rayner was fund to be with and had a tremendous sense of human. She was willing to let her hair down, making her very approachable and real to her colleagues, according to Ryan. As a seasoned professional, she even mentored dozens of others in the aging network both locally and nationally over her 25-year career, he said.

At the national level, Rayner and Ryan, who served on NCOA’s Public Policy Committee were successful in changing the language in the federally enacted Older America’s Act. “Provisions noting that ‘states shall’ were changed to ‘states will’.” This strengthened the act and actually put teeth in it, he said.

Paula Parker, executive director of the Rhode Island Partnership for Home Care, remembers Rayner as “being passionate and committed to community based services.”

The members of CHOICES were very pleased to see her appointed as DEA director and then see her translate this passion for home and community based services through her leadership to creating state programming and policy supporting this level of care,” she says.

Joan Crawley, director of the Pawtucket-based Leon Mathieu Senior Center, notes that Rhode Island’s senior centers network owes Rayner “a debt of gratitude.” Under her leadership as director of DEA, support for Rhode Island’s senior centers grew by leaps and bounds,” Crawley observed, noting that new programs and services and initiatives were dramatically increased under her rein.

“It was her vision to see Rhode Island senior centers nationally accredited,” notes Crawley. “To this end, she not only found money to fund this project but she also worked with each of the 14 senior center directors, giving technical support and encouragement for them to successfully prepare for accreditation, Carwly says.

Crawley says that Rayner wanted no senior center left behind. “I can still remember her proud smile as each of us stepped up to the podium during NCOA’s national conference in Colorado to receive the prestigious recognition of accreditation for our senior centers,” Crawley noted.

Barbara Ann Rayner left behind a lengthy list of accomplishments that benefited senior centers and those who work for and with the elderly. She will be missed.

Aging Advocates Call for Override of Governor’s Veto

Published in Pawtucket Times on July 14, 2003

The General Assembly is poised to override  Gov. Don Carcieri’s veto Tuesday.

The political rhetoric has intensified as the governor picks apart the 2004 budget, which was recently passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature, forcing Democratic Majority Leader William J. Murphy and Senate President William V. Irons to explain how they shaped the budget.

Carcieri has called the General Assembly’s 2004 budget flawed because lawmakers have “missed opportunities” to stop the legislature’s habit of deficit spending.

The governor’s media blitz, beginning last week, is intended to build support for his efforts to defeat the legislature’s attempt to override his veto. Carcieri has called for the elimination of subsidies for greyhound kennel owners [also supported by this writer] and the reining in public-employee personnel costs.

Carcieri also opposes the spending of $ 52 million in federal Medicaid expenditure relief funds and the one percent restaurant sales tax.

When the dust settles after Tuesday’s legislative session to override Carcieri’s veto, aging advocates hope for an override. The 2004 budget crafted by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly puts increased state funding into senior programs and services.  Both provider groups and senior advocacy groups expressed disappointment when Carcieri’s budget proposal did not allocate funding for new aging-related initiatives. Moreover, his fiscal blueprint for state spending made cuts to existing senior programs and services.

“Once again, senior advocates have looked to the General Assembly to provide essential programs and services for the state’s growing senior population,” says Susan Sweet, a long-time aging advocate and consultant to nonprofit groups who also serves as a consumer representative to the state’s Long-Term Care Coordinating Council.

“We have not been disappointed,” Sweet said, in reference to the passage of the General Assembly’s 2004 budget.  “It’s sad that the Carcieri administration does not recognize the improvements the General Assembly has made to the budget and the lives of older Rhode Islander.”

Joan Crawley, executive director of Pawtucket’s Leon Mathieu Senior Center, added, “Although I can appreciate Carcieri’s frustration with trying to balance the state budget, as a senior advocate, I applaud the legislators for making the very difficult decision to fund legislative grants on behalf of the state’s  senior centers,” she said.

“At the Pawtucket town meeting, gubernatorial candidate Carcieri assured us that seniors would be a top priority of his administration should he be elected governor. He even distributed a brochure outlining his senior initiatives. So far, he has failed to address any of those initiatives in is budget, Crawley says.

So, what’s in the General Assembly’s 2004 budget that will improve the quality of life of Rhode Island seniors?

The budget will allocate new state funds totaling $ 300,000 to pay for nursing facility care of legal immigrant Rhode Island seniors who are not eligible for Medicaid.

The budget will also allocate $ 50,000 to support the efforts of the Ocean State Adult Immunization Coalition to get the word out about the importance of seniors getting influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations.

Meanwhile, lawmakers have allocated state monies for community grants. Initially, senior centers (in Carcieri’s budget ) were targeted with a 10 precent cut. To the relief of senior center providers, lawmakers passed the 2004 budget with no cuts

As previously reported to All About Seniors, an 18-month study by B.D.O. Seidman, a consulting firm hired by the state Department of Human Services, found Rhode Island was underpaying its nursing facilities in excess of $ 30 million annually.

It seems that the Rhode Island General Assembly agrees with the report’s assessment, because lawmakers made a partial allocation of new Medicaid dollars to overhaul the state’s ailing Medicaid system.

With passage of the budget, nursing facilities will receive a total of $ 18.8 million in state and federal dollars – a three-year phase-in will bring the total federal and state dollars up to $ 30 million.

Finally, the recently passed 2004 state budget has allocated $ 50,000 to provide dental services to nursing facility residents.

The 2003 budget that was supposed to expire June 30 stays in effect until Carcieri signs the 2004 budget into law. Until that time, new programs, policies, or program appropriations will be effectively put on hold.

An override of Carcieri’s veto will result in many new senior programs and services being funded in the 2004 state budget.

If the popular Republican governor is able to rally is troops – both Republican lawmakers and Carcieri Democrats – to support his veto, then lawmakers must begin their efforts to hammer out another budget.

….

As noted in last week’s All About Seniors column, not one dime in state funding was allocated in the state’s 2004 budget to beef up the state Department of Health’s regulatory oversight. Providers, aging advocates, and even state officials have called for new state dollars to fill one full-time surveyor position (a nurse) to ensure that assisted living residences across Rhode Island are inspected on a timelier basis.

The General Assembly has put laws on the books to protect frail Rhode Island seniors who received assisted-living services. Yet, Carcieri and lawmakers have failed to allocate the necessary funding in the 2004 state budget to allow Health Department regulators to comply with    their legislative oversight duties to inspect the state’s 72 assisted-living facilities and 155 assisted-living bed in nursing facilities on a timely basis.

That’s not all.  According to the state’s Department of Health, another seven assisted-living projects are expected to be up and running over the next 18 months.

Meanwhile, at Tuesday’s veto override, lawmakers will also take up legislative issues were not addressed in their haste to adjourn two weeks ago.  Maybe the state Health Department’s urgent need for more funding to adequately perform its oversight duties of assisted-living facilities will be acted on by lawmakers in both chambers.

Carcieri can become the white knight and save the day. He can choose to move forward and fix this policy flaw by either using contingency funds in his office budget or to take administrative action to hire one more full-time assisted living inspector.

Acting decisively to fix tis identified policy glitch is sound public policy that will ultimately protect the health and well-being of 1,700 assisted-living residents. Even with Carcieri’s calls for balancing the budget, taxpayers especially seniors won’t oppose allocated tax dollars to protect older Rhode Islander.