CSCS: Council of Senior Centers and Services of NYC, Inc.

The Epoch Times Article

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

By Tara MacIsaac

Publication & Publisher: The Epoch Times

LONG LINE OF CUTS: Seniors gathered at City Hall on
Tuesday to ask the mayor not to cut funding to care for the
homebound elderly. The Department for the Aging (DFTA) has seen
a total 40 percent budget cut in the last two years.
(Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK—“Just because you can’t see me, doesn’t mean I’m not here," writes Thelma Selzner, 98 of Brooklyn. She is one of the nearly 17,000 elderly and advocates for the elderly who wrote letters to Mayor Michael Bloomberg asking him to restore the $3.3 million funding cut to a program that provides care for the homebound elderly.

The letters poured into City Hall Tuesday afternoon as a group of about 20 to 30 people gathered to present them to the mayor’s office. Council Member Kim Lappin, who also serves as chairperson to the council’s Aging Committee, announced they were there because “the invisible, frail, homebound elderly cannot come to the steps of City Hall and fight for themselves.”

The program losing the funds, case management, provides social workers for 18,000 elderly across the city. At an average age of 85, many of these people require aid to remain in their own homes. Social workers make sure they are taking their medication properly, that they are in good mental and physical health, and help them to apply for appropriate benefits, among other services. Sometimes they simply provide much-needed company for these often isolated and lonely individuals.

“[My caseworker’s] intelligence, interest, and kindness made me feel I had a friend,” wrote Annette Radford, a homebound elderly senior New Yorker. “It is so important to keep that spark of human kindness available to those of us who need it so desperately.”

The mayor announced the 30 percent funding cut last month. This translates into 8,000 seniors losing their caseworkers and 110 caseworkers losing their jobs, according to Bobbie Sackman, director of public policy for Council of Senior Centers and Services of NYC, Inc. (CSCS). Sackman noted that the program already has a waiting list of about 800 elderly.

Including these most recent cuts, the Department for the Ageing (DFTA) has lost a total of $60 million since 2008. This accounts for about 40 percent of its city tax levy dollars.

Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for mayor Bloomberg told the Wall Street Journal that the budget "makes many difficult, painful choices,” but the city faces a $2.4 billion deficit in the coming fiscal year.

"The Department for the Aging will be working with its case management provider agencies to consider alternate ways to restructure the service to minimize the impact on the city's most fragile and isolated seniors,” said Chris Miller, spokesman for the DFTA. “DFTA has not reviewed any agency plans for how they are going to manage the budget reduction. It would be premature to comment on any layoffs."

More Than a Meal

DEAR MAYOR: Anne Cunningham, 75 holds a stack of letters
addressed to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. About 17,000 letters
were delivered to the mayor's office Tuesday urging the mayor
to rescind his budget cuts to case management, a program for
homebound elderly.(Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times)

According to Sackman, the mayor says many case management participants only need meals brought to their homes. Linda Leest of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) for elderly citizens recounted her experience of a meal-only case that proved otherwise.

Mrs. W., 86 years old, was visited by SNAP workers who came to drop off her daily meals. The workers decided to investigate a situation they perceived to be unhealthy—not a task designated by their position, but rather a situation social workers are better qualified to identify and address, says Leest. The elderly lady’s daughter was abusing her financially and fiscally, reported Leest.

The daughter charged over $30,000 to Mrs. W’s credit cards, left her mother’s diabetes untreated, and took her bed leaving her mother to sleep on the couch. Mrs. W is now safely in an assisted living facility.

“She was very distraught, but she only called and asked for the meal—a meals-only client,” said Leest.

The Caseworker’s Perspective

Laura Geisenheimer is a social worker for Lennox Hill Neighborhood House. She works with 52 senior citizens; most of whom she says are isolated without regular contact or care from family members. She expects her caseload to greatly increase as a result of budget cuts.

Caseworkers at many other agencies have a much heavier caseload than she does, explained Geisenheimer. She says one caseworker may be responsible for up to 100 seniors. Lennox Hill Neighborhood House is in part privately funded, which has allowed them to maintain a lighter load per social worker.

“As it is, the city doesn’t give us the money needed to give the elderly the service we feel they need, so we do additional fundraising,” explained Anne Foerg, Geisenheimer’s supervisor.

Geisenheimer lamented that there were so few people at City Hall to advocate for the elderly.

“There needs to be a much more intergenerational aspect to it,” urged Geisenheimer. “The elderly care about the problems of the elderly, but the young don’t care.”