Advocacy
By Maddy Bynes, Special to Never Too Late Ringing in the New Year with a New Legislature In November, we voted in the 56th Arizona Legislature and host of to provide services. This leads to long waiting times for those in need. A recent national study shows there are several reasons for this shortage of
workers, but one of them is pay. These workers often get paid just above minimum wage for tremendously challenging and difficult jobs Increasing wages means that we need to collectively increase funding across the government programs fund these services, including the Area Agencies on Aging through the Department of Economic Security (DES), the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)’s Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS), and the DES Division of Developmental Disabilities. With inflation at a record high rate of nearly 10% in Arizona, it is critical that the Legislature continues to invest funding into sustaining currently levels of service throughout the state. Over the past three years, with funding increases from the State Legislature, PCOA and our partner Area Agencies on Aging throughout the state, have been able to substantially increase the number of people served in our system. Without the continuation of the $2 million appropriated last year, we would be forced to reduce service hours or the number of clients served – increasing waiting lists for these important services. In addition to funding for these critical in-home supportive services, we are also supporting the DES budget
statewide officials. The Legislature’s first session will begin on January 9th with Governor Katie Hobb’s State of the State address in which she will outline her priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Governor Hobbs will also release a budget proposal to the Legislature in mid- January outlining how she believes government funds should be spent and at what level. During the legislative session, the Legislature will consider and pass a budget for the state, as well as votes on important bills that change current state laws. Similar to years past, we continue to look at funding for home and community-based services in Pima County and throughout the state. Last year we were so grateful for a one-time appropriation of $2 million statewide to support home and community- based services across the state. In Pima County, we received about 16% of these funds – which are distributed across the state based on population of older adults among other factors. This $2 million has helped us at PCOA, and our partners around the state, to be able to recruit new professional caregivers. Right now in Arizona, we have a shortage of these professional caregivers, called direct care workers,
request of increasing funding for the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program. Two years ago, the Arizona Legislature appropriated $1 million to the long-underfunded Arizona Long- Term Care Ombudsman Program. With this funding, the Legislature also changed the State law to require that Ombudsmen must visit facilities at least twice per calendar year. Here in Pima County, we’ve been able to meet this requirement, but some Area Agencies on Aging continue to not have enough funding and staff to meet this requirement. DES has requested an additional $300,000 to increase the staffing levels of Area Agencies on Aging across the State so they can visit long-term care facilities twice per calendar year. We support this effort and will help advocate alongside our partners. Our voice alone isn’t enough, we need your help too! Make sure you visit advocate.pcoa.org to take action! There are many new members of the legislature and we need your help in telling them that these important issues matter to you.
January 2023, Never Too Late | Page 27
Pima Council on Aging
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