Tri-Valley Herald

Anne WARNER-REITZ
Preserve Adult Day program

Saturday, June 14, 2003 - ON Father's Day, Americans honor their fathers and grandfathers. Today, more fathers and mothers are living longer than at any time in this nation's history.

As they enjoy the fruits of a longer life, these older Americans may need assistance to remain living in their homes and in the communities they helped build.

Fortunately, services exist that offer our elders the chance to stay in their homes and communities safely. In Alameda County, nearly 55,000 seniors live with a disability, and 32 percent of these seniors report functional impairments.

Many of these chronically ill older adults are able to remain in the community because they attend Adult Day programs, which are designed to help them stay mentally and physically active, reduce isolation, maintain their abilities and improve their health.

In addition, Adult Day programs such as the Friendship Center in Livermore, which serves more than 65 residents in eastern Alameda County, provide an essential service for family members who are caring for a loved one.

The California Assembly and Senate Budget Sub-Committees on Health went a long way toward honoring our state's older adults when they voted to reject suggestions in the governor's May budget revision.

The revised budget would have slashed the reimbursement rate for Adult Day Health Care programs in Alameda County and throughout California and set in motion a statewide moratorium on opening new centers.

In preserving services for older adults, legislators also protected the state from a potential violation of the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision, which affirms the right of individuals with disabilities, including seniors, to live in their communities.

The act requires public agencies to provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities.

I'd like to applaud California's Budget SubCommittee chairman and chairwoman Sen. Wesley Chesbro, D-Santa Rosa, and Assemblymember Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park.

Alameda County Assemblymember Loni Hancock,

D-Berkeley, was also instrumental in saving these programs.

We would also like to thank seniors advocacy organizations such as the California Association of Adult Day Services and the Senior Services Coalition of Alameda County.

I'd particularly like to thank the clients of Adult Day Care programs who testified before these committees. Their recounting of experiences in Adult Day Service programs lent a personal, compelling tone to the proceedings.

During the coming weeks, the state Legislature will continue to hammer out a budget. Reducing the availability of Adult Day Health Centers by cutting funding and freezing the opening of new centers may save money in the short-term, but this solution is shortsighted.

Many of the seniors these programs serve may eventually be forced to move to nursing homes at a far greater cost to the state.

We encourage California's legislators to honor older adults by standing firm and preserving funding for services in the 2003-04 state budget. Our fathers and mothers and other older adults are depending on it.

Anne Warner-Reitz is director of the Adult Day Services Network of Alameda County.