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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAging Advisory Board Minutes 041415 ORANGE COUNTY ADVISORY BOARD ON AGING Minutes April 14, 2015 PRESENT: Heather Altman, Mary Altpeter, Virginia Brown, Alex Castro, Peggy Cohn, Keith Cook, Ed Flowers, Winston Liao, Lorenzo Mejia, Donna Prather, Dick White STAFF: Mary Fraser, Kathie Kearns, Janice Tyler, GUESTS: Teri Driscoll The meeting was called to order at the Seymour Center by Chair Heather Altman. Following introductions, Janice Tyler distributed the volunteer appreciation gifts from the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). The minutes of the March 10 meeting were approved following the motion made by Ed Flowers and the second provided by Peggy Cohn. In her Director’s Report Janice Tyler announced that the NC Coalition on Aging Legislative Advocacy Day held on March 17 was a successful opportunity to lobby for issues impacting the state aging network. She extended her appreciation to the Advisory Board members who reviewed the Outside Agency applications for FY15-16 Orange County funding. Those recommendations will be reviewed by the County Manager Thursday. The Tiny Houses exhibit and presentation on March 25 was well-received with over 200 in attendance. Orange County Senior Games are underway with more than 200 participants. Staff emergency preparedness training is being required for all Orange County staff. The Corporation for National and Community Services grant funding for the Department’s volunteer division ended on March 31 and the transition to Volunteer Connect 55+ has begun with the oversight of a committee that includes both Department on Aging staff and former RSVP Advisory Council members. The Department was selected to receive a UNC Health Behavior Capstone Team for academic year 2015-16. The NC Association on Aging, of which Ms. Tyler is the president, will hold its annual training conference April 30 – May 1. A listening session for the upcoming White House Conference on Aging will be held in conjunction with the conference. Chair Altman added that her March 19 presentation to the BOCC on the Advisory Board's accomplishments in 2014 was well received. Janice Tyler announced that terms for four members Advisory Board members will expire on June 30. Chair Heather Altman has served two terms and cannot be reappointed at this time. Three members are eligible for reappointment. Winston Liao aand Richard White are interested in a second term and the Advisory Board recommended their reappointment and the nomination of Teri Driscoll. Virginia Brown does not wish to be reappointed. Additionally, Anthony John Vogt has resigned. Discussion followed on filling the vacancies effective July 2015. The Chair asked that the Board consider new officers at the May meeting and summarized the responsibilities of her position. Ms. Tyler announced upcoming activities. Copies of the Committee reports submitted prior to the meeting were distributed. Alex Castro suggested adding Project EngAGE to the monthly reports. Ms. Altman recommended the Advisory Board consider receiving some reports quarterly or as needed. Winston Liao suggested condensing written reports. The Board agreed to streamline the Committee Report items on the Agenda and ask that the issue be an agenda item if more consideration is needed. Members gave the following Committee Reports: • Public transportation will initiate new rural routes next month but Alex Castro expressed concern about the lack of publicity. • Janice Tyler provided updates for both Friends organizations on the Las Vegas Night, Goat Parade, trinket sale, and fashion show. • Donna Prather announced that the Music In My Mind steering committee will meet the next day. Mary Fraser added that staff support for this project will continue through the assignment of student interns. • Keith Cook summarized current housing issues, such as inclusion of affordable housing on the upcoming bond. Discussion followed on the property tax rate, housing costs, and the Homestead Exemption Act. • Community Resource Connections can be deleted from the monthly report list. • Dick White shared lobbying strategies from the Senior Tar Heel Legislature and recommended that the recent NC Public Policy presentation to the TJAAA Board be emailed to the Advisory Board. • Alex Castro recommended that Advisory Board members join a Project EngAGE Senior Resource Team to share expertise and support the work being done. Mary Fraser invited Board members to the May 19 PE Advisory Council meeting. Mary Fraser began her summarization of the accomplishments in the Master Aging Plan for the 3rd quarter of the 3rd year of the 5 year planning cycle. At the end of this fiscal year the MAP Steering Committee will meet to review the annual progress and set the agenda for Year 4. The planning cycle will begin again at the conclusion of the 4th year. A UNC Capstone Team was instrumental in completion of the last MAP Update process. The Department advertised for four summer practicum positions in the School of Public Health and interviewed 11 qualified applicants. Seven of these students have accepted practicums on a variety of MAP initiatives. Peggy Cohn praised Ms. Tyler and Ms. Fraser for their leadership in this effort. MAP highlights for the quarter included: • A faith-based forum was held in March at the Central Orange Senior Center and all participants were interviewed individually since the event. • Latino outreach efforts continue with plans underway for a Cinco De Mayo fair. UNC Occupational Therapy students have been included in the outreach. Mary Altpeter has worked with a UNC clinic targeting older Latino adults and will attend a future Aging Transitions staff meeting to share her insight. • Keith Cook asked if plans are underway to continue the Aging In Community series. That decision will be made after July 1. • Long Term Care continues to be an issue with students researching service options developed in other countries. • OPT has developed maps for it new routes. The new volunteer transportation service will complement these routes. Questions were raised about these new routes. It was decided that OPT Director Peter Murphy should be invited to an upcoming Advisory Board meeting. Janice Tyler shared the Department's interest in seeing transportation extended to seniors in southern Orange outside of the Chapel Hill Transit service district. • The Capstone Team for academic year 2015-16 will focus on aging preparedness planning. • The transition to a locally-directed volunteer division continues with the establishment of Volunteer Connect 55+. • A Complete Streets planning group has been formed with the goal of developing a presentation on the senior community's perspective of mobility issues for local planning entities. • New mobility management project funds have been secured to replace the NCDOT grant which ends June 30. • The Long Term Care Consortium will recognize five direct care workers for their service at a reception in May. Twenty-two workers were nominated for the honor. Janice Tyler informed the Advisory Board that the Board of County Commissioners is considering including the living wage requirement in all subcontracts. This will have an impact on the in-home service contracts for this Department and DSS. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Janice Tyler, Secretary Nursing Home Committee Report After several weather related delays, the last Nursing Home Site visit for the first quarter was completed on March 20th. Two committee members conducted this visit. One committee member attended the BOCC transportation update meeting on March 17th. Two committee members attended a dementia workshop on March 18th. The focus of this event was to strengthen the CAC leadership role as related to nursing home residents with dementia. The workshop was held at the at the Triangle J Area Agency on Aging in Durham. An updated 2014 OCNHCAC annual report was presented to the Board of County Commissioners by the chairperson on March 19th. As of April 1, 2015 new chairperson for the OCNHCAC is Teri Driscoll. Ed Flowers is taking the required “year off” after serving on the committee for seven years. Respectfully submitted Ed Flowers April 14 2015 Committees Progress Reports submitted by Alex Castro Jr. Chapel Hill Carrboro Meals on Wheels A total of 3249 meals delivered in March 2015 versus 2761 in 2014. A long time volunteer, Mary Alice Eckman was selected by the Governor’s Office as the 2015 Orange County Governor’s Medallion Award for Volunteer service. An example of what volunteers do for their clients beyond delivering meals is the effort made to find help for a needy senior who has problems with a kitchen sink and failing water heater. The Project Engage Senior Hunger SRT continues to pursue with OCIM the expansion of meal deliveries into the northern parts of the county. Orange County Unified Transportation Board The BOCC approved on March 17, 2015 the Orange Public Transit (OPT) Americans with Disability Act (ADA) Implementation Plan. Included in this plan is a greatly expanded OPT service involving the Hillsborough circulator route revamp and the initiation in May/June 2015 of service into the northern parts of the county and out to Efland. The Efland service will complement the new Go Triangle (formerly Triangle Transit) ODX route by providing service between Hillsborough and Efland during the 10 AM to 2 PM timeframe. Triangle Transit held a Light Rail Transit open house on March 18 at the UNC Friday Center which provided the details of the current status and alternatives being considered for station locations, routing and the repair facility.