HomeMy WebLinkAboutAging Board Minutes-03-07-2023 Orange County Department on Aging
Advisory Board on Aging
MINUTES
March 7, 2023
Passmore Center &Virtual
In Attendance: Heather Altman, Colin Austin, Rachel Bearman, Ann Bradford (Board candidate/visitor), Jeff
Charles, Jerri Gregory, Michael Joseph (Board applicant/visitor), Jackie Podger (Nursing Home Advisory
Committee, Chair), Saru Salvi, Vibeke Talley, Sandi Walker, Dick White; Staff: Anshu Gupta, Beverly Shuford
and Janice Tyler
Absent— Excused: James Harris
1. Introductions and Announcements
a. Heather led roundtable introductions and welcomed visitors and Board applicants, Ann
Bradford, Michael Joseph and Jackie Podger.
b. Heather reported that Aging Advocacy Day at the NC General Assembly was on Tue, Feb 28, and
it was a busy day last Tuesday. Medicaid expansion has moved forward to provide North
Carolina citizens with greater access to healthcare options. Another aspect of the Aging
Advocacy Day involved direct care workers (DCW) and the crisis we have in pay disparity and
the lack of funding which would help folks at home and in collective communities. Another
focus was the SAVE Act, allowing Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) work to their
full practice capacity. Medicaid, NC Senate bill 147 dropped with the goal of updating
requirements for Health Care Powers Of Attorney and Advance Health Care Directives; and
authorizing the Secretary of State to receive electronic filings of Advance Health Care
Directives.
2. Approval of Minutes— February 14, 2023
a. Minutes were approved with the correction to attribute Vibeke Talley to the proper committee
report (14.a. Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee).
Director's Report
3. Staff Updates
a. Wellness Program Assistant— Izzy Nechvatal
L Izzy is the new program assistant working with Latonya Brown in the Wellness Program.
She will spend a portion of her time trying to develop fitness classes at Efland-Cheeks
and Cedar Grove community centers and doing outreach work.
b. Posting of Volunteer Coordinator position
i. Allie Crawford vacating in one month, going to Wake County to lead three centers there.
The position should be posted in the next week.
4. VITA—Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program update
a. 16 people on the wait list for VITA. Fully anticipate those folks will be taken care of. There are
fewer volunteers this year, looking for volunteers next year. Must be trained by IRS and take a
test.
5. Upcoming Events:
a. Employment and Volunteer Fair— March 10 from 8:30 -1 p.m. at Durham Technical Community
College
i. Exploring your Options workshops will help older adults looking for employment,
volunteer opportunities and starting their own business. Mike Komives, OCDOA
Employment Specialist has worked very hard and is seeing many clients, helping them
update resumes, get comfortable with Linkedln, peer-to-peer models, etc. to be current
and competitive in the job market.
b. NC MeclAssist Event— March 17 from 9 a.m. —2 p.m. at Passmore Center
i. Stock your medicine cabinet with free over-the-counter medication and more. Pre-order
and they will have your order ready for you to pick up. Can be picked up by a friend or
family member. You may also come the day of and order your medication. We expect a
huge turnout.
c. Death Doula Town Hall — March 9 from 4 - 6 p.m. at Seymour Center
i. End of life death doula presentation sponsored by the Project EngAGE End of Life Senior
Resource Team. All are invited to attend.
d. Brain Health Academy is every Wednesday from 6 - 8 p.m. from now until April 5- Seymour
Center
i. The Academy has started is offered in person and virtually. Everyone is welcome to
attend, please register prior to the session(s) you plan to attend.
e. Check our Endless Possibilities activity guide for many more programs. The programs above are
just a sample, there are many, many opportunities.
New Business
6. FY 23-24 Budget
a. Outside Agency Funding Applications Review completed and scorecards submitted
i. Many thanks to all of the advisory board members who helped with the process. There
were three applications reviewed and scored
b. Departmental Budget Requests
i. James had asked at the previous meeting why we don't have evening hours at Passmore
Center as we do at the Seymour Center. Janice explained that prior to Covid we had
additional operational hours when the SportsPlex used our building. They paid for
staffing so that we could be open. The SportsPlex no longer uses our building.
1. Janice talked to staff and everyone agrees that we want to keep it equitable
between both centers. We don't have the volume to open four nights a week,
but we are asking the County Manager for two nights a week. This is a $6000 ask.
ii. The Manager approved a second person to be at Seymour in the evening. $26,000 needs
to be officially in our budget.
iii. The cost of printing the Endless Possibilities activity guide has increased. We are asking
for an extra $2k for printing.
iv. We are requesting $1500 for lunch program for environmentally friendly "green
chemicals" for cleaning.
v. In crunching numbers we are requesting a raised rate from $23.88 to $30 an hour for in-
home care. We didn't ask for an increase last year. Asking commissioners for the
difference to be put in our budget to maintain the current level of services with our
families receiving in-home services. ARPA funds will most likely be expended before
Sept 2024. With $30 per hour the agencies will likely be able to attract and retain staff.
Short hours make it hard to get staff. We don't have a wait list now; we share in-home
provider contracts with DSS. We are able to staff our cases, but it is not a level 2 in-
home case needing 30+ hours. If you know of agencies that are newer that we should
reach out to in order to contract with them, please let Janice know. Staff must be a CNA.
$35 is average private pay rate. If we want direct care workers to make a living wage,
then we need to pay going rate. Big difference between what agency makes and what is
given to the worker. UNC college student aging care program, CareYaya, is in high
demand, but there are not enough students. Our In-home Helper List is getting smaller.
vi. Affordable Family Care Services—coming to Azalea Estates
vii. Asking for$15k to keep it the same number of hours at the higher rate.
viii. The above represent "big asks" for a flat budget time, but isn't anything we can control,
except for adding hours at Passmore.
ix. Require anyone we contract with to pay a living wage which is going to $16.60, the rate
is currently$15.85.
x. SNAP COVID benefits are going away. This means a $1.4 mil deduction per month in
Orange County.
xi. Do we know for sure that the agencies are passing on the living wage for OCDoA
contracted in-home helpers? It is in the contract and we could check what the agencies
are actually paying them. Sitters uncertified are making $25 private; the rate varies with
agencies.
xii. Even if you have money, no guarantee that you will be able to find someone to assist.
c. CIP Request for Seymour Center—which are bullets above
i. Human services departments don't usually put in for CIP, which are typically over $100k.
We want to have an outdoor fitness area at the Seymour Center. We still have folks that
don't want to come inside to exercise.
ii. We also make requests of the local townships for funding for volunteer programs. There
is also a history of the towns providing funding for the lunch programs. This goes back
to when they were funding JOCCA for meals and once the program moved to us they
agree to continue funding the program. Over time that funding has decreased
significantly. We also receive contract services funding for the Seymour Center through
Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation although it hasn't increased overtime. Participants
contribute $15-18k per year toward the lunch program. We serve about 130 meals per
day.
iii. Lunch program "takeaway" meals will continue until the ARPA funds run out. About 30
individuals are still picking up meals at Seymour and 10 at the Passmore Center, mostly
for convenience, not due to COVID.
7. Board vacancies— Recommendations were submitted to BOCC
a. Ann's recommendation to the board was discussed at the Feb. 16 BOCC meeting and should be
voted on tonight.
b. The board discussed moving forward with the approval of Jackie's application, Colin's extension
and Rachel's reappointment. This will be discussed at the Mar 14 BOCC meeting and voting on
Mar 21. Michael Joseph's application and recommendation is submitted but term would not
start until Heather's term ends.
8. Outreach Efforts - New radio show,Aging Well Together, with WCOM.
a. Reminder to let us know if you hear of community events where we might have an
informational table.
i. WCOM/Host Agreement on hold as OC staff attorney reviews and edits. The agreement
would be signed by not only the show host, Heather Altman, but also OCDOA director,
Janice Tyler and any potential back-up hosts. The County had concern with the clause
that required hosts to participate in fundraising for WCOM, which the County and
County employees may not do. After editing the agreement, the attorney will forward to
us to sign. Then we may start scheduling guests and start the weekly show.
ii. Hong Zhou, OCDOA Chinese Community Liaison and Program Coordinator, is exploring
the possibility of offering a Mandarin speakers radio show at WCOM. She is meeting
with her volunteers to see if they are interested in hosting and will get back with us if
interested in pursuing.
iii. Chinese E Life OCDOA column to launch on April 1. Hong will write a weekly article
about OCDOA, our services, resource and programs targeted to the Orange County
Chinese community. The article will not only feature OCDOA, but will also offer general
information for older adults and caregivers, always pointing readers back to OCDOA.
2022-27 Master Aging Plan
9. MAP Workgroups Third Quarter Meetings are coming up
a. Some MAP Workgroup third quarter meetings have already been held and the other groups are
being scheduled.
10. Baseline data is being developed for each MAP workgroup
a. Janice is working with Leiha Edmonds, MAP Intern, to figure out baseline data for different
initiatives in the MAP. They will be meeting with the MAP Workgroup Leadership Team and
individually with each workgroup leader for a data learning check.
b. The County is doing a comprehensive plan and is referencing our MAP
c. MAP Qualtrics data shared with county manager's office.
Committee Progress Reports if needed:
11. Senior Tar Heel Legislature— Dick White/Vibeke Talley
a. STHL will meet on March 21—22 and will go directly to legislators to advocate for the top five
master aging concerns. Vibeke and Dick will be there to represent Orange County. STHL is trying
very hard to get back on track after COVID and remain active.
12. Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee
13. Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee—Jackie Podger
a. Visiting nursing homes, having meetings, presenting to BOCC annual report. We now have six
people on the committee, with space for ten and looking for four additional people. The State
training is still on hold, which means that the local training cannot continue. An email was sent
from BOCC Chair, Jamezetta Bedford, to Autumn Cox, Triangle J Regional Ombudsman, in mid-
February inquiring as to the specific training delays. Autumn replied that the training modules
for NC are now complete and sent to NCDHHS. CAC members across the state have lost
volunteers due to training not coming through.
14. Friends of the Passmore Center
15. Friends of the Seymour Center
Janice reported that she jointed a meeting with the County Planning Department and the new Contra dancer
community who are "Dancing into Retirement."The group is pretty far along in developing a planned
community called, Fiddlehead. The plans are for aging in community focused on the arts. Talk includes
potentially building a family care home on the property.
Adjournment
Next meeting: April 11, 2023 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. —Seymour Center &Virtual