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LiveOn NY Advocates for Seniors in the State Budget

While the older adult population continues to be the fastest growing demographic, making up nearly 16% of the State’s population, the programs that support older New Yorkers remain chronically underfunded. Representative of this underfunding, the overall state budget grew by 3.1% in the Executive Budget, while the NYSOFA budget lagged behind overall growth, at 1.8%, despite the population it serves making up a larger and larger share of the overall population.

LiveOn NY is proud to offer the below testimony calling for funding for critical services for older New Yorkers in the New York State budget, all with the goal of making New York a better place to age.


New York State 
Joint Legislative Budget Hearing 
Human Services
February 2, 2022

My name is Brianna Paden-Williams and I am the Communications and Policy Associate at LiveOn NY. Thank you to both the Senate and the Assembly for the opportunity to testify today.

LiveOn NY represents the diverse network of nonprofit organizations that help older New Yorkers to thrive in their communities. Through advocacy, mobilization and coalition building, we advance systemic change to ensure that New York is an equitable and inclusive place to age regardless of wealth, racial disparities and other barriers.

With a base of more than 100 community-based organizations, LiveOn NY’s members provide core services throughout New York, including senior centers, congregate and home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, transportation, NORCs, case management, and home care.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the human services sector has stepped up to ensure the most vulnerable New Yorkers, including older adults, have access to critical services to age in community. For over two years, providers confronted a pandemic that put older adults at the greatest risk, not only to the virus, but also to the negative health impacts of extended periods of isolation while staying home to avoid infection. In response to these threats, providers worked to change their service models virtually overnight, shifting to reaching clients via phone, setting up zoom classes, enrolling clients in new emergency food systems, navigating new vaccine systems, and continuing to be a resource to older adults throughout New York.

We appreciate the recent aging related commitments by Governor Hochul in the Executive Budget to support the human services sector and older New Yorkers. In particular, we appreciate and encourage inclusion in the Adopted Budget: 

  • $500 million to include a 5.4% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for human services workers,

  • $300 million investment to develop and preserve affordable senior housing for low-income older adults,

  • $500,000 in support of the creation of a Master Plan on Aging, and

  • Continued funding, totalling $23 million, to address unmet need for aging services across the state.

Nonetheless, we also recognize the work still needed to be done to better support older New Yorkers. While the older adult population continues to be the fastest growing demographic, making up nearly 16% of the State’s population, the programs that support older New Yorkers remain chronically underfunded. Representative of this underfunding, the overall state budget grew by 3.1% in the Executive Budget, while the NYSOFA budget lagged behind overall growth, at 1.8%, despite the population it serves making up a larger and larger share of the overall population.

To begin to address the inequities impacting older adults and providers, the following represents LiveOn NY’s Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget recommendations:

Budget Ask: $14.1 million to support NYSOFA-funded Home Delivered Meals for older adults

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated significant increases to the demand for home-delivered meals (HDM), with providers now serving more older adults than ever, with thousands of new clients being added to the service since March. The HDM program offers older adults across the State with a daily nutritious meal, however, COVID-19 has put a strain on HDM providers including difficulty hiring drivers and delivery staff due to low wages, rising costs of raw food, a significant growth in the state's 65+ population, difficulty recruiting and retaining volunteers, and high rates of food insecurity.  

Budget Ask: $5 Million to Create a Resident Advisor Program in Affordable Senior Housing

Deepening investments in affordable senior housing with services is critical in future years, not only to improve the quality of life of older New Yorkers and address rising senior homelessness, but as a cost-savings measure against increased Medicaid and Medicare spending. A resident advisor program in senior housing residences has proven to reduce health care costs, including reducing Medicaid expenditures. 

A $5 million investment in FY23, totaling $25 million over five years, will create a new resident advisor program to ensure older adults can age safely with access to light touch, non-medical services. This investment will inevitably save Medicaid dollars, with one such study, by our member, Selfhelp Community Services, finding the hospitalization rate of those living in a building with service coordination was 43% percent lower than for those living in the surrounding zip code.

Full Funding for Fair Pay for Home Care

Fair Pay for Home Care, S5374 (May) / A6329 (Gottfried) seeks to “establish a base wage for home care workers at 150% of the regional minimum wage” to create jobs for New Yorkers, support older adults, people with disabilities and caregivers, and rebuild our economy by paying home care workers a just wage. Without a mandate and funding from the government, the wage compression will continue to be exacerbated, straining the existing home care system. 

This legislation would move New York forward in creating a caring economy, ensuring that older New Yorkers and individuals with disabilities have access to critical services to safely age in community as well as pay workers the fair and equitable wage they deserve. 

Address Waiting Lists for NYSOFA Services

Waiting lists for NYSOFA services remain a chronic issue as New York’s counties and non-profit providers continue to experience waiting lists for services due to insufficient funding to meet the demand. Given the exorbitant strain COVID-19 has placed on the older adult population, the prospect of adding further stress to the lives of older New Yorkers by forcing them to wait for critical services is untenable and must be addressed through significant and immediate investments. In addition, increased investments in addressing the waiting list for NYSOFA services will inevitably help balance the State’s budget by reducing Medicaid expenditures. 

Budget Ask: $20 Million to increase funding for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP)

The LTCOP is a resource for older adults and persons with disabilities who live in nursing homes, assisted living and other licensed residential facilities. Today ombudspeople help residents understand and exercise their rights to good care in an environment that promotes and protects their dignity and quality of life. 

Ombudspeople investigate and resolve complaints; promote the development of resident and family councils; and inform stakeholders about issues and concerns that impact facility residents. The importance of the program was underscored during COVID, unfortunately, as was its underinvestment. The program was hamstrung in its ability to assist older New Yorkers in nursing homes due to lack of investment, and will remain so into the future without an infusion of funds.

Budget Ask: $350,000 for LiveOn NY’s Rights and Information for Senior Empowerment (RISE) Program

To ensure that older people can tap into their momentum and age in place, LiveOn NY is requesting $350,000 in funding for LiveOn NY’s Rights and Information for Senior Empowerment (RISE) Program. Through RISE, LiveOn NY will train statewide older adult service professionals, as well as work with elected officials and their respective staff to reach and provide critical information and resources to older adults in the five boroughs.  

This statewide initiative will be based on LiveOn NY’s successful partnering, outreach and education model that combines public and private partnerships with volunteer and professionally led engagement. This program has three key outcomes:

  • Older New Yorkers will be aware of the key laws, policies and resources which are meant to help them age in place, as well as how to get assistance as needed. 

  • Expansion to provide training and education for the senior service workforce so that they also know about benefits, programs and services, and how to best help their clients, this includes through our “Boots on the Ground” committee meetings.

  • Serve as “constituent services” partner with your office to bring needed information to the community (e.g. through information for your newsletters).

LiveOn NY thanks our champions in the legislature for their previous years of support for this program, and requests continued support to allow our team to continue supporting professionals and older New Yorkers through RISE into the future.

In Conclusion 

As we look ahead, LiveOn NY is ready to work with the State to continue to move the human services sector forward to ensure all New Yorkers can thrive in community with access to equitable community-based aging services.  

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Testimony provided by Brianna Paden-Williams, Communications and Policy Associate at LiveOn NY 
For questions, please email bpaden-williams@liveon-ny.org

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LiveOn NY Calls on Mayor Adams to Exempt DFTA from the 3% Budget Cut

Last week, Mayor Eric Adam announced a 3% budget cut under the Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) across most City agencies to close the gap in the City budget for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, and the years ahead.

January 19 2022 (New York, NY) – Last week, Mayor Eric Adam announced a 3% budget cut under the Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) across most City agencies to close the gap in the City budget for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, and the years ahead.

LiveOn NY calls on Mayor Adams to exempt the Department for the Aging (DFTA) from the 3% budget cut. Moreover, as the City looks to continue to recover from COVID-19 it should look to bolster all human services, which have been leaned on so heavily over the past two years. Further, we call on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to fulfill its previous commitment to increasing funding for the home-delivered meals program by allocating an additional $2.3 million in FY22 and $9.4 million in FY23 as was promised.

Under the PEG, Mayor Adams has exempted “the Department of Correction, Health + Hospitals, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, due to the unique challenges these agencies currently face.” However, for years, the Department for the Aging (DFTA) has been chronically underfunded and understaffed with the budget remaining at less than ½ of 1% of the overall budget, despite a rapidly increasing older adult population. Further, the continued global pandemic, which has disproportionately impacted and taken the lives of older New Yorkers certainly constitutes a “unique challenge” requiring DFTA be held harmless to remain laser-focused on combating COVID-19.

“For too long, DFTA and aging service providers have worked tirelessly, to provide essential community-based aging services - from home-delivered meals, to Older Adult Centers, to case management - to older adults despite the lack of adequate funding,” said Allison Nickerson, Executive Director at LiveOn NY. “A 3% budget cut to DFTA would further strain the agency and providers, posing a risk to older adults who rely on these services to safely age in community. We urge the City to exempt DFTA from the budget cut and stand on their commitment to support all older adults to ensure we can all thrive in community as we age.”

Human services and aging service providers have been the backbone of our City, particularly throughout the pandemic, providing older adults with necessary services and support to safely age in community. We believe every New Yorker deserves a quality of life and the ability to age in community with equitable access to services regardless of one’s zip code. The City cannot allow the DFTA budget to experience further cuts that will jeopardize the future of aging services.

Press Contact:

Katelyn Andrews, Director of Public Policy, kandrews@liveon-ny.org

Brianna Paden-Williams, Communications and Policy Associate, bpaden-williams@liveon-ny.org

About LiveOn NY

LiveOn NY’s members provide the core, community-based services that allow older adults to thrive in their communities. With a base of more than 100 community-based organizations serving at least 300,000 older New Yorkers annually. Our members provide services ranging from senior centers, congregate and home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing with services, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, case management, transportation, and NORCs. LiveOn NY advocates for increased funding for these vital services to improve both the solvency of the system and the overall capacity of community-based service providers.

LiveOn NY also administers a citywide outreach program and staffs a hotline that educates, screens and helps with benefit enrollment including SNAP, SCRIE and others, and also administers the Rights and Information for Senior Empowerment (RISE) program to bring critical information directly to seniors on important topics to help them age well in their communities.


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LiveOn NY Applauds Governor Hochul Commitment to Older New Yorkers in Her First State of the State Address

This Wednesday, Governor Hochul held her first State of the State address, articulating policy and budgetary priorities for the coming session including aging related commitments to support all New Yorkers as we age. LiveOn NY applauds Governor Hochul commitments outlined in the agenda, which serve as significant markers of what's likely to come on the state level this year.

January 7, 2022 (New York, NY) – This Wednesday, Governor Hochul held her first State of the State address, articulating policy and budgetary priorities for the coming session including aging related commitments to support all New Yorkers as we age. LiveOn NY applauds Governor Hochul commitments outlined in the agenda, which serve as significant markers of what's likely to come on the state level this year. 

"LiveOn NY thanks Governor Hochul for her commitment to support all older New Yorkers as well as direct providers, organizations and agencies who provide critical services that allow older adults to age in community," stated Allison Nickerson, Executive Director of LiveOn NY. "We look forward to working with the Governor and her counterparts in the Legislature to enact these key pieces of her agenda and to continue to push forward in making New York a better place to age."

Most notable aging related commitments include:

  • Establish a State Master Plan for Aging, "creating a blueprint of strategies to ensure that older New Yorkers can live fulfilling lives, in good health, with the freedom and independence to age in place for as long as possible."

  • A $10 Billion Investment in Healthcare and Support Wages for Workers, this multi-year investment includes a $500 million investment in Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) to help raise wages for human services workers and $2.2 billion on initiatives to strengthen our home healthcare workforce.

  • A $25 billion, five-year Housing Plan to create and preserve 100,000 affordable homes in both urban and rural communities, including 10,000 supportive housing units. Notably, this also includes a $300 million investment in the construction and preservation of affordable senior housing, a pathway to legalize Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and create the Eviction Prevention Legal Assistance Program.

  • Advance health equity by supporting nursing home conversions to the Green House model, studying the impacts of COVID on the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, and expanding the current programming of the State Office for the Aging to more New Yorkers.

Read the 2022 State of the State for additional information.

Press Contact: 

Katelyn Andrews, Director of Public Policy, kandrews@liveon-ny.org

Brianna Paden-Williams, Communications and Policy Associate, bpaden-williams@liveon-ny.org

About LiveOn NY

LiveOn NY’s members provide the core, community-based services that allow older adults to thrive in their communities. With a base of more than 100 community-based organizations serving at least 300,000 older New Yorkers annually. Our members provide services ranging from senior centers, congregate and home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing with services, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, case management, transportation, and NORCs. LiveOn NY advocates for increased funding for these vital services to improve both the solvency of the system and the overall capacity of community-based service providers.

LiveOn NY also administers a citywide outreach program and staffs a hotline that educates, screens and helps with benefit enrollment including SNAP, SCRIE and others, and also administers the Rights and Information for Senior Empowerment (RISE) program to bring critical information directly to seniors on important topics to help them age well in their communities.


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LiveOn NY Joins Call for State 5-Year Capital Investment in Affordable Housing

Led by the New York Housing Conference, LiveOn NY joined a coalition of 16 organizations to craft our newly released report calling on New York State to make a new, expanded 5-year capital plan and investment.

Recommendations in the report are centered around a call for a new, five-year $6 Billion Affordable Housing Plan and continued reoccurring program spending, totaling $1 billion over the next five years.

Led by the New York Housing Conference, LiveOn NY joined a coalition of 16 organizations to craft our newly released report calling on New York State to make a new, expanded 5-year capital plan and investment.

Recommendations in the report are centered around a call for a new, five-year $6 Billion Affordable Housing Plan and continued reoccurring program spending, totaling $1 billion over the next five years.

Within the report are numerous recommendations specific to serving an aging population:

  • Establish the Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program: The 5-year plan should include:

    • 200 million in capital funding for affordable senior housing development

    • $5 million dollars annually ($25 million over 5 years) to allow for resident assistants in new and existing affordable senior housing developments. (Learn more below)

  • SCRIE Reform: In order to address the many older adults who are and may soon be overburdened with rising housing costs, the State should enact three pieces of legislation to keeping older people affordably housed; increase renter education and program salience.

    • S2897, (Sen Kavanagh): Provides for annual adjustment of the maximum income threshold by CPI Increase;

    • S512/A719, (Sen Krueger and AM Rosenthal): SCRIE lease noticerider; and

    • S3920/A2474 (Sen Sander and AM Reyes): Freezes rent at original date of eligibility.

You can help to amplify the need for this robust housing plan by taking to social media using the hashtag, #NEWNYHOUSINGPLAN

Report collaborators include: LiveOn NY, New York Housing Conference, Rural Housing Coalition (RHC), New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH), LISC NYC, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), Supportive Housing Network of New York (SHNNY), Neighborhood Preservation Coalition of New York State (NPCNYS), Center for New York City Neighborhoods (CNYCN), Regional Planning Association (RPA), New York State Rural Advocates (NYSRA), Enterprise Community Partners, Habitat for Humanity NYC and Westchester County, Leading Age New York, New Destiny Housing


More on the need for an Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program

To further promote the need for the Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program in specific, LiveOn NY, along with partners at LeadingAge New York, led an effort to memorialize this request in a letter to Governor Hochul in advance of the new session.

Letter signatories include: LiveOn NY, LeadingAge New York, Enterprise Community Partners, New York Housing Conference, Selfhelp Community Services, WSFSSH | West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, Catholic Charities POP Development, Homeless Services United, RiseBoro Community Partnership, SAGE, JASA, Breaking Ground, Selfhelp Realty Group | The Melamid Institute for Affordable Housing, Foxy Management, Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc., SKA Marin, Sisters of Charity Housing Development Corporation

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State Aging Hearing on COVID Impacts on Senior Services

Among other challenges, the ability to remain fed, access to community-based supports, and an insufficient technology infrastructure were some of the primary issues facing older adults during the pandemic. Further, efforts to mitigate risk of exposure to COVID-19 had the unintended consequence of exacerbating issues of isolation across our state.

New York State Assembly
Standing Committee on Aging
Chair, Assembly Member Ron Kim November 22, 2021

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the impact of COVID-19 on programs and support services for older adults and their caregivers within the state.

LiveOn NY’s members include more than 100 community-based nonprofits that provide core services which allow all New Yorkers to thrive in our communities as we age, including senior centers, home‐delivered meals, affordable senior housing, elder abuse prevention, caregiver support, NORCs, and case management. With our members, we work to make New York a better place to age.

Background

It is evident that the pandemic itself exposed the limitations to our existing long-term care system — including our overreliance on institutionalization which proved deadly — that must be addressed to better support older adults into the future. Among other challenges, the ability to remain fed, access to community-based supports, and an insufficient technology infrastructure were some of the primary issues facing older adults during the pandemic. Further, efforts to mitigate risk of exposure to COVID-19 had the unintended consequence of exacerbating issues of isolation across our state.

Conversely, the pandemic highlighted the importance of the very community-based services that had long been ignored across our State. As programs such as Senior Centers, Social Adult Day programs, and NORCs were mandated to temporarily shutter in-person operations, dramatic increases in isolation and mental health concerns made clear the meaningful difference each makes in our communities when operating at full capacity.

Finally, data from the CDC found that Black and brown Americans represented 30% of COVID cases, despite accounting for only 13% of the population. Further, black workers made up a significant portion of the frontline workers deemed essential throughout COVID-19, placing these individuals and their families at greater risk throughout the pandemic. Consequently, hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID disproportionately affected people of color all over the country. This data makes clear the existing inequalities across our state that must be confronted in order to create a more equitable system of care.

Recommendations

Today, we have an opportunity to reflect how the pandemic has impacted programs and services geared toward older adults. Through the challenges, we have learned valuable lessons in how to address current problems. In order to tackle these challenges and overcome them in order to create long term solutions, LiveOn NY recommends the following:

Support the Workforce that Supports New Yorkers

Fund Just Pay for human services workers

The work that has been done by Senior Center directors, home-delivered meal cooks, home care workers, and so many other aging services positions unsaid, has been nothing short of heroic during the pandemic. And yet, their pay was rewarded with only a 1% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) last year, the first adjustment in years. To date, the State has mostly deferred the statutory COLA for human services workers, costing workers almost $700 million in increased salaries over the last 12 years. This has resulted in increased staff turnover as underpaid staff leave nonprofits for better paying jobs in other sectors, depriving New Yorkers of services from the most experienced, well-trained staff and jeopardizing high-quality services.

In order to create a long-term system of care that is well staffed to grow to meet the demands of an increasing older adult population, better wages are among the first things that need to be addressed. Therefore, LiveOn NY recommends the State include the statutory COLA for human services providers in the FY23 budget. This COLA is a crucial investment, as human services nonprofits, including the aging services providers that proved so valuable during COVID-19, take on contracts with the State to deliver the most essential services to our communities, and yet these contracts last five or more years with no other mechanism to deal with increasing costs. There is a real opportunity here, by providing this COLA, to invest in a significant workforce made up of 66% women and 68% people of color, doing some of the most important work across our State.

Enact and fund Fair Pay for Home Care, S5374 (May) / A6329 (Gottfried)

This legislation would “establish a base wage for home care workers at 150% of the regional minimum wage,” thereby ensuring the role of home care workers remains competitive, at least in comparison to minimum wage positions. Without such a mandate and corresponding funding from the State government — whose role it is to set wages — wage compression will continue to diminish the viability of this occupation which would exacerbate the existing home care attendant shortage. In practice, this means that, by

State dictated wages continuing to devalue the wages of home care workers, an older adult who has been screened as eligible for home care may find it impossible to find coverage, making it likely that the individual will be forced to move into a nursing home in order to receive care. Only by the State appropriately funding, and thereby respecting, the role of home care workers can it begin to address the resulting home care attendant shortage and in-turn create the community system of care that is preferred by New Yorkers. It’s time for Fair Pay for Home Care.

Invest in the Home-Delivered Meals Program

Across the state, home-delivered meal programs, more commonly known as “Meals on Wheels,” are experiencing extreme challenges recruiting and retaining drivers to complete the State’s more than 2,000 meal routes. The program, which relies on a mixture of volunteers and professional drivers to meet the demand, is confronting both a difficult labor market and a shortage of volunteers. Volunteerism in New York is often executed by older adults, a population that is more reluctant to volunteer opportunities that take place outside of the home as a result of the high risks associated with COVID-19. Further, evidence of the driver shortage for the delivery of meals, the National Transportation Institute anticipates a 5-20% increase in wages for professional driver (referring to the truck drivers) wages through 2022. With these factors in mind, it is time to increase funding for existing Meals on Wheels programs to allow for wage increases.

Invest in the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (LTCOP)

The LTCOP is an advocate and resource for older adults and persons with disabilities who live in nursing homes, assisted living and other licensed residential facilities. Today ombudspeople help residents understand and exercise their rights to good care in an environment that promotes and protects their dignity and quality of life. The program advocates for residents at both the individual and systems levels to address issues that have the potential to impact their health and wellness. Ombudspeople investigate and resolve complaints; promote the development of resident and family councils; and inform government agencies, providers and the public about issues and concerns that impact facility residents. Ombudsmen’s activities also greatly enhance the footprint of DOH facility surveillance activities by sharing resident concerns and quality of care issues observed during regular interactions with residents.

The importance of this program was seen during the COVID-19 crisis. Throughout this pandemic, the LTCOP staff and volunteers worked to remain engaged with residents,

families, and facilities to provide information and support to ensure that resident rights are protected but, without access, it was hard. Further, unfortunately, continuity of the program amidst COVID-19 has been strained given the significant reliance on volunteers, which, as with the home-delivered meal and other programs, were less available to execute the aims of the program. No longer can we rely on volunteers to execute what should be core, well-paid functions of our community care system. In this vein, it is critical to invest an additional $4.81 million dollars to modernize and further professionalize this program.

Expand Service Capacity to Meet Demand

Fund NYSOFA to address waiting lists for services.

Waiting lists for home care and case management remain a chronic issue in New York City. The existence of waiting lists increases the likelihood of an older adult being institutionalized since waiting lists for services can exist for years. To delay a single older adult from getting such support—particularly during a global pandemic that has left older New Yorkers most vulnerable—is to deny them the opportunity to age with dignity and respect. Given the exorbitant strain COVID-19 has placed on the older adult population, the prospect of adding further stress to the lives of older New Yorkers by forcing them to wait for critical services is untenable and must be addressed through significant and immediate investments.

Additionally, increased investments in addressing waiting lists will inevitably help balance the State’s budget by reducing Medicaid expenditures. Findings indicate that for every 1% increase in home-delivered meal service to the older adult population, there is a significant savings to Medicaid through the reduction of higher-cost care. In particular, findings indicate that in New York, savings from just a 1% increase in meal service would lead to $11,427,143 Medicaid savings—proving that waiting lists for such services are more costly than the cost of the meal service itself. To date, the State has included two funding allocations to address waiting lists ($15 million and $8 million respectively), both allocations should be renewed in the coming fiscal year to continue these critical services. Additional funding to address new waiting lists must also be allocated.

Invest in the Technology Infrastructure of the Aging Services System

COVID-19 has shown the vast digital divide in the older population. The most vulnerable older residents have been without interaction for months, and having the ability to create and implement a robust virtual platform for our clients is paramount. There needs to be a

substantial investment to purchase and implement technology to bridge the gap in social isolation and loneliness. The network of Area Agencies on Aging and subcontracting non-profit providers stand prepared to implement a variety of programs, including expanding virtual senior centers across the state, with a pilot investment of $5 million.

Legislate to Improve Systems

Sign S598B and A3922 into law

S598/A3922 laudably seeks to create a task force to reimagine long term care in New York State. LiveOn NY has long advocated for the emergence of a Task Force to seize the opportunity to emphasize the cost-effective, community-based long term care models that already exist and could be further expanded. For example, one of LiveOn NY’s members, Selfhelp Community Services, have designed the Selfhelp Active Services for Aging Model (SHASAM) which provides a culturally competent social worker in affordable senior housing to serve their diverse residents. This model also provides other supportive services such as benefits and entitlement assistance and health programming. Additionally, Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) offer the NORC model which employs social workers, nurses, and in programming to encourage physical activity and combat social isolation. By mobilizing a dedicated Task Force to oversee the growth and expansion of these models and others alike, New York will contribute to the larger cause of enabling older adults to age in place with their care needs addressed. It is critical this legislation be signed into law and operationalized.

Sign S4652 and A6590 into law

S4652/A6590 is an act directing “the commissioner of economic development, in consultation with the commissioner of health, labor and OCFS to study, develop, and implement a long-term strategy to support the growth of the caregiving industry in New York state.” This legislation recognizes long-term care as an area not only of great social need, but one of incredible economic opportunity that has yet to be fully appreciated. To begin to view care work within the context our our State’s larger economic and labor strategy would constitute a significant step forward that could prove to shape better outcomes amidst a future crisis. It is critical this legislation be signed into law and operationalized.

In conclusion, LiveOn NY stands ready to work with the State to continue to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and further determine mechanisms to improve our system of care into the future.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.


Testimony Delivered By: Katelyn Andrews Director of Public Policy
For questions, Contact: kandrews@liveon-ny.org

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