COMMITTEE ON AGING MINUTES

January 24, 2012

 

This meeting and all other meetings of this committee are open to the public. Proper notice has been posted and given to the press in accordance with Wisconsin statutes so that the citizenry may be aware of the time, place, and agenda of this meeting.

 

Chairperson Pat Craig called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m. at Waupaca County Courthouse, Waupaca, WI, 54981

 

MEMBERS PRESENT: Caroline Murphy, Wayne Laux, and Patricia Craig.

 

MEMBERS EXCUSED: Robert Miller & Paul Hagen (resigned – to be replaced by county board in April, 2012).

 

MEMBERS ABSENT: Steve Stead

 

ALSO PRESENT: Pat Enright, Beverly Laux, Kristine Wiegman, and Peggy Strey.

 

I.       ADOPTION OF AGENDA:

Motion by Caroline Murphy, second by Wayne Laux, to approve agenda. Motion carried.

 

II.     APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Caroline Murphy, second by Wayne Laux, to accept the minutes of November 22, 2011.  Motion carried.

 

Public Comment:  None

 

III.    ADRC/AGING DIRECTOR GENERAL REPORT – Pat Enright

No changes to report.

 

IV.     AGING NETWORK REPORT

A.  GWAAR – Program Updates, December, 2011, publication routed

B.  Other – None

 

V.        COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP – New Member Recommendation

Person chose membership of ADRC committee, therefore, no action needed.

 

Caroline Murphy’s membership will expire in October, so new member procurement is ongoing.

 

VI.     NUTRITION PROGRAMS

A.  Site Updates – Weyauwega site in need of assistance as Experience Works aide and a regular volunteer are both out for medical reasons, possibly indefinitely. Did get new dishwasher, which helps.

B.  Nutrition Advisory Council – December meeting minutes will be included in next agenda mailing. There was lots of conversation by NAC on help for the Waupaca site with emphasis on possibly cutting other sites by 15 minutes each day to accommodate additional hours for Waupaca site manager. Pat respects their input, but isn’t sure how the federal budget, which is not yet received, will impact things. The Nutrition Advisory Council is advisory to this committee. This committee supports Pat in his recommendation not to pursue any changes at this time.

C.  Donations - Meal cost breakdown will be provided at next meeting. Pat requested committee recommendation for increased donation of $3.50/meal. Are looking for other ways to solicit meal program donations. Before Director Ted Phernetton’s departure, Pat and he discussed setting up a non-profit for people who wish to receive tax credit for their charitable contributions towards our programs, which would make them more attractive gifts. We received some generous donations in the past month from a few different sources that were totally unexpected. These are generally few and far between. The dollars will be used to fill needs at the sites at which they were directed. If there are no immediate needs the monies will be folded into the general meal fund. 

 

VII.  AGING PROGRAMS UPDATES

A.  Aging Unit Self Assessment – 2011

ü  Pat routed and reviewed each section of the Bureau of Aging and Disability Resources Aging Unit Self-Assessment. Our ADRC social workers complete home visits for those requesting meals on wheels, which is often a sign that there are other unmet needs.

ü  Will focus on emergency preparedness and hopes to utilize the Red Cross.

ü  Updated group on current Transportation Committee activity.

ü  NFCSP – connection with ADRC interrelated. Caregiver Coalition strongly expanding. Working on piggy backing caregiver education as a component of Health Fairs. Also providing adult daycare for caregiver attendance.  Is working on extracting information from employers/businesses to see how care giving affects their employ.  Developing education committee and working on a website.  AFCSP dollars continue to dwindle. 

 

B.  Planning for Input on 2013-2015 Aging Plan – re locally determined focus areas. Pat reviewed document data. See handout. Is working on gathering Bethany’s numbers as they offer classes too and can be included in the count. Another local goal is to maintain support of the nutrition program, as work towards sustainability of these and other programs as funding dries up continues.

 

Motion by Caroline Murphy to approve plan as presented, second by Wayne Laux. Motion carried

 

C.  Volunteer Program – Kristine Wiegman

ü  Busy end to 2011 – Over 700 Christmas cards were donated by local school and community based groups which were sent to all MOW recipients and some congregate along with other shut-ins and local assisted living centers. Next year’s goal is 1K with even more youth involvement (K through 12).

ü  Revamping volunteer applications

ü  Work continues on update to volunteer driver handbook

ü  Recruitment efforts are constant. The Waupaca site does take the bulk of Kristine’s time although she tries to keep her efforts balanced between sites.

ü  Has developed a great partnership with WDUX and participates in the Breakfast Show often. Will start focusing efforts on PSA’s.

ü  Uses regional papers for recruitment needs whenever possible. The County Post East and West cut back to just one section now, so space is limited.

ü  Will be using more Social Media.

ü  Bethany has offered assistance with MOW delivery

ü  Sites celebrating “Volunteer Appreciation” during week of 4/16. They each get $50.00 to spend on this celebration/recognition, so Kristine is seeking out businesses and others who would be willing to donate toward cakes and/or other items to help defray the cost. She is working on a “sunshine” related theme.

 

D.  Elderly Benefit Specialist

Kathy Austin made it through Part D season with some holiday respite due to the earlier deadline but is now preparing for the tax season -Homestead.

 

E.  Transportation Program

Logisticare is now fully partnered with us and our drivers are on board. Nancy is getting very busy. We have decided to mirror their driver requirements, which raises our bar. There was some question as to how long riders continue to wait and due to our efforts this is much improved. Logisticare continues to take no responsibility for this. We are working on a better system with Waupaca Taxi because the way Logisitcare’s voucher system works they need to schedule rides 10 days in advance. We want voucher assess to help reduce/eliminate that need.  Pat was made aware of an interesting resource called www.doeslogisticare.com

 

F.   National Family Caregiver Support Program

1.   Caregiver Coalition – Spoke at length on this under item VII A.

2.   Program Changes – ADRC I & A workers absorbed NFCSP management (previously done by Kathy A).

 

VIII.        AGING AND DISABILTY RESOURCE CENTER REPORT

A.     Waiting List and Family Care Cap – Legislation must be passed in order to the lift the cap although it is inevitable because the state was found to be in violation. We have already been told to move forward.

B.     2011 ADRC Encounter Reporting –4th quarter stats available next time. Pat shared figures of interest.

C.     Other – The Politics of Scarcity (November 11, 2011) and Greedy Geezers or Age Warfare (December 19, 2011) both written by Tom Frazier. Also reviewed new POA information.

 

IX.     NEXT MEETING - March 27, 2012 – 9:00 A.M. – Clintonville Nutrition Site

 

X.        ADJOURN – Motion by Wayne Laux, second by Caroline Murphy, to adjourn. Motion carried.

 

Respectfully submitted by,

 

Peggy Strey, Secretary

Aging and Disability Resource Unit