Long Term Care News and Views Sharing Information about Home and Community-Based Long Term Care Services Planning for Elders in the Central City* Volume 15 Issue 6* June 2010 DAAS Announces Proposed Cuts for Next Year In this economy, it seems like budget cuts are just something we come to expect. We also know that organizing and resistance to stop the cuts is what the city can expect. The De- partment of Aging and Adult Services has just put out a list of proposed cuts for next year’s budget: $ 515,000 for nutrition (providing less costly meals - not fewer meals), $200,000 Naturalization, $200,000 Legal, $100,000 Hoarders and Clutters, $400,000 Case Manage-ment, $290,000 Senior Centers (approximately a 10% reduction), $123,000 Housing Ad-vocacy (contract is with SAN), $240,000 Alzheimer’s Day Resource Centers. Total= $2,068,000 Now the budget add back battle begins. Please join CASE and the Aging and Disability Budget Coalition for budget advocacy. It is not too late to save these programs. The final budget will be decided by the Board of Supervisors after community input from people like us. The next CASE meeting will be Monday June 14th at SF Senior Center, 481 O’Farrell Street. We will be developing our budget advocacy plan for action. Also, please come to these important meetings where the budget will be discussed: DAAS Finance Committee meeting Wed., June 9, 2010, 9:30 am, City Hall, Room 416 DAAS Commission meeting Tues., June 15, 2010, 9:30am, City Hall, Room 416 For more information contact James at (415) 703-0188 ext 304 Next IHSS- Health Task Force Attention IHSS workers! Thursday June 3rd The deadline for meeting the provider enroll- 10:30 A.M.-12:00 Noon ment requirements is rapidly approaching. It is 1453 Mission Street Suite 520 June 30th. In order to get paid for your work, even if you have been a homecare worker for Did you know you can contribute many years, you must start the new registration to Planning for Elders on-line? process, which consists of the background Visit our website: check and fingerprinting. You do not need to www.planningforelders.org complete it by this date, but you need to have and click on “DONATE.” Thank you! started it. As of July 1, if a provider has begun Inside this Issue: any part In the Spotlight: Raymond Vega Pg 2 are considered “pending” and will be able to be News and Events Pg 3 paid. DAAS is processing 200 people a day Consumer Rights for Community Living Pg 4 HAT Pg 5 (down from 300 last month) and there is more Senior Survival School Pg 6 than enough time to process everyone. After Calendar Pg 7 July 1 people who have not begun the process Check up out on facebook: can not be paid, and will have to complete the Planning for Elders in the Central City entire process before they can be paid retroac- And our blog: tively. Call DAAS now at (415) 355-6700. hospitaldischargerights.blogspot.com In the Spotlight: Raymond Vega Put on your sunglasses. This month the spotlight shines on the in- credible HAT member Raymond Vega. Ray was born July 8, 1946 and raised in Stockton California where he graduated from Franklin High School. Ray has 3 sisters and 3 brothers, and he is the eldest. Ray worked as a counselor with Spanish speaking junior high, high school and college students for several years where he helped them with their academic caseloads and with problems they were experiencing. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 70s and worked as a ship- ping and receiving clerk and took classes at Cal State Los Angeles for a few years. In 1979 he returned to Stockton and became a hospital worker at a center for people with developmental disabilities. Ray re- members taking them on outings and to recreational activities through- out his eight years at this job. Ray severely injured his back while help- ing a heavy patient from falling. The patient was safe, but Ray acquired a permanent disability that he has coped with since then. Ray moved to San Francisco in 1999 and lived at the Jefferson Hotel where he served as a tenant representative with the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. Ray also worked on Chris Daly’s campaign and became a host of District 6. He helped organize presenters to come to the hotel to talk about safety, health issues, bedbugs, heat and repairs. Ray always has the concerns of others in mind and he helped the SRO residents find their voice and speak out for their rights. In 2000 he worked for he census but had to stop and have surgery for severe diver- ticulitis. It was during this time he experienced some medical mistreatment and had to strongly advocate for himself in order to get appropriate care. Following this experience he became an advocate for people to stand up for their rights. Ray became a mentor for iso- lated seniors and helped them with paperwork and going to doctors appointments. He also checked on them just to make sure they were ok. Presently he is the Director of Disability Issues with Seniors Organizing Seniors and is a dedicated member of the HealthCare Action Team. He can always be counted on to repre- sent disability concerns, testify at hearings and take the front line at press conferences and rallies when he is not going to the symphony, to concerts, museums, or just to spending time at the ocean. During his youth there was a lot of racial tension in Stockton and he remembers being really hurt by abusive things people would say. Ray knows what it is like to be discriminated against, and as a result he is a very compassionate advocate who wants everyone to re- member that we are all brothers and sisters, regardless of race, gender, orientation or abil- ity. He feels that you should always give encouragement to others even if it is just someone you see in the street. Ray never misses and opportunity to spread joy and kindness. Ray is an extremely kind and loving person and the community is stronger because of his advo- cacy for others. We love Ray here at Planning for Elders. He is a dedicated member of HAT and his unique presence is always appreciated. Que Viva Ray! Page 2 News and Events Tony Nicco is Retiring After many years of service working for the City and County of San Francisco, the irreplaceable Anthony (aka Tony) Nicco will be retiring. For the past 35 years he has worked at the Human Ser- vices agency in a variety of capacities: Food Stamp Worker, Program Assistant in General Assistance, Budget Office, Office of Contract Compliance, Homeless Program, and Child Wel- fare Services. In July 1992 he was assigned to the position of Program Manager of Adult Services that comprised In-Home Supportive Services and Adult Protective Services. In January 2001 Adult Protective Services was transferred to the Department of Aging and Adult Services. In July 2005 In-Home Supportive Services moved from the Department of Human Services to the Department of Aging and Adult Services. Some of his other activities include: Member, Senior Services Taskforce, Mem- ber, Long Term Care Taskforce, IHSS-Health Taskforce, Member, Living With Dignity Committee, Member, Laguna Honda Rebuild Committee, Laguna Honda Community Advisory Committee, Bay Area Social Services Consortium Aging and Adult Policy Group, Living With Dignity Policy Committee. Tony served a crucial role in being involved with the IHSS Task Force. He served as a liaison between DAAS and the community and expertly explained com- plex bureaucratic minutiae with a grace and clarity that few can match. Good luck in all your endeavors and best wishes, Mr. Nicco. Thank you for all your hard work. Page 3 Planning for Elders Activities: Consumer Rights for Community Living (CRCL) IHSS update As you probably know, last October thousands of IHSS consumers in San Fran- cisco received letters notifying them of coming cuts to their homecare services. CRCL responded by producing and distributing “Know Your Rights” flyers in Eng- lish, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Russian. Through this outreach, we advised consumers of their right to appeal the cuts, and the importance of appealing right away in order to keep services while a decision was being made. We also partnered with other organizations to train 135 advocates to assist IHSS consumers with their appeals. While there is a lot of uncertainty about what will happen with IHSS this budget cycle, CRCL is laying the groundwork for an Emergency Response Network so we can move quickly to support any consum- ers who may lose services. If you would like to volunteer, please call us at 415-703-0286. And some good news from Sacramento (for a change): The State Assembly and Senate both voted last week to stop spending $8.2M this year on an IHSS anti-fraud plan and to repeal the requirement to fingerprint IHSS consumers. The fingerprint repeal requires a cost-benefit analysis to estimate what fingerprinting would save by preventing fraud. The Administration’s anti-fraud plan would cost an estimated $41.6M over seven years. The Senate voted along party lines. In the Assembly, Republican members joined Democrats in this move. The requirement to fingerprint providers remains in place. Muni Update CRCL has been actively opposing the Muni fare hikes and service cuts that are having such a devastating effect on the lives of seniors and people with disabilities. Along with many other people in the community, we gathered over 4,500 signa- tures demanding a fare freeze on the discount pass, and have spoken out at the MTA Board meetings and meetings of the Board of Supervisors. We have been meeting with members from our Board of Supervisors to voice our concerns about the impact of these measures on our lives, forcing people to choose between buy- ing medicines or food and buying a discount pass. While we succeeded in blocking the proposed hike to $30 for the pass, we were not able to keep the increase to $20 from going into effect. Page 4 Planning for Elders Activities: HealthCare Action Team (HAT) Wells Fargo Shareholder Action On April 27, more than 1,000 people from faith, labor and community groups marched to the Fi- nancial District to Wells Fargo’s annual share- holder meeting, to demand changes to corpo- rate practices that have bankrupted families and public coffers while enriching those who crashed the economy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- James Chionsini and CarolHarvey at the barricades of the Wells Fargo meeting. Lucia Trujillo from La Raza Centro Legal at the Wells Fargo Shareholder Rally The Good Neighbor Campaign is a coalition ofCentral City and Tenderloin organizations work- ing together to monitor developments regarding California Pacific Medical Center's plans for a Cathedral Hill campus. Planning for Elders HealthCare Action Team is a member of this coalition. Stay tuned for details. For more go to: http://goodneighborsanfrancisco.wordpress.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SOMA Neighborhood Tsunami The Coalition of Agencies Serving the Elderly (CASE) in conjunction with senior centers is hosting a series of candidate forums and community meetings with incumbent Supervi- sors. At the South of Market (SOMA) Tsunami on Tuesday May 18th, at the Bayanihan Community Center, Planning for Elders, Canon Kip, Veterans Equity Center, Openhouse, Senior Action Network, and API Legal Outreach hosted a District 6 Candidate forum. 13 of the 25 candidates attended and took questions from the audience about senior issues. The Canon Kip band played, and there was a raffle and snacks. June 2010 HAT MEETING Wednesday June 9 , 2010 Bayanihan Community Center 1010 Mission (at 6th) 11:00 A.M.- 12:30 P.M. Please call James for more information (415) 703-0188 Ext 304 MARCH WITH HAT FOR STATE BUDGET JUSTICE! June 3 meet at 11:30 Powell Street Bart Station The Governor and Legislature are cutting vital services so they can preserve cor- porate tax loopholes and give big breaks to big banks! Take it to the streets! Speak out for a budget that benefits the people in our communities, not big corporations! Contact James to get involved james@planningforelders.org (415) 703-0188 ext 304 Page 5 PLANNING FOR ELDERS ACTIVITIES: Planning for Elders celebrated our volunteers and board members at a luncheon during volunteer ap- preciation month in April. We enjoyed Middle East- ern Food, a song by James, and each other’s com- pany. This organization would not be what it is to- day without the dedication and hard work of all of you. Thank you for offering such great ideas, al- ways showing up to meetings and actions, and Lenny and Sarah were happy to be at the party. bringing joy to the work of fighting for our right to live in our communities. Senior Survival Sheets are now in Russian! For the first time in a very long time, the Senior Survival Sheets have been translated into Russian. This is very important to be able to connect to the Russian-speaking Senior and disability community. We will be testing out the new translation at the Sen-ior Survival School at Clementina Towers. If you would like a copy of the guide in Russian, you can download it from our website: www.planningforelders.org, or please call Sarah at 703-0188 x302 to request a copy. You can also request an English or Spanish copy by calling, and those are available on the website as well. The Senior Survival Sheets provide information on all of the topics we cover in the school, as well as special topics like pet companions and dealing with bureaucracy. Page 6 Community Calendar: June 10 Consumer-Oriented Long Term Care Activities DATE ACTIVITY TIME & PLACE MORE INFO? Mon—Fri Computer Open Lab Call Ahead, (415) 703-0188 965 Mission Street Suite 550 11:00-12:30 HealthCare Action Team 1010 Mission (at 6th) James Chionsini Wed June 9 (HAT) Bayanihan Center 703-0188 ext 304 Long Term Care Coordinating 1:00-3:00 pm Thurs. June 10 Bill.Haskell@sfgov.org Council 1 South Van Ness, 2nd Floor Thurs. June Senior Action Network (SAN) 10:00-12:00 Unitarian Universalist SAN 10 General Meeting Church 1187 Franklin @ Geary 546-1333 Thurs. June 1:00 - 2:30 ILWU Office California Alliance for Retired Jody Reid 10 1188 Franklin Street # 4 Americans (CARA) 550-0828 Thurs. June PECC Board of 5pm—6:30pm Alice Dueker 10 Directors Mtg. 965 Mission St, Suite 700 703-0188 ext 306 Coalition of Agencies Serving 3 PM-5PM Patty Clement Mon. June 14 the Elderly (CASE) SF Senior Center, 481 O’Farrell Street 452-3500 LaShaun Williams Tues. June 15 DAAS Commission 9:30 am, City Hall, room 416 355-3509 Wed. June 16 SAN Senior Housing Action 1:00 - 3pm Christina Olague Committee (SHAC) 965 Mission St Suite 700 546-1333 Thurs. June 10:30-1 pm Sarah Jarmon PECC Newsletter mailing 17 965 Mission St., Suite 550 703-0188 ext. 302 9:30 - 11:30 am Fri. June 18 Debbi Lerman HSN General Meeting Light House for the Blind and Visually 415-668-0444 Impaired, 214 Van Ness Avenue. Mayors Office on Fri. June 18 Mayor’s Disability Council 1-4 City Hall Room 400 Disability 415-554-6789 Fri. June 18 1-2:30 965 Mission St. Suite 550 Sarah Jarmon 703-0188 NOTE DATE SSS Advisory Committee Planning for Elders Board of Directors:  Harrison Parker,  Alan Coleman, MD  Pat Hess  Norma Satten DDS (President) (Vice President) (Secretary)  Walter DeVaughn  Michael Kwok  Nader Shabahangi, PhD  Marie Jobling  Nancy Brundy Page 7 If you would like to receive Long Term Care News and Views, CLIP form and return to: PECC 965 Mission St, Suite 550, San Francisco, CA 94103 Name___________________________________________________ Organization_____________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________ City___________________________________ Zip _____________ Phone:_____________ Fax: ____________email: ______________ I would prefer to get my newsletter by Mail email Enclosed is a donation (appreciated but not required) $12 $25 Other $_____ Contribute on line at www.planningforelders.org or www.networkforgood.org Long Term Care News and Views is published by Planning for Elders (PECC). Production by PECC Staff and Volunteers: Alice Dueker Executive Director, Sarah Jarmon, Senior Survival School®; Donna Willmott, Consumer Rights for Community Living, James Chionsini, HealthCare Action Team, PECC Volunteers Constance Smith, Lenny Reiter, Fran Chan, Bruce Allison, Alex Macdonald, Cordell Thomp- son, Dagny Takemura, Tricia Webb. We would like to hear from you! Send information and commentary to sarah@planningforelders.org or fax to (415) 703-0186.