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 4* April 2010 Transportation Victory for Seniors, People with Disabilities and Youth WE DID IT! We won the “Stop the Fare Hikes Battle” for the moment! Seniors, people with disabilities, and youth won a real victory at the February 26th MTA Board meeting when hundreds of people came to City Hall to speak out loudly against the proposed fare hike to $30 for fast passes for seniors, people with disabilities, and youth scheduled to take place April 1. We would like to take this moment to thank all of you who supported the campaign to freeze the fares, a campaign or- ganized through the collaborative efforts of Consumer Rights for Community Living/Planning for Elders, the Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco (ILRCSF) and the San Francisco Senior Center. More than 4,500 people signed the petition we drafted, many at senior centers and meal sites. Hundreds of people came to a series of MTA Board meetings and town hall meetings to speak up against this unfair action; many of us were interviewed by the press about our opposition. Most importantly, together we stopped an action that targeted us. We are pleased that the MTA Board agreed to halt the increase, but we know that the cur- rent economic downturn will not go away soon. We need to be vigilant, united and strong to prepare for any thing else that discriminates against people with disabilities and seniors. In the future, we will continue to ask for your support to fight for equal access and the right to fully participate in the life of our communities. Thank you for your effort - this could not have Next IHSS- Health Task Force Thursday April 2 happened without a united community voice. 10:30 A.M.-12:00 Noon 1453 Mission Street Suite 520 April 1 is 2010 Census Day- Make Yourself Count! Did you know you can contribute The census is like a snapshot that helps de- to Planning for Elders on-line? fine who we are as a nation. The information Visit our website: the census collects helps to determine how www.planningforelders.org and click on “DONATE.” Thank you! more than $400 billion dollars of federal fund- ing each year is spent. An accurate count is Inside this Issue: crucial to many planning decisions, such as News and Events Pg 2 where to provide services for the elderly, In the Spotlight: YOU! Pg 3 where to build new roads and schools, and Consumer Rights for Community Living Pg 4 HAT Pg 5 where to locate job training centers. Senior Survival School Pg 6 (continued on page 2) Calendar Pg 7 News and Events (Census continued from Page 1) Additionally, census information affects the numbers of seats our state occupies in the U.S. House of Representatives. When you receive a census form this month, don’t forget to fill it out right away and send it back. Participating in the census is safe, it’s easy, and it’s important. How do I complete the form?  The census form is easy to complete and takes less than 10 minutes to fill out. The ques- tionnaire asks only a few simple questions for each person in the household: name, relation- ship, sex, age and date of birth, race, and whether the residents own or rent the home. The census does not ask about a person's immigration status.  You can call a phone number on the back of the English form to request a questionnaire in Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, or Russian. Here are numbers you can call for language assistance: 1-866-935-2010 (Chinese) 1-866-928-2010 (Spanish) 1-866-965-2010(Russian)  Federal law requires that everyone participate in the census - you cannot "opt out."  The information on your census form is completely confidential. The Census Bureau does not share your personal information with other agencies, including law enforcement. Low-income people, people of color, children, immigrants, people with disabilities, and people living in urban areas are most likely to be undercounted. As a result, many individuals have been denied an equal voice in their government (since legislative districts are drawn based on decennial census data), and many communities have been shortchanged on federal and state funding for schools, health care and social services and transportation. By late April, the Census Bureau will send out census takers to visit all homes that still have not returned a questionnaire, to collect the information in person. If a census taker visits, you should first ask to see their ID. All census workers carry official government badges marked with just their name; they may also have a "U.S. Census Bu- reau" bag. Note that the census taker will never ask to enter your home. If you do not receive a form or a visit, please call the San Francisco Census office at 415-409-5911 Eligible Consumers Should Act Before March 31 to Enroll in Medicare. New York, NY—Consumers eligible for Medicare should enroll in Medicare Part B during the 2010 General Enrollment Period (GEP), which ends on March 31. Consumers who are not enrolled in Medicare, but should be, are urged to enroll by March 31 for Part B coverage, which would take effect July 1. Medicare Part B covers doctor visits and other outpatient care. The complexity of rules that govern how Medicare works with other types of insurance is a common pitfall that lead people to make the costly mistake of waiting to enroll in Part B. The Medicare Rights Center is available to help. Visit Medicare Interactive, a free, web-based counseling tool, at http://www.medicareinteractive.org/. Or to speak with a coun- selor, call the toll-free hotline at 1-800-333-4114. Counselors are available Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (Eastern Time). Page 2 IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Our Supporters This month, we here at Planning for Elders would like to send a warm greeting and big thank you to all of you—our donors and funders. As you all are well aware, this has been a very difficult year financially for the country, the state, and the city. That’s why your support means so much right now. THANK YOU!! 2010 Donors: Addie Negrete, Andreas Kastilani and Elliot River, Andrew Petrazuoli, An- thony Nicco, B.A.R.-L., Barbara Cullinane, Barbara R. Simon, Betty Bern- stein, Donna Calame, Elaine Adamson Elinore Lurie, Erma Brim, Frances Watkins, James Illig, Janice Lurie, Jewish Community Endowment Fund, Judy Goddess, Margaret Carter, Marie Jobling, Meg Cooch, Norma Satten, Pam- ela Bohmann, Phyllis Lyon, Ralph Fenn, Rick and Kathleen Bounds, Robert Trevorrow, Ruth Dehovitz, Stuart Stoller, Vera Haile Dalenberg, Walter Devaughn, William Barnham Foundations: HAAS True North Retirement Research In-Kind donations: Rainbow Grocery Cooperative Peet’s Coffee San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services Page 3 Planning for Elders Activities: Consumer Rights for Community Living (CRCL) Reminder to IHSS providers and consumers: Changes in state law require that all existing providers must undergo a new enrollment process that must be completed no later than June 30, 2010. If you have not completed all the steps by June 30, you will not be in the electronic database and will no longer be eligible to receive payment until you have completed all the steps. The enrollment process involves completing a background check, getting finger- printed, and filling out new paperwork. If you have not yet received the necessary paperwork and want to start this process soon, you can call 415-557-6200 for more information. IHSS alert: another attempt to target the IHSS workforce! It seems that the forces opposed to homecare are at it again. The attempt to keep anyone with a felony conviction from serving as an IHSS provider was overturned in the courts a few weeks ago, but now the Governor’s office is trying again. There is an unbacked Trailer Bill proposed by CDSS that would exclude people convicted of certain crimes within the last 10 years. There is no author for the bill yet but it will likely be part of any budget deal that emerges this spring. All the more reason to stay involved with the IHSS-Health Task force. Planning for Elders Activities: California Discharge Planning Collaborative (CDCP) The CDPC has been distributing our brochure, informing patients of their medical rights. We have free copies available in English, Spanish, Russian and Chinese . Simply contact the Planning for Elders office and ask James to send you some. We also have a blog, Hospital Discharge Rights, at http://hospitaldischargerights.blogspot.com/ that is aimed at being a consumer friendly, accessible and easy to navigate place to obtain information about medical rights. We will be working on Hospital Report Cards to identify those hospitals that have high or low incidences of readmissions within 30 days to see how well discharge planning is being done. This will be a rather lengthy research project so stay tuned. Page 4 Planning for Elders Activities: HealthCare Action Team (HAT) The HAT acting crew, along with members of the CDCP and with help from the IHSS Consortium made a film of the ever- famous skit, “It’s Scary to Be Discharged on a Friday”. The expert filmmaker DC Spensley was the director, and the finished product will be available soon. We started at 9:30 am and didn't finish until late in the Lenny Reiter plays a skeletal per- afternoon. This infotaining son who was discharged too soon. Vicki Westlin plays a patient about to production will dramatize exactly Here he chats with someone we be discharged before she’s ready. how someone can appeal their refer to as “The Governor.” discharge or file a complaint for treatment received. Stay tuned for the cinematic release! HAT members joined with SAN’s Senior Housing Action Collaborative (SHAC) for a discussion by Paul Boden of the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) http:// www.wraphome.org/ about seniors, homelessness and being part of a larger social justice movement. The cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. Following Paul’s presentation we watched the movie “Sunset Story” about some retired activist seniors living in a retirement home in Los Angeles. CASE Neighborhood Tsunamis Remember the Silver Tsunami last year? Well the Coalition of Agencies Serving the Elderly (CASE) is planning a series Neighborhood Silver Tsunamis 2010. Coming soon to a senior center near you during the month of May, in each Supervisorial district, there will be a community meeting, candidates forum and current supervisor education forum to hear from seniors in the community. This will be an opportunity to see where they stand on senior issues. April 2010 HAT MEETING Wednesday April 14th , 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 Page 5 PLANNING FOR ELDERS ACTIVITIES: Happy Spring! The Senior Survival School has returned to the Mission YMCA for our March class, after about four years away. The Mission YMCA has an active senior program, so many of the participants also attend the Y. The class is being conducted in English and Spanish. Viviana Rennella is doing an amazing job interpreting for us. We’ve covered many topics in the first two sessions. On the first day we talked about transportation—SF Paratransit, MUNI, and pedestrian safety with Pi Ra from Senior Action Network. Pi also talked about the plans from MUNI to raise the fast pass price for seniors, people with disabilities and youth, and the push back from the com- munity. There were a lot of questions about the fare increase (which we successfully slowed down—look on page 1 for the story) as well as much interest in the proposed “Shopping Shuttle” for users of Paratransit. When implemented, it will travel to grocery stores and riders will be offered assistance with shopping. On the second day we heard from Hospice by the Bay, who offers kind support for those in need of Hospice care, and their family members. There are many miscon- ceptions about what Hospice is, who uses it, when it should be used, and how it is paid for. The presentation was very reassuring. Hospice by the Bay can be reached at (415) 626-5900. The Home and Community Living Panel was informative and enter- taining, with ILRC there to talk about all the assistive devices, or gadgets as Kevin Jef- ferson calls them, that make living at home easier. James Donna, and the CRCL peer advocates informed the group about our advocacy work. We are grateful to everyone at the Mission YMCA for opening their space to us, and for making this a great Senior Survival School. And as always, thanks to the Plan- ning for Elders volunteers who make Senior Survival School great every time. The March class will have a graduation on Thursday March 25th with Supervisor John Avalos planning to attend. The next session will be held in May and June at the Clementina Towers, around the corner from our office on 5th and Folsom. The Senior Survival School Advisory Committee is welcoming new members. If you have completed a 4-part Senior Survival School, please considering participating in the Advisory Committee. The meetings are an opportunity to offer feedback about the School and brainstorm new ideas for the future. We meet the last Friday of the month from 1 P.M. to 3 P.M. Lunch is always provided. Our next meeting will be Friday March 26th. Please contact Sarah at (415) 703-0188 ext. 302 for more information about this and any other upcoming Senior Survival School classes. Page 6 Community Calendar: April 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 Wed. April 7 LaShaun Williams DAAS Commission 9:30 am, City Hall, room 416 355-3509 Long Term Care Coordinating 1:00-3:00 pm Thurs. April 8 Bill.Haskell@sfgov.org Council 1 South Van Ness, 2nd Floor Thurs. April 8 Senior Action Network (SAN) 10:00-12:00 Unitarian Universalist SAN General Meeting Church 1187 Franklin @ Geary 546-1333 1:00 - 2:30 ILWU Office Thurs. April 8 California Alliance for Retired Jody Reid 1188 Franklin Street # 4 Americans (CARA) 550-0828 Coalition of Agencies Serving Patty Clement Mon. April 12 3-5:00 Call contact for location the Elderly (CASE) 452-3500 11:00-12:30 HealthCare Action Team 1010 Mission (at 6th) James Chionsini Wed April 14 (HAT) Bayanihan Center 703-0188 ext 304 Thurs. April 10:30-1 pm Sarah Jarmon PECC Newsletter mailing 15 965 Mission St., Suite 550 703-0188 ext. 302 3rd Thurs. PECC Board of 5pm—6:30pm Alice Dueker Quarterly Directors Mtg. 965 Mission St, Suite 700 703-0188 ext 306 9:30 - 11:30 am Fri. April 16 Debbi Lerman HSN General Meeting Light House for the Blind and Visually 415-668-0444 Impaired, 214 Van Ness Avenue. Mayors Office on Fri. April 16 Mayor’s Disability Council 1-4 City Hall Room 400 Disability 415-554-6789 Wed. April 21 SAN Senior Housing Action 1:00 - 3pm Christina Olague Committee (SHAC) 965 Mission St Suite 700 546-1333 Fri. April 29th SSS Advisory Committee 1-2:30 965 Mission St. Suite 700 Sarah Jarmon 703-0188 lanning for Elders Board of Directors:  Harrison Parker,  Alan Coleman, MD  Norma Satten  Pat Hess DDS (President) (Vice President) (Secretary)  Walter DeVaughn  Michael Kwok  Nader Shabahangi, PhD 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.