The impact of government budget cutbacks and a discussion about Westchester County's new initiative to improve the delivery of services to seniors while cutting costs for the agencies that provide them are among the items on the agenda for the annual Legislative Breakfast and Speak-Out on Jan. 25.
The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the County Center, 198 Central Ave., White Plains. The event is sponsored by the county's Department of Senior Programs and Services (DSPS) as well as by the county's Senior Council and its federal counterpart, the Older Americans Act Advisory Council.
The Speak-Out is a special opportunity to advocate for aging services. Local, county, state and federal elected officials have been invited to update legislation that deals with senior issues, and attendees will be able to ask those questions. No registration is required.
A new county initiative to be discussed is the Livable Communities Collaborative for Aging Services. It works through 18 "common interest groups," or CIGs, that focus on topics such as housing, transportation/mobility issues, caregiving, hunger, long-term care, elder abuse, health and wellness and financial planning.
Its approach is different from previous outreach efforts because CIG members will come from both public and private agencies as well as from organizations and businesses. Also new is that they will share resources in areas such as programming, staff training and community education. This coordination will lower costs for all members by avoiding duplication of efforts.
The Speak-Out will also include a summary of a recent think tank report developed by local college students on how to bring public transportation to many isolated seniors in the northeast part of Westchester County. The project was led by the Westchester Alliance, and it also looked at ways to transport home-care workers and home-health aides from southern Westchester and the Bronx to clients in that region of the county.
In addition, the deadline for seniors to take the Elder Economic Security Standard Index has been extended and they can complete it at the Speak-Out. The survey will see if Westchester residents age 60 and older are able to cover their basic expenses in four areas: food, housing, transportation and health insurance.