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$5.2 Million In Senior Programs On Freeholder's Agenda
By Bill McLaughlin
The Ocean County government will review 36 contracts totaling $5.2 million for senior service programs at the board of chosen freeholders' January 16 public meeting.
The programs range from outreach service for homebound residents to health screenings. About half of the county's residents qualify as senior citizens, Freeholder Joseph Vicari announced last week.
Over 26 percent of county residents are 60 years or older, with another 13 percent being 75 or older- almost double the state average per county- another eight percent of county residents are over 80 years old, and four percent are 85 or older.
However, with such a large senior population comes added concerns.
"About 59 percent of our clients are high nutritional risks," Vicari said, meaning they need help getting daily sustenance. "I'm proud to say the satisfaction level we get back is 99.75 percent because (the Office of Senior Services) is service oriented."
The service provided is more than merely 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days per week, Vicari said, pointing to OSS workers being out at nights, weekends and holidays providing information, education and other aid to the county's elderly citizens in need.
Vicari said the meals program is important as a social tool because some of the senior residents live alone and have no network of friends or colleagues to provide daily support.
"It's the only time somebody is checking in on some of these people. We want to make sure each person is OK," said Freeholder John Kelly. "Statistics tell the overall (story), but when it's about individual people, it makes a big difference."
Senior Services workers know how important it is to check on individuals who may have fallen, stopped taking medications or become otherwise incapacitated overnight, Vicari added.
OSS Director D. Jane Maloney told the board that over 75,000 congregate meals in senior centers and other settings would nourish elder residents in 2008.
"In addition, 220,000 daily home delivered meals and over 21,000 weekend and holiday meals will be served," Maloney said.
The meals offered are catered to specific needs, both for health care issues, like diabetes, and other special needs. A contract for the Kosher Home Delivered Meals Program, for example, will be part of the January 16 vote.
Getting information to clients is as important as other areas of support like benefits screenings, caregiver services, transportation and legal services, said Maloney.
Over 200 presentations were made to groups in the past year at county functions and 10,809 people were provided service. One of the new benefits offered was personal screenings for Medicare Part D specific enrollment questions.
"It takes time to teach the new (federal) programs," Vicari said. "The programs change so often, it sometimes can be hard to keep up."
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