AGING AND ADULT SERVICES
Advocacy Package for Energy Programs for the Elderly—In 1978, WRI cooperated with the consulting firm of Lodge Hill Associates to provide the New York State Office for the Aging with information and eligibility screening materials to encourage a wider use of the State’s energy assistance benefits. In addition to a user’s information guide, project staff developed a decision-logic-based questionnaire by which clerical staff could determine a client’s probable eligibility for the six major energy assistance programs by answering only 15 questions.
Decision Logic Tables for the AABD Program—In July 1973, Congress required that states make mandatory supplementary payments to welfare recipients converted to Supplementary Security Income (SSI) in order to maintain their December 1973 income. Cases converted to SSI were to be audited in order to determine whether any grants could be reduced under special circumstances outlined by the federal legislation. WRI developed decision logic tables and training materials to help workers in New York City’s Department of Social Services audit cases converted from Aid to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (AABD) to SSI. The decision logic table manual aided workers in correcting errors made in the conversion process and in rebudgeting cases to update special needs allowances.
Demonstration of Community-Wide Alternative Long Term Care Models—The purpose of this project was to demonstrate alternative approaches for providing comprehensive long-term care. A community-based, not-for-profit corporation was established to develop and coordinate alternatives and administer funds for long-term care in Monroe County, New York. The project succeeded in establishing a free program, ACCESS, to coordinate assessment and case management services for all elderly persons at risk of institutionalization. Also achieved were a centralized Medicare-Medicaid reimbursement system, the expansion of services reimbursable under Medicaid, and the integration of mental health patients into community-based long-term care programs. WRI administered this project in its first year (1975), then monitored the project in its second and third years.
Development of a Statewide System for Aging Services Data Collection—Building on the work of the Integrated Statewide Information System for Aging Services in New York State, in this project WRI trained service providers in the use of simplified procedures for financial reporting, sampling techniques, a service taxonomy, and unit costing. These procedures are elements of a uniform information system that can be implemented at all levels of the aging services network to allow for meaningful cost analysis and performance assessment.
Evaluation of the Older Refugee Demonstration Project—In 1989, WRI evaluated a program for recent immigrants whose age posed a barrier to employment, which led to problems such as high unemployment rates and dependence on public assistance. To address this situation, the State Department of Social Services funded a number of voluntary agencies in New York City to provide an array of special services to older refugees. WRI served as project monitor and evaluator of these service programs.
Growing Older in New York City in the 1990’s—WRI staff worked with production staff from the New York Community Trust and with researchers from Fordham University and Columbia University to organize, standardize, and complete a set of research reports based on a survey of New York City elderly in 1990. Published in September 1993, the five-volume study examined older New Yorkers in terms of demographics and economics, quality of life, impact of health problems, family and community support systems, and life space, environment, and crime in New York City as a place of residence.
Impact of Rising Energy Costs on the Elderly Poor in New York State—As part of a larger review of the impact of the energy crisis on the elderly poor of New York State in 1978, WRI was involved in the evaluation of current social service intervention programs for the elderly to determine how the State Energy Office could revise its policies to have the least harmful impact on the elderly poor. In 1988, WRI conducted an in-depth study, based on personal interviews, of the energy costs, patterns of energy use, and potential for energy conservation by low-income elderly home-owners and renters in New York City and upstate (Albany). The study also included an analysis of reported patterns of behavior in relation to health, safety, and lifestyle.
Integrated Statewide Information System for Aging Services in New York State—To help the federal Administration on Aging develop statewide systems for reporting data on services to the elderly, in 1984 the New York State Office for the Aging proposed working with WRI to develop an improved management information and reporting system in New York State’s programs for the aging. For this project, WRI adapted its social services unit cost system to provide state and local aging program administrators with a tool for making financial and program decisions. WRI also calculated the costs of all services provided or purchased, developed forms and training materials for local service workers and administrators, field-tested the combined service unit cost system, implemented the system statewide, and integrated program reporting with fiscal accounting and reporting.
Management Training for Adult Home Providers—Under contract to the New York State Department of Social Services, in 1989 WRI provided a series of one-day training programs to administrators of small adult homes using a curriculum adapted from its work with community-based organizations. Several additional content areas were developed in response to the specific needs of small adult homes, including personal computer applications, liability insurance, and retirement program development.
Materials on Accidents and Aging—To learn more about accidents involving elderly persons, the Buffalo Organization for Social and Technological Change, Inc. (BOSTI) studied accident and injury data made available by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and identified 49 products as being particularly hazardous to people over age 55. BOSTI analyzed the risks associated with each of these products and for 21 of them developed detailed hazard patterns to identify the critical steps leading to an accident. In 1982, WRI provided editorial and production assistance and developed targeted brochures to make the project’s findings available to consumers, public agencies, advocacy organizations, and businesses and manufacturers.
Survey of the Needs and Problems of Adult Home Residents in New York State—The purpose of this project in 1974 was to conduct a comprehensive survey of residents in long-term care adult homes in New York State supervised by the Department of Social Services to determine the appropriateness of placements and to provide an empirical data base for effective planning and future program development. WRI provided a description of the needs, problems, and level(s) of functioning of the residents of adult homes in order to assist the agency in planning for residential and other service needs of these persons and in asserting administrative control over adult homes.
Training Project for Area Agencies on Aging—On behalf of the Albany and Saratoga Area Agencies on Aging, in 1988 WRI trained service providers in two diverse subjects: bookkeeping, and service delivery for the impaired elderly. The training in bookkeeping was designed to provide participants with an understanding of basic accounting principles. The training in service delivery focused on ways of better integrating the impaired elderly into existing programs.
Training to Optimize the Use of Medicare by Skilled Nursing Facilities—To identify Medicaid eligibility of patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), in 1989 the New York State Department of Social Services contracted with the Hospital Association of New York and WRI to provide comprehensive training related to Medicare eligibility to 3,000 SNF staff. Using a variety of training approaches, the project sought to enhance staff’s abilities to identify Medicare-eligible patients, document that eligibility, and prepare cases for appeal when federal support is denied.
Workshop on a Common Language for Aging Services—In an effort to achieve greater agreement among states on the definition of services provided under Title XX and the Older Americans Act, the federal Administration on Aging supported the development of a taxonomy of aging services. In 1984, WRI conducted a workshop for representatives of state units and area agencies on aging in Regions I, II, and III in order to introduce the conceptual approach of a common language and the proposed definitions of services and to obtain feedback on the system from these representatives.
