Senior Coalition Preparing to Take on Needed Service

Jon LeSage

For those needing good senior care for themselves, or for a family member, it’s time to find out about the reality of available support services. Elder abuse is part of that reality for many aging Americans, where caregivers can become part of the problem.

Unfortunately, the numbers are discouraging and sometimes staggering to take in.

The need for quality support services will be increasing as the huge baby boomer population, typically defined as being born between 1946 and 1964, faces their final stage of life. While the definitions of senior citizens in the U.S. vary, one commonly cited benchmark is age 65 – when Americans become eligible for Medicare. The oldest boomers are reaching 76 years old this year, with many Americans well into their 60s and 70s. That phase of life is lasting longer, with many of us close to a loved one who’s nearing or passing age 100.

The vast majority of senior citizens are living at home, with many needing more care from family and skilled caretakers. While family members researching available nursing homes and assisted-living facilities must do their homework to find a good, trustworthy place to try out, the reality of assisting seniors needing good care is actually a much larger concern.

At least 80% of seniors are living at home and the number could even be larger, according to Allan Goldstein, a commissioner at the City of Long Beach’s Senior Citizens Advisory Commission. As they get older, they’ll inevitably need some level of support for basic home chores, self care, healthcare, transportation, finances, grocery shopping and more.

Most aging Americans prefer to live at home, whether that be alone, with a spouse, or with a mix of others including extended family. Caregivers, who may live with the senior citizen needing support, or family and friends wanting to help, or paid service providers, may become abusive in various ways – with neglect and financial abuse being typical.

Coalition Wants Safe House in Long Beach

Goldstein and Phyllis Schmidt, who is also a commissioner on the Senior Citizens Advisory Commission, have been active this year in starting up the Greater Long Beach Senior Safe Home Coalition. While the safe house model has been around for years in a small number of facilities east of the Mississippi, there’s only been one of these so far west of the Mississippi.

That would be the Sacramento Senior Safe House that serves as a safe, comfortable and confidential refuge for abused and neglected seniors. However, so far there are only six seniors ages 62 or older who can live there for 30 days. Volunteers of America is a sponsor organization, along with the state of California’s Adult Protective Services, the Archstone Foundation and other supporters. They have been part of providing these bedrooms, three meals and snacks daily, 24-hour staffing and community resources to get seniors into a permanent, safe situation.

The Greater Long Beach Senior Safe Home Coalition is seeking support to have 15 units with 60 days or more of staying time for each resident, Goldstein said. The “brick and mortar” location will ideally be set up in Long Beach – in a safe and private setting – and serving the city and a few surrounding communities within a 15-mile radius. While there are usually about 500 reported cases of elderly abuse in Long Beach each year, the coalition’s service area could be 1,000 confirmed cases each year – which heightens the importance of establishing these services and informing the public about these needed resources.

The coalition is talking to a number of agencies, organizations and businesses including the L.A. County Aging & Disabilities Department. The group is seeking support from City Council members, while others are seeking members of the LA County Board of Supervisors. 

“Elders who have endured great harm deserve a chance to live out the rest of their lives with dignity, purpose and peace. This is what elder justice must champion – justice that, for some, begins with a senior safe home that provides a portal to a safe and better life. It is the missing link to an effective community wide response to elder abuse. The creation of The Greater Long Beach Senior Safe Home will be a much needed, groundbreaking step in that direction,” says a statement prepared by Goldstein that’s being sent to supports of senior care services.

Senior Helpers Who Know What It’s Like

Julia LaPlount, owner/community relations and Christopher (C.J.) Rodrigues, office manager, gave a presentation on Aug. 29 at the Executives Association of Long Beach lunch meeting. They focused on what it’s like to provide service to the local community through their business, Senior Helpers of Long Beach.

During a Zoom interview with them, including Director of Operations Jennifer Rodrigues (daughter of Julia and mother of C.J.), the depth and extent of needed services was articulately described. LaPlount brings years of experience in her profession – research and education on the elderly and disabled for a non-profit organization, along with several years of community service and care for her own mother; when her mother suffered a stroke, she became the caregiver.

Jennifer and C.J. Rodrigues are bringing in their own years of volunteer work, professional experience, education and caretaking of family, to Senior Helpers.

They each agree that there’s a lot of work to be done here, but there are a few respectable caregivers out there doing their best – many times family members struggling to do their best. That can mean taking care of parents or grandparents in a home where they’re being mistreated by others – sometimes family and caregivers. Their clients have to be given a clear sense of their choices in the matter. They see that neglect and financial abuse can happen at any time; and that there are resources to tap into to help members of the senior community find better lives – and to support their family in being part of the solution.

“We come in from that angle – what seniors living in their homes really need and how to do it,” said C.J. Rodrigues. “Helping someone else is the reward you get.”

Moving a family member out of their home can cause even more damage in their lives, according to Jennifer Rodrigues.

One difficult situation that can come up is that family members may be more interested in their own interests than in taking care of their elderly family member at the level it needs. Moving them out of the house may become a bigger problem if it’s more about getting them out of there and placed somewhere else.

“Seniors do better aging in their own homes,” Jennifer Rodrigues said.

LaPlount has been able to bring another part of her valuable experience to the table – serving elderly clients in an Alzheimer’s and dementia center. Their situations require even more care and services, and they can be quite vulnerable to manipulation by others including financial loss.

Abuse can take many different forms, they said. The elderly person may have run out of food, with no one present to shop for them. Family members may be staying at their house, but the house could be very dirty with no one offering to clean.

They do need as much support as they can get – and that means family, friends, and caregivers who are there for all the right reasons.

Jon LeSage is a resident of Long Beach and a veteran business media reporter and editor. You can reach him at jtlesage1@yahoo.com.

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Comments

This article is inaccurate. There is no legal entity known as the Greater Long Beach Senior Safe Home Coalition. There is an informal number of individuals working on this. This article is very premature and an interview should not have been given at this early stage. Commissioners Goldstein and Schmidt have placed this project at risk by granting the interview and have no legal authority to represent the Senior Commission and the City of Long Beach in this manner.

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