House Aging, Children & Youth Committee
Video
Transcript
Bills discussed (4)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
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HR1005
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “all your comments thank you thank you next up is house resolution 1005 by representative Ephraim Elliott”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HR1008
· 2 mentions in transcript
Matched: “…n. First up on our agenda is Representative John Woods with House Resolution 1008. Representative Woods. Thank you, Madam Chair.”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HR1
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…say no It passes Congratulations Thanks everyone next up is house resolution 1 0 0”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HR1007
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “Chair Powers. Madam Chair, I make a motion that House Resolution 1007 do pass. We have a motion of do pass.”
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Pre-2017 bill |
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Representative Stephanie Malone
Unverified
0:00
I'm going to begin. First up on our agenda is Representative John Woods with House Resolution 1008. Representative Woods. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Representative Jon Woods
Unverified
0:19
Thank you, Vice Chair and committee members. I appreciate you letting me go first. there's a couple bills and insurance and commerce and they're needing me over there and I accidentally I filed another Reagan day resolution 1006 and I had a
Senate sponsor which you can't have on a house resolution so I was advised to file the same resolution with just my name on it so that's why there's two that you see in front of you so but on a house resolution 1008 you know where There's a nationwide movement to make February 6, Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday, a holiday in each state, and it marks his 100th birthday.
It's just honoring his life. We're not really focusing on anything else, but just rather just he as a person and who he is and just celebrating his life. and it means a lot to me when when he passed away in 2004 my grandfather passed away within just a few months after that and and that's what really registered with me is to get involved in politics and get involved in your government and I think everybody's got a story of who who got them
involved in government or politics and how did you get involved and whether it's john f kennedy or or ronald reagan or your parents or grandparents or a friend we all have different stories and and uh this is not meant to i don't feel this necessary to say but but it's not meant to be a partisan resolution i think even no matter who you are if you read the resolution you can see clearly that it's very um very friendly and it's about the person and who he was so i would really like to have the opportunity for this to be read on the floor and to get off the floor this week
due to the short time frame. So I appreciate your help, and I appreciate your vote. Thank you. Vice Chair Powers, you're recognized for a
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
2:31
question. Thank you, Madam Chair. Representative Woods, what year was President Reagan elected? Do you recall that? I believe
Representative Jon Woods
Unverified
2:36
1980. What year were you born, Representative Woods? Seventy-seven. You are very politically aware of three-year-olds, sir. I
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
2:43
don't know. I don't believe this is nonpartisan, Representative Woods.
And I'll be frank with you and tell you I would hesitate to start having a yearly holiday, but I think it is appropriate, your resolution. And Ronald Reagan was the president of these United States, and I appreciate the nonpartisan resolution. Don't you agree? I would agree with that. Thank you very much. Representative Elliott. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
3:22
I wanted to know if the resolution is passed, will we have to watch any
Representative Jon Woods
Unverified
3:33
aware of. I can tell you the TV channels that they're on. representative summers representative woods some of
Speaker 18
3:43
us more mature guys wonder why death valley days was left off i haven't watched that one yet
Speaker 23
3:56
representative sanders uh representative woods i want to thank you for bringing forth this resolution to the committee i i would i would concur with you and and to vice chairman powers i was five years old in 1980 and actually was the earliest uh earliest uh remembrance of mine of politics um and uh but i want to want to express my support for your resolution and appreciation for doing so like you uh ron reagan i think is is one who who inspired uh inspired us
and i think it's worth noting that if you uh were to list some of the inspiring figures for president reagan he would he would list john f kennedy and uh... franklin delano roosevelt too so even even though he was a staunch uh... conservative republican uh... he uh... he was inspired by uh... many leaders on the other side of the aisle so thank you to uh... sports representative
Representative Billy W. Gaskill
Unverified
4:51
gaskell representative wood uh... you've got a great thing for a great man but you know what we're forgetting here and having fun is
this guy is responsible for the downfall of the soviet empire The Berlin Wall came down. That's one great thing I honor him for, and I'm proud to
Speaker 31
5:18
be with you. Thank you, sir. Representative Hickerson.
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
5:23
Representative Walker. I also think that he was largely responsible for reinstituting good relations with China.
which is signal and perhaps more substantial than even the Soviet Union in the other event.
Representative Stubblefield. Yes, when I was a
Representative Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
5:48
small boy, many, many years – I was 30 years old when Ronald Reagan was elected president, but I was under the assumption when I was a little boy that you You had to be a lawyer to be President of the United States.
And Ronald Reagan, I'll never forget when he was elected, he had a big influence on my life as well as people like Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. But I think this is a good bill, Representative Woods, and I'm
Speaker 38
6:20
back to you 100 percent. representative mock thank
Representative Reginald Murdock
Unverified
6:35
you madam chair uh representative woods i commend you on this
as well i want to reiterate what representative gaskell said about the demise of the soviet union he also did it without firing one single shot to bring their downfall and any president that can do that has got my vote of approval thank you very much representative sanders
Speaker 42
7:00
did you have a question uh i was going to make a motion uh but i was going to
Speaker 23
7:05
let i'd let representative do pass recommendation we have a motion of do pass
Representative Stephanie Malone
Unverified
7:10
what's the will of the committee all in favor say aye
Representative Jon Woods
Unverified
7:18
aye any opposed motion passes thank you madam chair thank you mr. vice-chair thank you committee members and thank you for
Speaker 6
7:27
all your comments thank you thank you next up is house resolution 1005 by representative Ephraim Elliott
Speaker 51
7:43
thank you madam chair this this bill this little
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
8:03
old bill don't do much of nothing it's a resolution to make September gospel music month gospel music has been an inspiration to myself and I know
many of my colleagues for years It's been around before I was born. I know I may look 25, but I'm a little older than that. But gospel music has been such an inspiration on people, black and white, and it has helped to save a lot of people, souls, I believe. So I'd just like to ask for a good
vote and take any questions.
Speaker 54
8:47
Does this resolution include bluegrass? However one wants
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
8:59
to celebrate gospel music, be it bluegrass, as long as it's
Speaker 51
9:05
sharing the message of love and peace. Seeing no further questions,
Speaker 55
9:15
we have a motion from Vice Chair Bubba Powers
Speaker 58
9:20
Madam Chair, I make a motion that House Resolution 1005 do pass We have a motion
Representative Stephanie Malone
Unverified
9:28
of do pass, all in favor say aye Aye All opposed say no It passes Congratulations Thanks everyone next up is house resolution 1 0 0
Speaker 64
9:58
you madam thank you madam among okay thank
Representative Robert E. Dale
Unverified
10:03
you madam chairman my name is robert
I'm state representative for district 70 with my resolution I too had some senators on there so we had to amend my own amendment to have them removed to present this as a house resolution it's a house resolution commending special agent Kevin Brown who now lives in Van Buren County Arkansas he is a five-year veteran of the Department of Arkansas State Police. He was named the Arkansas State Police
2009 Trooper of the Year in March of 2010. He also was a recipient of the Department's Medal of Honor of Valor. I'm sorry. He was chosen for both of those awards because of a successful recovery and rescue of others while working on the drug task force in the Ozark National Forest. When the helicopter they were on lost power and crashed into the Buffalo River in 10-foot
deep water, he managed to free himself and in turn rescued the co-pilot, brought him to the side went back and got the pilot and I think is an exemplary example of service that we expect from our state employees and our state police and that we should honor him for that for that action I'd
Representative Stephanie Malone
Unverified
11:49
With no questions, we have a motion from Vice
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
11:56
Chair Powers. Madam Chair, I make a motion that House Resolution 1007 do pass. We have a motion of do pass.
Representative Stephanie Malone
Unverified
12:04
All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed say no. Representative Daly, your resolution passes. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Committee, at this time, we're going to have Mr. Tim Herr, President of the Area Agency on Aging Association, give us a short presentation, and I would just like to let him, he's aware, but we may have Representative Hall come in and run a bill, so if he does, we'll pause on the presentation and hear his bill and then go back. So, thank you. Thank
Speaker 71
12:42
you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you all this morning. I'm Tim Herr. I'm director of the Area Agency on Aging of West Central Arkansas, which is in Hot Springs.
And I'm also current president of the Arkansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Hopefully, y'all will find somewhere in front of you a little four-page handout that I put together for everybody. One of the things, a couple of things I wanted to do today. First is just to talk a little bit in general about the area agencies on aging across the state. As you'll see on the map on the top page of that handout, the state is divided up into seven or into eight regions.
Each of those regions has its own separate, distinct, autonomous, and independent area agency on aging. The Area Agencies on Aging are private, nonprofit corporations, and each one of those regions is governed by its own board of directors. As a group, we come together as the Arkansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging, which is sort of a loosely knit organization, because we do share some things in common.
We also have some differences amongst us. One of the reasons that I've put this top sheet on here with the contact information for each of the directors of the various area agencies on aging is because since there are some differences, and I believe most all of y'all within your legislative district will have an Area Agency on Aging office, but since there are some differences, if there are questions that come up or issues that come up related to aging or senior services in the state,
Those the people within your district, the director within your district is probably the best person to talk to about those issues. We do share some things in common, however. We all do information and assistance for seniors. We all do case management for seniors. We all provide in-home services for seniors. We all have ombudsman programs which help seniors protect their rights in nursing homes and other assisted living facilities and such as that.
We all provide in-home personal care for seniors, which is probably one of our largest or biggest programs. And we all are involved with senior centers and help provide senior center services across the state for seniors in the state of Arkansas. Now, I would venture also to say that probably each one of you within your legislative district also have at least one senior center in your district and probably more than one in a lot of cases because there are 205
senior centers in the state of Arkansas we have not only a very large what I'll call social footprint in the services that we provide the seniors across the state but we also have a very large economic footprint and this is probably something that's less well known about the area agencies on aging if you notice the second the second page of what I've handed out to you shows that that
collectively if you take all eight area agencies on aging in the state collectively we are the 14th largest employer in the state of Arkansas we We employ somewhat over 3,700 people in the state, all of whom are involved in the provision of care and services and assistance for seniors across the state of Arkansas. And you can see, you know, kind of what some of the other businesses and what have you
are. We're a lot larger than some businesses that you might think have a greater economic impact. But we have a huge economic impact across the state as well. One of the things, too, that I wanted to speak to today is that under the Older Americans Act, which basically is responsible for the existence of a lot of the Area Agency on Aging programs, we are mandated to advocate for the needs of seniors.
And that's basically what I'm doing here today, is advocating for the needs of seniors. But we don't do that just because we're mandated to do it. Those 3700 or so people who work in this field for aging services in the state are all very dedicated and caring and loving people who really care tremendously about the welfare of seniors in the state. So I'm not here because the Older Americans Act says I have to. I'm here because I'm really concerned about the welfare of seniors in the state of Arkansas.
Now I mentioned that the Area Agencies on Aging also are responsible for about 205 senior centers in the state. Let me make a couple of points about that. One is the Older Americans Act basically says that Area Agencies on Aging cannot directly provide senior center services. If there is another nonprofit in that area who can meet the criteria and deliver good
senior center services, we have to contract that service out. So you will find that the majority of senior centers in the state are actually run by another nonprofit under contract to the Area Agency on Aging. There are a few examples, some I think here in the Little Rock area and some I think in the pine bluff area where if there is not another nonprofit that can actually provide that service then the area agency on aging has to provide so you
may find a few examples or senior centers are actually run by an area agency on aging but that's the
Speaker 75
18:55
exception rather than the rule so most of these programs are contracted to us
Speaker 71
19:02
and through state and federal funding what have you we we pay them for the services that they provide we also monitor what they do and make sure that they're in compliance with all state and federal guidelines health department guidelines and what have you the senior centers are an extremely important element in what
the area agencies on aging do because just in general our mission is to help seniors lead independent, meaningful, and dignified lives in the environment that they want to be in. And most seniors want to be in their home. They prefer to be there rather than in some institution. So we try to provide assistance to do that. And there's a lot of different things that we do that help with that. But senior centers play a key role in that. And I'm sure that you all are all familiar with this term, meals on wheels,
because the senior centers in the state provide home-delivered meals to homebound and disabled seniors who otherwise may not be able to prepare their own meal, and if they weren't able to receive that service, may end up having to be in some sort of institution where they can receive three meals a day and have supervision. But not all of those seniors need to be in that institutional setting.
So one of the very important programs, among others, that the senior centers provide is home-delivered meals. Now, when I said I'm here to advocate for the needs of seniors, the Arkansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging, before each legislative session, we try to sit down and figure out what the priorities are for this upcoming session and certainly try to communicate those to you all. This year, the top priority is funding for the senior centers
because what has happened, and if you look at page three, you will see what the priorities are that the Arkansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging has come up with, and the top one has to do with funding for the senior centers because in 2007, the home-delivered meal program sort of reached a peak. Since then, the funding has steadily declined,
and it has declined now to the point where this past fiscal year, 2010, the number of home-delivered meals had declined by 16 percent from where it had been in 2007. There are currently waiting lists across the state. At last count, we had about 422 or so people who were on a waiting list to receive home-delivered meals. I know that just within my area, my 10-county area, we have about 130 people who were waiting to receive home-delivered meals.
Now, what's important about that is generally when a senior says, I need meals delivered to me in my home, they don't need them a month from now. They don't need them six months from now. They don't need to be put on a list of 80 people waiting to get meals. They need them right then. It's, you know, and the fact of the matter is the funding just has not been there to meet the need. And it was down 16 percent last year. This year it's going to be down even more.
One reason for that is because last year we were helped out somewhat by some federal stimulus money that came down to help the senior centers. That money's not there this year. So we've seen the funding decline, but at the same time, we've seen the need go up. In response to that need, one of the things that we have done, and by the way, on the last page, you'll see some graphs. There's three graphs. The top graph talks about the combined state and federal funding.
The red line is basically where it would be had it kept up with inflation. The blue line with the yellow dots is where we are as far as funding goes. The second graph actually shows you where home-delivered meals or the number of home-delivered meals and congregate meals, because meals are served in the senior centers as well, gives you an idea of the decline since 2007. And then the bottom line is another program that really has to be,
when we talk about senior centers, has to be folded in there. And that is a state older worker program because there is a state-funded program that provides seniors, that pays the salaries of seniors to work in senior centers. That program was started back in the 80s and has never had an increase in the number of dollars in that program. In fact, it's gone down some. And in the meantime, we've had like three or four increases in minimum wage, and that's what these people make is minimum wage.
So the number of people under that program who have been available to the centers to help in providing these meals and preparing these meals has also gone down over that period of time. Now, in response to this need, let me just briefly tell you what has occurred so far. The Arkansas Association of Various Agencies on Aging put together our recommendation and made a proposal to the community services oversight and planning council which I happen to sit on as a provider representative
for an increase of about 2.3 million dollars in this coming fiscal year and 2.7 or 8 I think it was in the following fiscal year. The community services oversight and planning council passed that and passed it on to the Joint Budget Committee that then sent it to, I think it was the Health Subcommittee. The Health Subcommittee adopted that recommendation,
sent it back to Joint Budget. I believe it got through Joint Budget the first time. And right now, my understanding is, and I'm still somewhat of a novice of this whole legislative process, but my understanding is that now that needs to be somehow reconciled with the governor's budget recommendations. But that amount that we have asked for is only enough really to get us back
to where we were in 2007. It really doesn't take account of any growth beyond that, And I think, as we all know, the aged population is growing by leaps and bounds, certainly in the state of Arkansas it is, and the need for these services is increasing all the time. The crux of the matter is if we aren't able to take care of these folks in their own homes, if we aren't able to provide these services that the senior centers provide,
inevitably those same folks are going to end up in institutions and the cost is going to be even higher. The cost to stay in a nursing home is not cheap. It is much cheaper to take care of a person with home-delivered meals, to take care of them with an aide in their own home, to provide other help and assistance that enables them to stay in their own home. So that's the reason why we have made these requests. and I respectfully ask y'all support as we try to follow this through to its conclusion in this legislative session.
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
27:16
to any questions y'all may have. Vice Chair Powers, you're recognized. Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Hur, thank you for your presentation. And I would just say that our senior citizens are, and your programs, are some of the most valuable assets in each one of our communities. And by contrast, they're probably one of the most underfunded agencies in our state.
And that is the problem with millions upon millions, as we should, to take care of K-12, with millions upon millions upon millions to take care of community corrections and other areas throughout the state budget, I will tell you for one that I will support what it takes to go above and beyond taking care of this most valuable asset in our community. And I thank you for being here.
Speaker 31
28:10
Thank you very much. Representative Benedict. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Representative Lori Benedict
Unverified
28:18
President Herr, I am a big supporter of the Senior Citizen Centers. I realize that they do have a funding problem. Our Senior Center in Fulton County has to have fundraisers or they can't even stay open through the end of the year. The Meals on Wheels are kind of iffy. We have 100-and-some people in our county also waiting for Meals on Wheels.
But at the same time, I'm concerned that the funding going toward these, I'm wondering how the formula is made as to what the senior centers themselves receive from the funding because the provider, White River Agency, Agency on Aging in our district, has just built a brand-new, about a half-million-dollar office facility. And it's supposed to be nonprofit, and I'm wondering how this money can be used to build office facilities
instead of actually going toward the funding of the senior center. If you have a cost per unit, if you know what it costs to serve a meal on wheels to each individual and what the costs are of serving a senior in the senior center, if you can provide those figures. I'm sure they're different in the different agencies. they all just wonder if you have any of those figures with you and I guess those would be the questions I would start with that's that's kind of enough for
Speaker 71
29:49
you to answer right now first let me respond to
Speaker 83
29:54
the cost of a home delivered meal we have several other people in front
Representative Stephanie Malone
Unverified
30:04
of me to ask questions there are several others in front of me to
Speaker 71
30:11
ask questions. If I may, in response to the question about how much a home-delivered meal costs, it varies a great deal.
For example, in my region, we have four non-profit providers that contract with us to provide those meals, and just within my region, it varies quite a bit, and it depends to some extent on how rural an area they're serving because you've got the gas cost and all that. There's also some economy of scale that you might recognize if you have a large number of people within a concentrated area where your food cost may be a little bit less per capita and the cost
for delivery may be a little bit less. I can tell you in my region, I can't respond really to White River because I don't have their numbers, but in my region, it costs a little over $5 a meal, just on average, for a home-delivered meal. The other thing that I'd like to touch on that you brought up had to do with the fundraising that occurs at the senior centers. The way it's funded through the Older Americans Act and stuff, the senior centers themselves,
These nonprofits that we contract with are actually required to raise a certain amount of money themselves. It's like match money, and they're required to raise at least 25 percent of their own funds, and most of them raise more than that. That all goes toward the meals program, but they do have a requirement to meet a certain amount of match
Speaker 75
31:53
money. the the other thing is I also can't respond really to what may be going as
Speaker 71
32:04
far as building projects and such as that but the way the money comes down to the area agencies on aging an awful lot of the money that we get state and federal funds or is restricted as to the way we can use it really the only money that we end up with that may be unrestricted or discretionary for our use is the money that we generate through providing services that are billed either to Medicaid or, in
some cases, private pay. And we do very, very little private pay. The majority is Medicaid. It's the low-income people that we serve primarily. I don't know if that answers your question, but I
Representative Lori Benedict
Unverified
32:48
can. Madam Chair, can I do one follow-up question? Okay, this question would be in regard to the salaries the directors receive. I have inquired about some of these salaries, and they range up to $150,000 in some cases. And when I asked who sets the salaries, they told me the board of directors.
And when I asked who appoints the board of directors, the director does. So it's like the director is appointing a board who sets his salary. I don't know that that's a good system. uh...
Speaker 71
33:18
i don't know how it goes in other regions i know that in my region uh... hot springs i have thirteen people on my board of directors and the board of directors selects the board of directors and some of the requirements are at least in my region that we have at least one board member from each county that we serve uh... in some cases we have to
but the board uh... in their up they can serve up to a six-year term course they're ballin volunteers voluntary board director But they nominate, if we have a vacancy coming up, the board nominates another person, and the board votes on who that's going to be. I don't know if there's any difference in other agencies, but that's the way it's
Speaker 75
33:59
done at mine. Thank you. I'll let somebody else ask questions.
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
34:10
Representative Hammer. if i may i have two questions related to the same subject on the food matter is that
okay okay let me begin begin by saying that i'm very appreciative of your service and the one that's located in my district i frequent as often and help quilt and everything else so all my questions are on the basis of trying to get a better understanding of something and it deals primarily with the food factor, and I'll ask one at a time, what is the criteria or the evaluation process
for who receives the food? And the reason I ask that question is because in the line of work what I do, I'm in homes with senior adults quite a bit, and I'll just tell you sometimes I walk in and the cupboards are full and everything, but they're
Speaker 74
35:01
receiving meals, and could you educate me on that
Speaker 71
35:04
first, please? I don't know that I can tell you every criteria because What happens is our case managers go out and evaluate those people in their home to see if they have a need. Now, one of the things that is not done is there is not a financial criteria applied.
Because we can't do means, under the federal guidelines, we can't do means testing for those particular services. So it doesn't matter if the person is rich or poor. although I can tell you the majority of them are poor. And it has to do with whether or not the person is actually homebound as to whether or not they need the meal. Aside from that, I would have to get you a copy of what the real guidelines are
and send them to you because I
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
35:58
couldn't recite them for you right here. Okay, and the second question is, if I didn't misunderstand you a while ago, You said that the food cost varies from area to area, and it's $5 is the average. Do you know, has there been an effort to look at the cost of preparing food versus just providing staples? I know that some people are limited because they're homebound and their ability to cook and safety factors, taking that into consideration.
and has there been any efforts for collective bargaining among all the various agencies for the purpose of negotiating a lower price, or are they just each one on their own?
Speaker 71
36:35
For the most part right now, I think each one is pretty much on their own, and we deal with primarily some of the major vendors for food services in terms of raw food. now I forgot what the first
Speaker 74
36:52
part of that question was about the cost to prepare a meal
Speaker 71
36:57
and I know there's a variable in there well originally as it was originally intended the home delivered meal program was for hot prepared meals to be delivered to seniors in their home there have been a number of things is that that is somewhat diluted now for a number of reasons, some of which are cost-saving. For example, to deliver a hot meal every day to every senior seven days a week,
the cost, it gets very costly. So now what you see is a mixture of hot meals and frozen meals. In other words, a person may get five hot meals a week and then two frozen for the weekend. And they also may get an emergency supply of some stuff that they can keep at their home in case of an ice storm or something like that. And you may also see that in some of these areas that are very, very rural,
in order to hold down costs, gas prices and everything else, you may see people receiving frozen meals for the week where you only have to go out one time and deliver seven meals. And hopefully they're able to keep them frozen and heat them up in the microwave. But those various things have had to be done in order to still continue to serve as many people as we could possibly serve while at the same time holding down costs.
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
38:35
Okay, that's fine for me, except I want to close with one comment, if I may. And there is no price to be put on that human contact whenever people come around to the home and deliver the meals because some of these people don't ever see some of their family members or any outside contact with the world, and I know you can't put a price
Speaker 71
38:55
on that. Exactly. In fact, one of the stipulations, one of the things that has to occur when a person is delivering a meal, when the person driving the truck takes the meal, they need to lay eyes on that senior
because it may be the only person that entire day who can check and be sure that they're okay. And the drivers are instructed if they go up and knock on the door or ring the doorbell or whatever and nobody comes, then they're supposed to get in touch with somebody to find out, did that person fall or are they alive or are they dead? And there have been a number of cases where people have been discovered who have fallen or otherwise had some medical emergency that may not have been discovered had it not been for that person delivering that meal that day.
So, yeah, there's another very important element to not just getting that meal but having that human contact. Representative Hickerson. Yes, thank you
Representative Mary P. "Prissy" Hickerson
Unverified
39:59
so much for being here today and presenting this information to us. I have a question about the Senior Citizens Center in Miller County, and I might can just call you and you might can answer this question.
It's my understanding that's run by the Southwest Arkansas Development Council. Is it? It
Speaker 67
40:22
is not run by the area agency. Yeah, I think it's contracted out. Okay, is that a duplication
Representative Mary P. "Prissy" Hickerson
Unverified
40:28
of services, or do they? I mean, are you, is that the Area Agency of Aging? Do you have anything to do with that center? The
Speaker 71
40:41
Area Agency on Aging in that region would have something to do with that center
because the way the federal dollars come down, they go to the state to the Division of Aging and Adult Services. Then the Division of Aging and Adult Services then distributes it out to the Area Agencies on Aging who in turn contract with the senior centers, and we then pay them on a unit basis for
Representative Mary P. "Prissy" Hickerson
Unverified
41:12
what they provide. This is a state agency that runs our centers very, very tiny.
It runs our center, so you all really contract with them? Is that right?
Speaker 71
41:25
That would be my guess, not being in that area myself. I do know that the Area Agency on Aging in Magnolia, which is where it would be based, would that cover Miller County? Yeah. That particular Area Agency on Aging essentially contracts everything out. So my assumption is that they contract to another state agency then.
Speaker 112
41:50
It would not be a state agency, I wouldn't think. I would
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
41:55
think it would be another nonprofit. Representative Hickerson. I know. Okay. Well, I was going to
Speaker 62
42:05
go ahead. That's fine. Thank you. Thank
Speaker 114
42:09
you so much. Representative Meeks. Excuse me. Thank you. This issue has come to the forefront for me in just the past week or so. Conway, their senior citizen center, was on the verge of having to shut down their transportation services.
And my aunt and uncle both used those services to get around. thankfully the community of conway stepped up and was able to provide the funds that were necessary in order to continue that transportation service the reason was was because conway the city of conway was providing some of the funds and of course because of the economy they were no longer able to actually provide the funds are you do you know if Conway is unusual in
the fact that the city is actually providing funds or is that something that other cities are doing and if so are the other cities are they having fun is this part of the reason why you're asking for an increase so it doesn't
Speaker 71
43:17
fall necessarily on the city so much in some locations the the local municipality may contribute some to the senior center to that nonprofit group that's contracted doing the senior center in some cases you may have the
quorum court in a county that makes some contribution in some cases you may have united way there are just a variety of places that the senior centers themselves go to to ask for additional funding but and they have to raise as I mentioned earlier some of their own funds but yes with the downturn in the economy what we have seen is that in some cases some of the folks that had contributed support in the past have had to pull back so we have seen it is more
difficult now for the senior centers to raise their own funds than it was three years ago and And yes, we have seen some reduction in other governmental agencies or other public bodies or even civic organizations making contributions to those senior centers. For the most part, the area agencies on aging do not – we don't pursue those kinds of
funds for the area agency very often because we don't want to compete with the senior center for the same dollar but yeah that's it's getting tougher for the senior
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
44:57
centers to get that kind of funding thank you representative Walker yes thank
you representative powers would you tell me what your process is for determining a needs assessment of the services for the services that you all provide on a
county-by-county basis and whether or not there is anything in writing that we can see that reflects that needs
Speaker 75
45:27
assessment? I need to be sure I understand what you're saying.
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
45:32
Well, I'll tell you, I'll be more specific. Clearly,
there's a different need from county to county in terms of the services that you all provide. Right. It's not the same in Benton County as it is in Ashley County.
And obviously, there are some criteria for determining need. And once you apply those criteria, the question becomes, for me, what do you come up with? Do you have a written assessment of what would be required to provide optimum delivery of services to the needy population as you
Speaker 71
46:18
have defined that population? population that that gets into the the statewide needs assessment that's done
by the Division of Aging and Adult Services because there are there are formulas that are used based upon population based upon income
Speaker 107
46:37
based upon minority population there are a variety of formulas that
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
46:43
are applied well I I understand that they're performing, but I'm asking, is there a needs assessment that we can see, whomever provides it, on a county-by-county or even area-by-area basis that deals with
the demographic subgroups, is there something that we can see objectively? I understand we all feel good. One of the things that I learned a long time ago was that around Thanksgiving time and Christmas time, everybody wants to feed the poor. But the poor are with us sometimes other than Thanksgiving and Christmas. So I want to know what the needs assessment is and how what you are asking the state to do correlates with that needs assessment other than a feel-good situation. And since I won't have any other opportunity, I want to ask this, too.
And the predicate of it is this, as I deal with human service agencies, of which you all are among them, it seems as if the providers always have high administrative costs that never are reduced, while the people who drive the buses and the like always stay at minimum wages. I think that's what Representative Benedict was getting at. You know, the people who run the thing always get more and more and more, and the budget
is reflected more in administration than it is in delivery of services, and for me the question is, how do you correlate that to the delivery, well, at least to the needs assessment, and then to making sure that the primary objective of delivering the services is met? still have this little notion goes way back that people who provide these services are not should
not be well paid or overly paid and it bothers me that the president of the Red Cross or one of these organizations last year and who was found in a scandal had a million dollar salary. That was the United Way Mr. Walker. United Way and then I mean it seems like the administrators are always well-paid and they their pay never goes down but the the weight the workers wages who do the delivery and who see to two of the things are done they say
their wages are frozen and then if anything is cut they are cut that means that the service is a cut so that's my concern and I thank you for a response you give and I appreciate
Speaker 71
49:21
it madam chairman mr. power let me see if I can respond to that I thought of course I don't have the figures with me right now but I would be happy to get for you because I can tell you that our administrative costs are very very low I know that within my region my my region
is under ten percent and I'm in off the top of my head I want to
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
49:45
say it's around eight percent let me but but in here because I want something clarified it I think there was a number thrown out here that may be deceiving and you might can clarify it it was represented that your directors make a hundred and fifty thousand dollars well that what I what I want to know is that the case somewhere anywhere most of where that's not a good way to put it but could you I'm not
looking for your private information but could you clarify that and I think that might allay some of the concern with a couple of these questions. I don't know necessarily
Speaker 71
50:26
what all the other directors make. I know what I make. I don't make anything near that. But, you
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
50:36
Well, the reason I wanted to clarify, because I know Ms. Langston doesn't make six figures. You know, we've had that talk.
So maybe we need to move to north, Arkansas. Apparently they're higher, but I don't want the impression that all the directors are making $150,000. Well, I don't mind telling you, I have
Speaker 71
51:00
been in my position for, it'll be 10 years in June, and I make $76,000 a year. That's my salary. Now, I can't speak to what the other people are making,
but we have directors of AAAs that have been in their position for probably close to 30 years. I've only been in
Speaker 75
51:24
my intent. I don't know what they make. You'd probably have to ask them
Speaker 71
51:31
to respond to that. But I can tell you that I don't make that much, I can also tell you that as far as the salaries of the upper-level people within my agency, we're not even competitive with the private folks out there.
Our salaries are very low. It's very difficult for us to hire highly
Speaker 75
51:55
qualified people because we can't compete with the private companies out there. and I think you may find that to be true across the board
Speaker 71
52:07
with all the area agencies on aging. Our salaries are not high. To get also to the question again about needs assessments,
that's a complex question because there are needs assessments done at various levels. The question I think that Representative Walker asked is, could I give him a piece of paper that shows how we assess the needs in the 10 counties, for example, that my region serves? No, I don't have a piece of paper that I can show you. But the things that we do look at are population statistics, the census that comes out every year.
We look at all of the various things that go into the formulas that are used by DAAS when they look at how the money is going to be distributed based on need at a higher level statewide. So there are a variety of needs assessments that are done, but I couldn't give you a piece of paper that says, for example, in Garland County, this is how we gather that data
and these are the criteria that we use to see how much per capita is dedicated to Garland County because in my case it's done covering 10 counties. Thank you,
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
53:38
Mr. Hur. What we're going to do, I'm going to let Representative Benedict clarify
that then we have Representative Deffenbaugh and Elliot to ask a question and we're going to try to wrap this up within the next 10 minutes so if you
would keep that in mind and the chair will recognize Representative Benedict for a brief clarification okay the place
Representative Lori Benedict
Unverified
54:00
I asked those figures was I was in a legislative meeting legislative council meeting and there were four different providers that were at that committee meeting answering questions and we asked each of them what their salary was because they did the same job, and the salaries ranged from $50,000. There were two in the $80,000, and the highest one was $150,000. That was just at that particular meeting, and there were four providers there. That's where I heard those figures from. Yeah. And I couldn't tell you right now who they were.
Speaker 75
54:32
I don't remember their names. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. If I could add
Speaker 71
54:41
one more thing. And just for comparison's sake, in my 10-county region, we have about 300 employees. That includes aides and regular AAA staff and what have you. Our budget a year is about $9 million. dollars as I mentioned earlier I've been there about nine and a half years almost
ten years and I make seventy six thousand dollars
Speaker 75
55:10
a year I would think that if you looked at private companies similar budgets similar number of employees all the things that go along with that that that would not be an unreasonable
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
55:26
salary thank you representative Deffenbaugh and then representative
Representative Gary Deffenbaugh
Unverified
55:35
Elliot mr. hurrah I'm really supportive of your agency I
appreciate your time and it's been very informative new to me just make sure real quickly that I understand each region is governed separately is that pretty well right and but they're held the same set of standards can i say that is that that's just for my clarification yes sir okay also was any stimulus money allowed for salaries that'd be a quick one question no no none of the
Speaker 75
56:11
stimulus money went to salaries in fact it wasn't it
wasn't allowable it couldn't be used for
Speaker 134
56:17
that okay second thing was any of the stimulus money used
Speaker 75
56:25
for buildings not that I'm aware of the only other use that there
Speaker 71
56:31
was some stimulus money that could be used and it was very specific only for the purchase of vans for transportation and I think that was in the neighborhood of fifty thousand dollars per region for vans
I know that in our case,
Speaker 71
56:51
Aging. We didn't use the money. We gave it to one of our senior center providers to buy a
Speaker 75
56:58
van to provide transportation in Danville, Arkansas, for that senior center. That's the only other stimulus money I'm aware of that was used for anything other
Speaker 100
57:08
than meals. I think meals was the only other thing it
Representative Gary Deffenbaugh
Unverified
57:13
was used for. Okay. Last question. I'm not aware of any other federal programs
Is there any other possibility for more stimulus money for this
Speaker 75
57:24
agency? Not that we're aware of Gee, I wish there was
Speaker 71
57:29
I really The federal dollars Well, the president's talking now about freezing the budget for the next five years So there is no As far as I'm aware
Speaker 76
57:41
There's no additional federal dollars coming down the pipe any time soon.
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
57:50
Thank you. Representative Elliott. Thank you,
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
57:55
Mr. Chair. I just have a simple question. If you guys,
you said that your budget or you don't have a specific way of getting a needs analysis, right? And you don't do that kind of yearly to do so. So if you were, if you had, like, as you said, you've been there nine years.
If you were operating on the amount of money that you got nine years, how could you tell that you needed additional money here year 2011 or possibly 12? Well, don't
Speaker 71
58:39
lot of stuff. I mean, we measure how many seniors we're serving. We know when there are waiting lists, for example. There is an ongoing needs assessment that goes on because every year we have to submit an area plan also
to the Division of Aging and Adult Services, which goes into the state plan. Is
Speaker 12
59:02
the plan that you're referring to a needs assessment? Is that what that is?
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
59:10
Part of it is. I guess my question is, how would you know if there's not a tangible written needs assessment, how much money you will need per year, if it's increasing or decreasing? Because let's say if it decreased in 10 years, then you wouldn't need as much as you would need, you know, if it increased.
So if there's not anything that's tangible and written down that you guys do in reference to a formula, How would you know how much you need per year to address the needs? And I'm most definitely a supporter of the seniors. I just want to make sure that they're being fairly addressed and getting the things that they need. And if you don't have a needs assessment, it
shows that somebody may either be left out or somebody may be getting too much.
Speaker 75
1:00:00
I certainly understand and sympathize with what you're saying, but
Speaker 71
1:00:08
it's difficult for me to describe because it's such a complex process because there are evaluations of needs that are done that go into the area plan that each one of us submits to the Division of Aging and Adult Services that goes into the state plan because the needs have to be documented in order to show
how we're going to address those needs, if you understand what I'm saying, because that's what the document is about, is how are we going to address the needs in our area. I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, maybe I
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
1:00:50
didn't ask the question right, because I'm not sure if I got the answer well I think that's one of
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
1:00:57
the problems there may not be an answer well I as I said I don't
Speaker 71
1:01:01
have a document that I can just sit in front of you right now and say this is how we assess the needs in Garland County for
example now if you're if you're making it that narrow of a focus as to a single county or a single city for
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
1:01:19
that matter thank you mr. Hur I want to say that the gentleman sitting beside you mr. ho would you like to have any input we're certainly happy to
Speaker 140
1:01:35
mr. chairman I'm glad to be with you I represent the area agents area area on agent and I have for a
number of years and if any of you have a question concerning something that's going on in your service area, as you'll see on this map, then I welcome you to contact me and I will certainly try to find out the information for you from that region and try to come get you anything that you need for that. So just if you don't have my number, the ladies at the house telephone system have my number
and they can get in touch with me. And I'll be glad to give you my number after
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
1:02:26
this meeting if you'd like. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, sir. We appreciate you being here. Mr. Hurd, thank you for your presentation. Very informative and good luck and keep up the good work. And we do appreciate you taking the initiative and coming to us. I know, Madam Chair, we have a young lady we want to introduce to our committee in the back there. She is our, is it our extern or our ex-term?
And Ms. Laura Morgan, she'll wave. She's going to be working with us during this legislative session, and she is a student at Bowen School of Law. And welcome, and we look forward to seeing you, and if we can help you, let us know. All right, is there any other business to come before this committee today? If not, we are adjourned.
Agenda
Call to Order
Adjournment
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Stephanie Malone
Unverified
Representative Jon Woods
Unverified
Representative David "Bubba" Powers
Unverified
Representative Efrem Elliott
Unverified
Speaker 16
Speaker 18
Speaker 23
Representative Billy W. Gaskill
Unverified
Speaker 31
Representative John W. Walker
Unverified
Representative Gary Stubblefield
Unverified
Speaker 38
Representative Reginald Murdock
Unverified
Speaker 42
Speaker 6
Speaker 51
Speaker 54
Speaker 55
Speaker 58
Speaker 61
Speaker 64
Representative Robert E. Dale
Unverified
Speaker 67
Speaker 71
Speaker 75
Speaker 76
Representative Lori Benedict
Unverified
Speaker 83
Representative Kim Hammer
Unverified
Speaker 74
Representative Mary P. "Prissy" Hickerson
Unverified
Speaker 112
Speaker 62
Speaker 114
Speaker 107
Speaker 109
Representative Gary Deffenbaugh
Unverified
Speaker 134
Speaker 100
Speaker 12
Speaker 139
Speaker 140