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Minutes of the

Health & Human Services Committee

April 13, 2009

            The Health & Human Services Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, April 13, 2009, @ 5:30p.m. in the Administration Building’s Conference Room East.  Chairman Jeff Metzger, Sr., reconvened the hearing from April 6, 2009.  Members present were Eileen Dubin, John Emerson, Pat LaVigne, Mr. Osborne and Paul Stoddard.  Others present were Mary Ramp, Jess Collins, Michael Flora, Ellen Rogers, Tom Zucker and Rob Wilkinson.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

          Chairman Metzger, Sr., amended the agenda to remove the Approval of the Minutes item and to remove the Executive Session item, too.

            Moved by Mr. Emerson, seconded by Ms. LaVigne, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended agenda.

SENIOR SERVICES TAX LEVY HEARINGS

            Chairman Metzger, Sr. reminded the committee members that the agencies were only going to be allowed 10-15 minutes each for a question and answer period.  After the April 6, 2009 meeting the committee reconvened to hear the rest of the agencies applying for the senior tax levy funds and then would discuss the monetary awards to the various agencies chosen. 

Ben Gordon Center

Request:  The Ben Gordon Center is seeking $45,906.50 for their Older Adult Outreach Program.  Right now they provide for a general outpatient service and are asking for an expansion.  Mr. Flora said with this expansion, they would be able to provide in-home services for seniors who suffer from severe and persistent mental health illness so that the Center can help prevent the premature institutionalization of these seniors.  The Center will provide an outreach counselor for the seniors. Depression and anxiety could be found on these visits and a nurse would be able then to call a physician and get the medication to these patients as an early intervention, which could help delay the institutionalization by up to 300 days.  He said that the Center has seen 63 adults by March 2009 so far and feels that the Center will see an increase in this number during this year

. 

Mr. Stoddard asked Mr. Flora how he arrived at 600 units of service? 

Mr. Flora said that he based it on 150 visits for 50 older adults and 150 medical checks throughout the year (2 times).  The case management amounted to 100 hours for a total of 600 units of service. 

2008 Award       2009 Requested Amount  

      -$0-           $45,906.50                                    

Prairie State Legal Services

Request:  Prairie State Legal Services is seeking $4000 which will fund 54 hours of attorney time.  These funds will also be used as match and supplemental funding for the $5,390 grant from Northwestern Illinois Area Agency on Aging and funding from the Legal Services Corporation.    Prairie State will provide approximately 185 hours of legal services to seniors.  Legal representation will resolve elder abuse issues and decision-making issues in approximately 7 cases (seniors).

2008 Award       2009 Requested Amount  

$3,500                       $4,000                                 

Voluntary Action Center – Transportation and Meals on Wheels

Request:  Voluntary Action Center – Transportation request is for $100,050 for FY09 transportation services (Trans Vac and Med Vac).  This request will fund 6,900 rides at a cost of $14.50 per ride. Costs were calculated by dividing total transportation costs by total number of rides provided.

Voluntary Action Center – Meals On Wheels request is for $123,500 that will be used to provide 13,000 meals, which will purchase 23% of Meals on Wheels services for DeKalb County residents.  Service will include a combination of noon, evening and weekend meals in addition to dietary supplements.

2008 Award       2009 Requested Amount  

Transportation:      $87,000              $110,050                                    

Meals on Wheels:  $112,500          $123,500

Mr. Tom Zucker, Executive Director of the Voluntary Action Center, and Ms. Ellen Rogers, thanked the committee for continued support of their services and for the Senior Services Tax Levy. 

YMCA, Kishwaukee Family – Mr. Rob Wilkinson

Request:  The YMCA is seeking $6,000.00 for their Senior Walking Memberships.  The Kishwaukee Family YMCA will provide monthly walking passes to area seniors at a rate of $2.00 per month.  The Walking Passes at the YMCA are subsidized by the YMCA by $8.00 per month to achieve the $2.00 per month fee.  The County’s Senior Tax Levy funds will allow the YMCA to offer 125 area seniors 6 months of walking passes or the equivalent of 750 months of walking passes.   The actual cost of the membership is $10.00 per month.   

2008 Award       2009 Requested Amount  

     -$0-            $6,000              

ALLOCATION OF FUNDS

          The awards for the Senior Tax Levy Allocations are as follows:  Barb City Manor was awarded $10,500; Ben Gordon Center was awarded $23,000; DeKalb County Health Department was awarded $30,000; DeKalb County Hospice was awarded $2640.00 for the End of Life Care and $2,260 for the Care Givers Class for a total of $4900; Elder Care Services was awarded $32,500 for Case Management, $26,500 for Elder Abuse and $31,000 for Self-Neglect for a total of $90,000; Family Service Agency was awarded $90,000; Fox Valley Older Adults was awarded $50,000; Hope Haven was awarded $7,250; Opportunity House was awarded $33,900; Prairie State Legal Services was awarded $3,000; Voluntary Action Center was awarded $114,000 for Meals on Wheels and $100,000 for Transportation.  The amount available for this year was $550,000.00.  The committee also agreed to take $6,550.00 out of the accumulated funds to equal the total award amount of $556,550.00.

Moved by Mr. Stoddard, seconded by Ms. LaVigne, and it was carried unanimously and it was carried unanimously to forward this recommendation to the full board for approval.

ADJOURNMENT

            Moved by Mr. Stoddard, seconded by Mr. Osborne, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

                                                       Respectfully submitted,

                                                    ______________________________________

                                                       Chairman Jeffery L. Metzger, Sr. 

_________________________________________   

Mary C. Supple, Secretary