Thank you for advocating

6/27/2011 3:40pm

Funding for meals-on-wheels and other Office of Services to the Aging (OSA) services were restored in the final version of the FY 2012 budget of the Department of Community Health (DCH) sent to Governor Snyder for his signature.  An avalanche of emails, phone calls, letters and face-to-face visits by aging advocates convinced legislators and administration officials to restore the OSA cuts proposed earlier this year.  One OSA cut  remained, however - $120,000 in funding for Tribal Elder programs.) A last minute appeal for increased funding for the successful nursing facility transition program resulted in a $26 million increase in the MI Choice Medicaid Waiver line-item, which had been slated to get flat funding from the Governor, House and Senate. Thank you to everyone who voiced their concerns, and to all the legislators who listened.

Permanant Link View/Leave Comments

Thank you for your advocacy!

6/2/2011 4:07pm

The “Thrill of Victory” is how Mary Ablan, Executive Director of the Michigan Association of Area Agencies on Aging, described it. In a significant turnaround, funding for home delivered meals and other home care programs in the Office of Services to the Aging (OSA) FY’12 Budget were restored to current levels.

So why were these programs spared deep cuts while a long list of other state programs were reduced, including K-12 education, universities, community colleges, welfare payments, corrections, mental health, public health, and revenue sharing?

According to Mary Ablan, an avalanche of emails, phone calls, letters and face-to-face visits by aging advocates convinced state legislators and administration officials to restore OSA cuts that at one point were in the 15% to 18% range and some volunteers programs were slated for elimination. It clearly was one of the most impressive advocacy campaigns in aging network history.

Our thanks to those advocates who took the time and made the extra effort to contact a state elected official. Your deep commitment and dedication to programs that help older adults remain independent truly made a difference!

Permanant Link View/Leave Comments