Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 21, 1990 TAG: 9006210413
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Six agencies - including the District 3 Governmental Cooperative, which celebrated its 15th birthday Wednesday - originally sued the Virginia Department for the Aging in 1988 over its formula for dividing federal funds for the elderly among the state's 25 agencies.
The six rural regional agencies claimed the formula was not in line with federal guidelines because it was based more on population than need. U.S. District Judge Glen Williams ruled otherwise, and an appeal to the 4th Circuit resulted in the suit being returned to the district level.
Now the plaintiffs have amended it and filed it again in U.S. Western District Court at Big Stone Gap. It names Thelma Bland, who became commissioner of the Department for the Aging this year, as the defendant.
The plaintiffs include Mountain Empire Older Citizens, Appalachian Agency for Senior Citizens and the New River Valley Agency on Aging which, with District 3, cover practically all counties west of Roanoke. The suit was filed by Gerald Gray, who is commonwealth's attorney in Dickinson County.
None of that pending litigation was apparent Wednesday when Bland and District 3 representatives held the 11th of 25 meetings she is convening with senior citizens across the state. About 250 senior citizens came to hear her and take part in the regional agency's birthday celebration.
"I know that each area has different concerns, and different ways of addressing those concerns," Bland said. One reason for the meetings she is attending is to see the areas and concerns firsthand, she said.
"We realize we will be facing some tight budget years ahead," she said. Federal funding has increased by 10 percent in the last five years, and Virginia has been increasing its share but is unlikely to do so again in the next two years, she said.
"There's never enough money to go around," said Bill Peterson, a department representative.
Bland said she would like to see more assistance for support services to care-givers to the elderly, a theme echoed by those addressing the meeting.
Pat Hite, a social worker for the Grayson County Social Services Department, said companion services for the elderly - people who do housecleaning, shopping, laundry and even feeding, bathing and dressing - are the most-needed senior-citizen services in her county. "It enables a person to stay in their home safely, to stay in their community," she said.
The program served 24 elderly residents seven years ago and now serves 92, with 34 more on a waiting list, she said. Its budget was $150,000 last year, she said, and that is being cut to $22,000 in the coming year, which will mean services for only eight or nine people.
"I don't have any immediate answer, of course. I don't think anyone does," Bland said. But she promised to bring the matter before Health and Human Services Commissioner Howard Cullum at a meeting scheduled July 3.
Ron Eller, District 3 client services director, said the agency's 3-year-old home-care program totaled 7,000 hours last year and 9,000 this year. "Yet the waiting list for that service in our district for that need is 8,000 hours."
Another program is respite care - relief to the care-giver - which has seen a 70 percent increase in requests for that service, he said. The need is in home services because, he said, just being at home is a factor in the health of the elderly.
"It's amazing, the recuperative powers that being at home really has. It's hard to explain," Eller said. "That is where the need is."
Mike Hoback, District 3 senior advocate director, said the agency - covering Smyth, Wythe, Carroll, Grayson and Bland counties and the cities of Bristol and Galax - handles about 700 home-delivered meals for senior citizens a month but has about 225 on a waiting list who cannot be served because of lack of funds.
The agency recognized some of its long-term employees and presented a plaque to Dr. Carl Stark, who helped organize it 15 years ago and has been on its board ever since. He is leaving it June 30, which is when he will step down as mayor of Wytheville after 28 years.
Mike Guy, District 3 executive director, said much of what the agency has achieved over the years is due to Stark.
by CNB