OCEAN COUNTY – Home to one of the largest senior populations in the state, Ocean County is facing some troubling cuts to essential senior programs. Officials are urging the state to reinstate funding for certain service programs offered to Ocean County seniors.
“Many of our seniors are vulnerable and the programs and services provided are lifelines in many ways,” said Ocean County Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari, Chairman of the Ocean County Office of Senior Services. “State cuts reduce our ability to provide essential services to our seniors.
Vicari added that increases in the cost of everyday living combined with the cuts in state funding do not bode well for our seniors, who “are forced to make decisions on whether to pay to keep a roof over their head or purchase life sustaining medications…No one should have to face making that kind of decision,” he said.
Ocean County serves a senior population of over 173,000, 30 percent of which rely on Social Security to cover basic living expenses. Despite the recent 1.6 percent increase in Social Security – which provides seniors about an additional $400 more per year – Vicari emphasized that it is never really enough.
“When you have utilities increasing by 10 percent along with essentials like food prices going up, insurance increases, $400 doesn’t go very far,” he said. “The cost of living adjustment over the last five years has averaged only about 1.3 percent, that’s during those years our seniors received one.”
Of the many services offered by Ocean County to senior citizens, there are two programs that help keep seniors living independently and both are seeing major cuts in state funding. These programs are the Jersey Assistance for Community Caregiving (JACC) and home health aide services provided by Visiting Home Care Service of Ocean County.
JACC is a state-funded program that provides in-home services to local seniors to help keep them living independently in their community home as opposed to being placed in a nursing facility. According to Maria LaFace, Director of the Ocean County Office of Senior Services, for those seniors who meet the income requirement, JACC provides a wide array of supports intended to delay or prevent placement in a nursing facility, including respite care, homemakers services, personal emergency response systems, home delivered meals, transportation, adult day care, special medical equipment or supplies, caregiver training, home health aide services.
In the state fiscal year 2019, Ocean County was awarded $1,067,970 for JACC services. In state fiscal year 2020, that total has decreased to $818,432.
“With the decrease of $249,538 starting in July 2019 we already have a wait list of 41 for new JACC applications,” Vicari noted.
Home health aide services have been provided to Ocean County seniors for the last 40 years by Visiting Home Care Services using Title 20 funding through the state Division of Disability Services. This funding will end as of June 30, 2020, said Vicari. “The provider stands to lose $460,000,” he said.
On average Visiting Home Care Services (VHS) has been providing approximately 300 hours a week of home health aide services under Title 20 grant funds, which translates to about 15,600 hours of home care a year that will no longer be provided, or 50 clients a week will go without help, he added.
Between cuts to JACC funding and the cuts in Title 20 funding to VHS, Ocean County has lost a total of $709,538 in state dollars used for senior services.
“Traditionally, we would absorb a loss by diverting clients to alternate programs such as JACC or State Wide Respite,” Vicari said. “However, due to funding cuts or underfunding, they both have waiting lists. As a result, more seniors will be forced into managed long term services and supports.”
In addition to urging state officials to reconsider these funding cuts, the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders plans to reach out to the state representatives in the 9th, 10th, 12th and 30th districts to determine whether there are ways this could be remedied.
In the meantime, officials noted that seniors can still receive assistance from the Ocean County Office of Senior Services should they need help with meals or other services.
“Ocean County continues to appropriate funds for senior services that help keep our seniors independent,” Vicari said.
For example, Ocean County’s senior nutrition program, which provides 1,100 meals a day to local seniors including the home delivered meal program, will continue into the New Year with an anticipated 300,000 meals to be served.
“The Board of Freeholders made sure there is no waiting list for this very important program,” Vicari said. “It’s imperative that all levels of government assist in providing our aging populations with programs and services that will make their lives better and keep them out of nursing homes and hospitals.”
No solution presents itself just yet and Vicari expressed concern over the long-term impact of these cuts.
“Will there be more state cuts next year?” said Vicari.
