At a Glance: 2008-09 Program Reports

USS directors Karen Tobin (left) and Michelle Smart (center) share their thoughts about the economic downturn's impact on seniors at a community forum hosted by Rankin Christian Center.

Additional Information

For related information please view our quarterly newsletter.
Fall 2009 Newsletter & Annual Program Report July 2008 - June 2009

Archived Articles

03/30/2010 - Jack Flora
03/30/2010 - Carol Gradkowski
03/30/2010 - Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Finali...
03/30/2010 - Service Coordination Expands to Marian P...
03/30/2010 - Relocation Support for Seniors
03/30/2010 - 2010 Quality Improvement Plans Underway
03/30/2010 - Senior Companion Program
03/30/2010 - PSO 2010 Community Partners Concert Feat...
12/28/2009 - In Memory of Mary Anne Kelly
12/28/2009 - 2009 Quality Improvement Plan

SLEP Service Coordination

With over 3800 contacts made to Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) residents, service coordinators provided close to 900 assists with attaining benefits and insurance that included investigating health benefits and eligibility, completing applications, and applying for hundreds of rent rebates. Additional benefits secured included housekeeping and personal care, meal services, transportation, financial management, and connecting residents with needed assistive devices. These may include motorized wheelchairs, personal response systems, and hearing aids. Through the submission for Reasonable Accommodations to HACP, adaptive equipment can be installed in resident apartments as well, such as raised toilet seats, tub benches, grab bars and hand held showers, along with strobe lights for fire alarms and door bells, to name a few. Service coordinators provided over 600 assists on an ongoing basis to individuals by reading and sorting mail, informal budgeting and bill paying, and providing social/emotional support through therapeutic listening.

Our primary goal is to improve the quality of life for HACP residents, as well as promote health, wellness, recreation and community. SLEP service coordinators assisted HACP management with 100 referrals for assistance with re-certifications, 64 referrals for rent assistance, 62 housekeeping issues, and made 25 referrals to provide residents with supports in the areas of food assistance, furniture, and mental health crisis intervention. Additionally, service coordinator intervention assisted in the prevention of 75 evictions, which at an approximate cost of $800 to $1000 to refurbish a vacated apartment, translates to an approximate savings of $67,000 to the Housing Authority. Residents posted for eviction for delinquent rent were referred to the Urban League, Catholic Charities, and Salvation Army as well as the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) for bill payer and rep payee services. Referrals to the AAA Chore Services assisted residents with failed housekeeping inspections by bringing in housekeepers to complete heavy cleaning and assistance with de-cluttering. Service coordinators assisted residents with gathering income verifications and the completion of recertification paperwork. In an effort to assist the increasing number of individuals with mental health issues populating the high rises, referrals were made to HACP’s mental health supports for evaluation and recommendations for support services and, in more dire situations, to Resolve crisis intervention for individuals requiring immediate treatment and hospitalization.

By posting and providing literature, as well as making referrals to residents to meet with the visiting nurse when in their buildings, service coordinators continued to promote the Ten Keys to Healthy Aging. Additionally, service coordinators encouraged resident participation at area senior centers. Additional relocation assistance was provided to 115 residents due to the emergency closing of one high-rise due to mold abatement, and internal moves as renovations continue to upgrade apartments for handicapped accessibility.

With over 3200 service hours provided to the high rises, SLEP service coordinators continued to provide a service enhanced environment that enabled residents to age in place. As a result of our continued dedication to enrich, educate, and empower HACP residents, Ursuline’s service coordination program was awarded the Authority’s Service Provider of the Year for 2008.

Community Based Options

The staff of the Community Based Options (CBO) department has had another busy year. Continuous training and education have remained a high priority in the CBO department. Eight care managers attended Basic Protective Services training in Harrisburg in the fall and spring. More care managers became trained counselors for The Benefit Bank, an online program that makes applying for benefits faster and easier. Staff also attended a variety of other Area Agency on Aging (AAA) sponsored trainings, including classes through the Professional Care Management Institute, Aging Orientation and Frontline Workers Trainings on such topics as hoarding behavior, crisis intervention, or drug and alcohol prevention. Care managers were able to expand their knowledge of community resources at the Day to C.A.R.E. event in October and the Resource Symposium in June.

The CBO department continued to work on the newest Quality Improvement Plans, with guidance from the AAA, and began focusing on new goals at the start of the calendar year. New goals for the CBO and Information & Referral (I&R) departments include improved customer service, cultural competence, program evaluation, and development of training materials for the I&R department. The department continues to perform a variety of quality assurance activities, which include caseload reviews and telephone surveys to a sample of our consumers twice yearly. This enables us to provide the highest quality of service to our consumers and to determine how our programs and customer service are impacting those whom we serve.

The CBO department has been busy working on several new initiatives, all aimed at providing the best services possible to seniors. The department created a Strengths-Based Assessment Tool, which care managers can utilize with their consumers to assess and build upon their strengths, to create life goals, and find solutions. The CBO department completed a pilot project with Eastern Area Adult Services, with consumers in the Pitcairn senior high-rise, their Care Managers and their direct care workers. The goal of the pilot was to open the lines of communication between the care managers and direct care workers, to see if the quality of service would improve. With positive results from that pilot, the project is being expanded this fall. Our Volunteer Shopping Program continues to grow with new referrals and new cases opened, as well as new volunteers recruited to do the shopping and deliver groceries to our homebound consumers. Several care managers reached out to assist the homeless during extremely cold nights this past winter, by volunteering their evenings to do outreach with homeless seniors at downtown shelters.

On a fun note, staff in the CBO department continued the tradition of working with West Penn Hospital to provide holiday gifts to needy seniors through the “Presents for Patients” program. Doctors, nurses and staff at West Penn Hospital chose 200 Ursuline consumers from the Giving Tree and purchased items such as clothing, gift bags, craft supplies, shoes, and books to help brighten their holidays. Care managers made suggestions for the gifts, so that each would be uniquely tailored to the consumer. After picking up the gifts, they were wrapped and delivered during the holiday season. We also began a monthly newsletter to our caregivers in the Family Caregiver Support Program, to provide resources, information and encouragement to many hardworking caregivers.

The Community Based Options staff is very proud of their accomplishments in the last year and looks forward to building on them and adding more projects as this year rolls along!

Guardianship

As the ancient Chinese philosopher said, this past year was “a very interesting time” for the Guardianship Program. One notable event was being invited by Erie County Orphans’ Court Judge Stephanie Domitrovich to give a presentation to attorneys and social service agencies in Erie County, in preparation for accepting guardianships for Erie County residents.

We were proud that for the first time in the Guardianship Department, two staff became National Certified Guardians through the National Guardianship Association. Program Director Ann F. Mason and Program Coordinator Hilary Mamaux “set the standard” as the first in the department to achieve this prestigious level of professionalism.

In our outlying counties, we welcomed two new Guardians of Person bringing extensive social work and life experience with them to watch over our wards in Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, Cambria, Indiana, Somerset and Armstrong Counties, among others. We are also glad to have three new Guardians of Estate working in the Pittsburgh office to bring a vast array of experience in the finance and accounting field.

Working with the Treasurer of the Board of Directors, along with the Executive Director and Finance Manager, we have created a database that enables us to forecast better program revenues, and evaluate the appropriateness of referrals to the Guardianship Program. Internally, all our wards’ current demographic and other relevant information is available with about four “clicks” into the Access database created by the administrative assistant. Even for our wards, as times and technology change, there has been an interest in the internet and some of our wards are now online. This allows them to “stay connected” with family, loved ones and current events.

Every year our Holiday gift program is a highlight because each of our wards receives a gift delivered by the members of the Guardianship Department. This event is looked on with great anticipation by many of our wards who do not have family in the area. Their eyes “light up” when they realize, “Santa did not forget them!”

Protective Services

The Protective Services Department at Ursuline Senior Services received 511 Reports of Need during the 2008-2009 contract year. This is an increase of 24% in reports from the previous year. These reports include allegations of self-neglect, caregiver neglect, abandonment, physical or emotional abuse as well as financial exploitation. Our staff investigates allegations of abuse and neglect using an array of resources and develops a care plan to correct the situation.

During the 2008-2009 fiscal years an emphasis has been placed on seniors that have been financially exploited by an adult child. Protective Services has been a part of the “Economic Downturn Impact on Older Adults” Resources Group in collaboration with the Area Agency on Aging, Neighborhood Legal Services and Advantage Credit Counseling Service. Presentations by Protective Services Staff have been made to educate seniors on the signs of financial distress and available resources. Protective Services staff also attended an annual training provided by The Institute on Protective Services at Temple University. The topic of this training was Conducting Financial Exploitation Investigations.

Fifteen seniors required emergency placement in a nursing home, personal care home or alternative housing. These seniors have often been a victim of financial exploitation or self neglect. Some of the reasons for their lack of housing are foreclosure of their homes, inability to care for themselves or lack of utilities. Protective Services Staff also provides medications, clothing and food to these displaced seniors.

Ursuline Protective Services goal is to reduce the risk to the senior and to assist in improving the quality of their lives. The “PS Team” remains a strong force in the community while advocating for the most vulnerable older adults.

Volunteer Programs

We at Ursuline continue to rely on the help of volunteers to provide valuable services to our consumers. Our volunteer programs, AARP Money Management, Senior Reassurance and Senior Companion, are a trio of supportive services providing outreach and support in order to promote elder independence.

This type of outreach provides an opportunity for individuals whose focus is to make a difference in the lives of others. This interactive commitment is a two-fold initiative for those who want to serve and for those in need of service.

In an effort to promote and expand services for seniors who would prefer to “age in place,” the director of volunteer programs has developed a campaign to provide for heightened awareness of our activities in this area. This year with support from the Money Management advisory council president, a press release was launched. The goal was to inform seniors and those who may be interested in volunteering about existing concerns for seniors and extend an invitation for those who may be interested in helping to provide assistance to older adults struggling to maintain their independence.

Older adults in the community have not been spared the devastation of the economic downturn. Perhaps this situation increases vulnerability for some seniors and they are more at risk, and more easily preyed upon by community as well as family members.

The program director has been invited to participate in an advocacy network of social service agencies connected with the Allegheny County Area on Aging.

The focus of this group is to be present seniors where they congregate and express their concerns regarding the impact of our volatile economy on them directly. For those older adults who have been victimized, or are just unaware that help is available, this heightened awareness campaign is making a difference.

In March, the program director successfully completed the New Ventures in Leadership program, and is continuing to focus on opportunities that will provide older adults with free financial support, introduce them to their local AAA, and continue to support their decision to age in place.

The Homebound Flu Shot program continues to focus on those seniors who are unable to leave their homes to receive the seasonal flu shot. As usual the response is overwhelming and, with this year’s H1N1 flu complications, the challenge to remain a support to the community in this way remains our focus.

Finally, looking at our volunteer programs this year, we realize that the core of our outreach is best described in a statement made by United States Army General Peyton Conway March: “There is a wonderful law of nature that the three things we crave most – happiness, freedom, and peace of mind – are always attained by giving them to someone else.”