Office on Aging Provides a Myriad of Elder Services

Elder Law Office of George F. Dickerman
3879 Brockton Avenue
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 788-2156
www.elder-law-advocate.com

Elder Law Newsletter

Office on Aging Provides a Myriad of Elder Services

The Riverside County Office on Aging (OoA) offers a wide range of services and programs for seniors, the elderly and the disabled.

Every county in California has a similar agency (the California Department of Aging contracts with and provides leadership and direction to Area Agencies on Aging).

It's really pretty amazing - the number of different services and programs that are offered.

I encourage you to visit their website and see whether any of these programs could benefit one of your clients.

The following is just a partial list of the programs and services offered by the Riverside County OoA:

Adult Day Care. Non-medical services are provided to those at risk for institutionalization, and may include meals, social and recreational activities, rehabilitation and medication assistance.

Care Coordination. I have a personal 'mantra' ... "A nursing home placement and/or a conservatorship should always be a last resort". Under the right circumstances, OoA's care coordination services might provide the tools to prevent an elder from prematurely having to enter a nursing home. OoA can conduct a comprehensive in-home evaluation to identify the elder's specific needs and then assist by locating additional community resources that may meet enough of the required needs that a nursing home placement can be avoided.

Under "care coordination", are a host of other services including:

Multiple Senior Services Program (MSSP). Offers assistance to frail Medi-Cal eligible seniors.

Linkages Program. As I understand this, the purpose is to identify an elder's needs (or dependent adult between 18-64) and then "link" those needs to every service program that can assist to allow an elder to remain at home for as long as possible. What a fantastic concept.

In re-reviewing OoA's website and its programs and services, I'm a little shocked to discover how little I've utilized them to provide assistance to my clients. I'm usually consumed with the courts and legal issues. But I remember one case, in particular, where I truly believed my client had the mental and physical capacity to remain at home and avoid a nursing home placement, and was able to avoid that through OoA's assistance in conducting a thorough in-home assessment of my client's needs.

My client's son was basically evil, and had set up an irrevocable trust that allowed him to take title of his mother's home if she could no longer reside there. Hence, he was hell-bent to get her removed and placed into a nursing home.