8/9/2019 CISO Hearing Letter August 3 2010

1/2

CISO - COMMITTEE FOR AN INDEPENDENT STATE OFFICE

August 3, 2010

Assembly Member Mariko Yamada, Chair

Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care1020 N Street, Room 360

Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Oversight Hearing: The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Protecting the

Protectors of Californias Most Vulnerable Adults

Dear Assembly Member Yamada:

On behalf of CISO Committee for an Independent State Office, we want to thank you for holdingtodays hearing on the predicament of Californias long-term care ombudsman program, and want

to give our recommendation for an independent state office structure that would safeguard andstrengthen the ombudsman program.

In January 2009, the Committee for an Independent State Ombudsman Office (CISO), made up of

ombudsman program coordinators, advisors, and stakeholders, was created with the sole purpose of

working toward the development of an independent state office.

When the local Ombudsman programs the actual providers of direct service to long term care

seniors - lost half of their funding in 2008, it was overwhelmingly clear how this would dreadfullyimpact the lives of some of our most compromised and vulnerable citizens.

When asked for help and intervention from the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman (OSLTCO), the

local ombudsman coordinators were informed that the OSLTCO could not intervene or advocate forrestoration of funding due to their status as state employees, or in the case of our State Ombudsman,

and the Director of the California Department of Aging (CDA), governor appointees.

In order to preserve the ombudsman programs and build them to an effective service level, it iscrucial that the OSLTCO is free to take action, and speak out on legislation that affects the

wellbeing of elderly persons in long term care, and without real or perceived barriers, work on

behalf of the local programs that protect and support the vulnerable and dependent seniors in longterm care.

A second crucial reason to have an independent voice at the state level is that the leader will have

the freedom and power to fulfill all the other mandates. One such mandate that will bring immensevalue to residents in long term care is that an independent state ombudsman will have the freedom

to speak out and up for residents in long term care regarding any matter that may affect them. This

could be legislation, or any other issue that might affect their quality of life. The impact of this kindof advocacy would be vastly beneficial to our seniors, and most likely what the federal government

had in mind when they authorized it in the Older Americans Act. Title VII, Chapter 2, 712 (a)(5)

(iv) Represent the interests of residents before government agencies and seek administrative,

8/9/2019 CISO Hearing Letter August 3 2010

2/2

legal, and other remedies to protect the health, safety, welfare, and rights of the residents.

The concept of an independent state ombudsman office is not new. Placing the Ombudsmanprogram outside state government is exactly what the Institute of Medicine recommended as the

most conflict free and effective model for the Ombudsman Program. Many states, seeing the value

of such a model to long term care residents, no longer house the Ombudsman program within state

government. The findings from the two year research project on the New York and CaliforniaOmbudsman Program, which was conducted by Carroll Estes PhD, Institute for Health & Aging,

UC San Francisco, named creating an independent state ombudsman office as one of the three mainpriorities for the California Ombudsman Program. In 2010, the California Senior Legislature has

made an independent state ombudsman office as a top priority.

There is now a mountain of research and evidence that specifically speaks to the conflicts of interest

and impropriety of housing the state ombudsman office within a state unit on aging.

Our recommendation is that the state ombudsman office, so that it may operate at its maximumpotential as a truly independent and effective voice for residents, be housed in an eligible not for

profit organization that operates through a contractual agreement with the state. Colorado andWashington are just two of several states that have emerged as successful role models of such anarrangement.

On behalf of the members and advisors to CISO, thank you for considering our recommendation.

Sylvia Taylor Stein,

CISO Team Leaderstaylor@ombudsmanventura.org

Cc: CISO Committee & Advisors

Clift Wilson, Manager, Program Services, Ombudsman & HICAP Services of Northern California

Eric M. Carlson, Director, Long Term Care Project, National Senior Citizens Law Center

Jackie McGrath, State Public Policy Director, Alzheimers Association of CaliforniaJoan Parks, Administrator, Ombudsman & HICAP Services of Northern California

Karen Jones, Ombudsman Program Coord., Long Term Care Ombudsman Svcs., San Luis Obispo

Cty.Kathleen Johnson, Executive Director, Advocacy Inc., Santa Cruz County

Linda Robinson, Ombudsman Program Coordinator, Advocacy Inc., Santa Cruz County

Michael Connors, Advocate, California Advocates for Nursing Home ReformMolly Davies, Program Director, WISE & Healthy Services, Los Angeles

Nina Weiler Harwell, PhD, Associate State Director-Advocacy (Interim), AARPSylvia Taylor Stein, Executive Director, Long Term Care Services of Ventura County, Inc.,

Tippy Irwin, Executive Director, Ombudsman Services of San Mateo County, Inc.,

ADVISORS to CISO:

Carroll Estes, PhD, Professor & Founding Director, Institute for Health & Aging, UC San FranciscoBrooke Hollister, PhD, Assist. Professor, Dept. of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Institute for

Health & Aging, UC San Francisco

mailto:staylor@ombudsmanventura.orgmailto:staylor@ombudsmanventura.org