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PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION -- NATIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVERS MONTH
11/01/11 — THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release November 1, 2011
NATIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVERS MONTH, 2011 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 
A PROCLAMATION:
 
Across our country, millions of family members, neighbors, and friends provide care and support for their loved ones during times of need. With profound compassion and selflessness, these caregivers sustain American men, women, and children at their most vulnerable moments, and through their devoted acts, they exemplify the best of the American spirit. During National Family Caregivers Month, we pay tribute to the individuals throughout America who ensure the health and well-being of their relatives and loved ones.
 
Many of our Nation's family caregivers assist seniors and people with disabilities to help improve their quality of life. Their efforts help deliver short-term comfort and security, facilitate social engagement, and help individuals stay in their homes and communities as long as possible. This heroic work is often done while caregivers balance other commitments to their families, jobs, and communities. As these remarkable individuals put their own lives on hold to tend to their family members, it is our responsibility to ensure they do not have to do it alone.
 
To ease the emotional and financial burdens that can accompany caregiving, my Administration has striven to support family caregivers for the crucial role they perform. Vice President Joe Biden's Middle Class Task Force has focused on the importance or investing in respite care, counseling, and training for individuals who serve aging Americans. These initiatives would give family caregivers a leg up as they continue to support their aging loved ones.
 
One of our Nation's greatest responsibilities is to ensure our veterans, their families, and their caregivers receive lasting and comprehensive support. Last year, I signed the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act, which helps fulfill this obligation by extending additional assistance to family members who care for severely wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our military caregivers exemplify the heroism found not only on the fields of battle, but also in the hearts of those who tend to our wounded warriors when they come home.
 
As we observe National Family Caregivers Month, we honor the tireless compassion of Americans who heal, comfort, and support our injured, our elders, and people with disabilities. This month and throughout the year, let the quiet perseverance of our family caregivers remind us of the decency and kindness to which we can all aspire.
 
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2011 as National Family Caregivers Month. I encourage all Americans to pay tribute to those who provide for the health and well-being of their family members, friends, and neighbors.
 
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
 
BARACK OBAMA

 

 

 

Public News Service-IN

September 08, 2011

AARP: Indiana 47th in Meeting Long-Term Care Needs

 

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - A new AARP scorecard ranks Indiana 47th in the nation for how well states manage long-term care services and support systems. Paul Chase, public policy director with AARP Indiana, says it's costing the state more in the long run by not adequately funding existing programs, like "CHOICE" and the Medicaid waiver, that keep people out of nursing homes.

 

"We can do a lot better at expanding home-care services, making sure that we're taking care of people's needs - where they want to be taken care of, giving people more independence - more choice in terms of their own needs."

 

Chase says right now, Medicaid pays for at least 62 percent of all nursing home care in the state. The AARP scorecard looks at affordability and access, choice of setting and provider, quality of life, quality of care and support for family caregivers.

 

State Sen. Vaneta Becker (R-Evansville) points out that Indiana has not increased the budget line for home and community-based services since 2004.

 

"We rely too much on nursing home care and not enough on home- and community-based services, where people can remain more independent and live in their own home as long as possible."

 

With CHOICE (Community and Home Options to Institutional Care for the Elderly and Disabled), it costs $7,200 a year to take care of someone in their home, Becker says, versus $50,000 a year in a nursing home. She says the federal government picks up two-thirds of the nursing home costs for Medicaid, but it is financed through tax dollars.

 

Chase says the state has refused to fully fund programs like Medicaid waivers, which require an up-front investment but save taxpayer dollars overall by keeping people out of nursing homes. He adds that the state also continues to trim the state-funded CHOICE program, even though it provides services similar to the Medicaid waiver at a fraction of the cost.

 

"Community and Home Options to Institutional Care for the Elderly and Disabled is a great state program. It's a very cost-effective program. Yet, each budget cycle we have to fight tooth and nail to keep them from cutting funding for it."

 

On the positive side, the scorecard shows 85 percent of Hoosiers with disabilities living in the community are satisfied with their lives. Chase says the Area Agencies on Aging offer one-stop access to information about available long-term care programs.

 

A link to the AARP report is at www.longtermscorecard.org.

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/22055-1

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