LeadingAge NY Testifies Before the Assembly Standing Committee on Aging
Last week, the Assembly Aging Committee held a public hearing in Albany to explore community programs and services that promote healthy aging and improved quality of life for seniors living independently. LeadingAge NY was the third of 13 organizations to testify, focusing on workforce challenges, the growing aging population, and an expansion of innovative service delivery models to improve health outcomes.
In her testimony, Karen Lipson, LeadingAge New York’s Executive Vice President for Innovation Strategies, highlighted industry challenges and offered several recommendations to improve the lives of New York’s seniors. A few key recommendations offered to the committee were:
- Establishing an Aging Services Workforce Shortage Taskforce to highlight best practices, collect data, and compile resources to be shared with both providers and consumers;
- Developing a core curriculum of training requirements to facilitate cross-certification of aides to promote a flexible and adaptive workforce;
- Supporting an Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program [A.10017-A (Cymbrowitz)/S.7866-A (Little)] to improve seniors’ ability to remain in their communities in an extremely cost-effective manner;
- Providing additional funding for Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs)/Neighborhood NORCs (NNORCs) to improve seniors’ knowledge and access to services; and
- Supporting the development of the Village Model, which allows seniors to live at home with direct support from their neighbors and community.
The testimony elicited questions from several committee members, including Chair Donna Lupardo, who expressed gratitude for the many innovative ideas and successes shared with the committee.
LeadingAge NY's testimony can be accessed here. The hearing in its entirety can be viewed here, with LeadingAge NY’s testimony beginning at 48:13.
Contact: Sarah Daly, sdaly@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8845