10-28-1992 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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454, COMMUNI7 CHECK'S For Establishing Joint City- County Task Force To Meet Concerns of the Graying of Suburbia I. Determine need/interest' issue by neighboring Y g g .; jurisdictions. ug 2. Commitment by local ^^ elected officials in urban 77: and suburban jurissdic '4,' tions to work together to meet need:? 3.: Designate lead agency/ staff in government to -have on -going response- Ability for study ;; �, r 4. Identify key people/ap- y it. point joint city -county task force representing cross section of public private academic corn- Set timeframe for task 'force activities.:,..); S f 6 Preparation of materials for task force to include: demographic projections service delivery in-' formation. t <st ;:Develop -task force recom .mendations r i ::Provide opportunity for :public comment and r a `: additlonarrecommenda u; *z t1ons k 1 y t j�4 , Present recommendations °f o city council/county'zx "'board for action �urce: Graying of Suburbia: Polt -: r, a y- Lhpiicatlonsfor local OjJlctals Uhtted States: Conference of May - c;. ors :National Association of Colin- ff ;Washington,_ D. C:; 1988..; A checklist developed for two model suburban test sites has proved useful elsewhere, according to NACo and USCM. Requests for the checklist and additional information arrive in a steady stream at each organi- zation. 12 PERSPECTIVE ON AGING each case was to organize a task force from the public and private sectors, academic community, and leaders in aging. The accompanying "Community Checklist" incorporates principles applied to establish task forces at both sites. A community sym- posium for the Columbus/Frank- lin County project was taped for the local cable network and shown at (east two additional times, with an address/phone number for au- dience remarks. In Virginia, more than 100 persons met, including the Mayor of Richmond and mem- bers of the county Board of Super- visors from Henrico County and the surrounding counties of Hanover and Chesterfield. Task forces offered their own needs assessments, which for the most part reflected national survey find- ings. They made recommenda- tions for further action. In each case, task force mem- bers saw, as crucially essential, a need for greater public awareness of the impact of aging in sub- urbia. What now? NACo/USCM do not expect their survey and report to mobilize a coordinated municipal/county/ aging assault on surburban prob- lems as the number one issue confronting these groups and the rest of the nation. But they think the issue is now more squarely posed than ever be- fore. Sandra Reinsel Markwood, NACo Project Coordinator for Ag- ing Programs, reports a steady stream of inquiries about the re- port. Of special importance, she believes, is the report's emphasis on the need for mutual under- standing and action. "You've got to have a focal point." she says, referring to the report's repeated emphasis on the need for a singe entry agency to coordinate access to services. Are area agencies on aging, funded primarily through federal Older Americans Act grants, likely to became the principal provider of this central access service, as seemingly suggested at several points in the report? Page 46 To several experts Interviewed for this feature section, the an- swer to that question is simple: it all depends on how strong and well - established the area agency is. And these factors vary con- siderably throughout the nation. Jonathan D. Linkotis, Executive Director of the National Associa- tion of Area Agencies on Aging (NAAAA), agrees that there are dif- ferences among AAAs, but he adds: "We have that network out there, and it should have greater recognition of services that are available and how AAAs can serve as advocates." He points out, too, that many AAAs have both suburbs and cities in their jurisdictions. In addition, they are adaptable to dif- fering circumstances because they have widely varying parent agen- cies or other forms of identity. Twenty-nine percent are in metro- politan councils of governments; twenty-six percent are lodged in city-county governments. Of the remainder, 36 percent are private nonprofit organizations, and seven percent are "other." Whatever the role of AAAs may ultimately become in the aging of suburbia, another important real- ity must also be faced. Priority needs may vary considerably from area to area in the United States. Two examples of action taken by local leaders who are familiar with the USCM/NACo survey findings help make that point. In Oakland County, Michigan,