N.C. Senior Tar Heel Legislature focused on funding

Kellen Holtzman, Henderson (N.C.) Daily Dispatch
·2 min read

Nov. 29—RALEIGH — Last month, the N.C. Senior Tar Heel Legislature finalized its priorities for the 2023-24 legislative cycle.

Vance County Delegate Sandra Tubbs recently provided an overview to The Dispatch on how NCSTHL operates.

Tubbs, who moved to the Henderson area in 2005, said most of North Carolina's 100 counties are currently represented and all are designed to be. Tubbs also serves as vice chair for the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments Region K Aging Advisory Committee, and she and Granville County Delegate Annette Myers are both NCSTHL officers.

In the spring and summer of even-numbered years, members identity the most pressing challenges facing older adults with a goal of distilling the many important issues down to five that are deemed most worthy of legislative consideration in the upcoming legislative cycle.

Listed in order, the five priorities for the upcoming cycle are:

1. Increase recurring funding for adult protective services by $8 million.

2. Increase recurring funding for senior centers by $2.5 million.

3. Increase recurring state funding by $8 million for N.C.'s Home and Community Care Block Grant.

4. Increase the number of regional longterm care ombudsmen by appropriating $1.5 million to add 11 full-time staff.

5. Establish standards for staff-to-patient ratios in nursing homes.

NCSTHL was created in 1993 as a nonpartisan, unicameral body by the N.C. General Assembly. Ultimately, the goal is to improve the quality of life for older adults — adults ages 60-and-up comprise 24% of the state's population, according to a NCSTHL news release.

NCSTHL selected adult protective services as its top-ranked priority in part due to the growth in the older adult population. "County departments of social services APS units are overwhelmed," NCSTHL said, "by increased demand in reports of the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older, disabled, and vulnerable adults."

In its description of senior center funding, NCSTHL noted the age 60-and-up population nearly doubled to 2.4 million from the year 2000 to 2020.

As it relates to block grant funding, approximately 11,000 residents age 60 and older are currently waitlisted for services that support malnourished, homebound, dependent and economically needy older adults, according to NCSTHL, which stated that North Carolina's discrepancy in standards for staff-to-patient ratios in nursing homes can result in "neglect of frail older adults and overwork of their primary caregivers."

Per NCSTHL, the budget for the state's Division of Aging and Adult Services is $174 million for 2022 and the fiscal impact of the five recommended priorities would add $20 million to the DAAS budget for a total of $194 million in 2023-24.

Stubbs can be reached at sbtubbs@hotmail.com.