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AARP Asking for More Support for Family Caregivers

people in red t-shirts gathered in front of a projector screen
Chris Bolt
/
WAER News

AARP is lobbying for support for New Yorkers who spend a lot of time caring for the elderly in their homes, following a 2013 report on New York state elderly care.  The report finds that four million unpaid family caregivers are struggling to balance their jobs with helping elderly family members. 

AARP Onondaga spokesperson Bob O’Connor says that in the next five years, over 90,000 residents ages 50 and older will provide unpaid care to an adult relative or friend. He says the state could put more money into respite care, meal delivery, and transportation services that would help out:

 
 
Funding for services through the state office of aging has been flat for the past six years, which led O’Connor to warn during a press conference Thursday, “What’s now a crisis will without action by our state representatives, become a full-blown disaster.” 

AARP has been lobbying to receive $26 million in the state budget to help caregivers. Assistant Director of AARP in New York State Bill Armbruster says it makes sense to care for the elderly at home:

red background with white text, 'caregiving in america'
Credit AARP
A logo from AARP

 

AARP-armbruster-WEB.mp3
Bill Armbruster breaks down some of the issues involving wait lists for home services across New York state.

AARP’S efforts to get additional funding for caregivers in Governor Cuomo’s budget have not been successful up to this point. The group will hold further demonstrations during the ongoing budget negotiations. 

 

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.
Hannah vividly remembers pulling up in the driveway with her mom as a child and sitting in the car as it idled with the radio on, listening to Ira Glass finish his thought on This American Life. When he reached a transition, it was a wild race out of the car and into the house to flip on the story again and keep listening. Hannah’s love of radio reporting has stuck with her ever since.