Latest news with #AgingandLong-TermServicesDepartment
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Extra SNAP benefits heading to New Mexican seniors in June
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexicans over age 60 and adults with disabilities who are enrolled in SNAP will receive additional funds to help buy groceries this month. Story continues below Trending: Rio Rancho High baseball player accused of urinating in water jug no longer faces charges News: VIDEO: Albuquerque man accused of killing 14 dogs denies accusations Environment: Researcher explains why earthquakes are rattling parts of New Mexico The New Mexico Health Care Authority, in partnership with the Aging and Long-Term Services Department, is providing a one-time food benefit of $68. This benefit will be automatically added to 29,444 individuals' EBT cards. Officials said it is part of the state's ongoing efforts to reduce hunger and improve access to nutritious food. 'Using state general funds to create extra benefits for seniors and people with disabilities is a great example of how strong interdepartmental partnerships can better serve New Mexicans in need,' said Kyra Ochoa, deputy cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Health Care Authority. For questions about the supplemental benefit, contact the Health Care Authority at 1-800-283-4465 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NM aging department to incorporate public response into latest state plan
New Mexico's aging department will incorporate public response into its latest state plan. (Photo courtesy of New Mexico Aging Services) Public comment closes Friday on New Mexico's aging department's long-term plan, which outlines goals to address the state's growing senior population and their needs. The Aging and Long-Term Services Department opened public comment in April for its draft plan, which includes three overarching goals: administering home and community programs to help seniors age in place and support caregivers; responding to social determinants of health such as food and housing insecurity, access to services and social support; and reducing instances of abuse, neglect and exploitation while preserving the autonomy of seniors. The public comment period included a survey in which participants were asked to rank how they would prioritize the three goals, how well the plan addresses their needs and how successful they believe the plan will be, along with an opportunity to provide suggestions for improving the proposed plan. 'We have received meaningful feedback from across the state—including organizations, direct service providers, senior participants, and community members—and it's clear that New Mexicans care deeply about how we support our aging population,' ALTSD Deputy Cabinet Secretary Angelina Flores-Montoya told Source NM in a written statement. She said the department will incorporate the feedback into the final plan, 'which will influence our work now and in the years to come.' The draft plan was informed by a needs assessment conducted by the Center for Applied Research and Analysis at the University of New Mexico's Institute for Social Research. The department contracted with the center in fiscal year 2023 and released a report in September 2024 identifying six key findings and six recommendations. Researchers gathered information from focus groups in five New Mexico communities, as well as surveys completed by service providers throughout the state. U.S. Census data and other state collected data were also used. Findings included: New Mexico's aging population has 'grown significantly,' as have metrics of vulnerability such as poverty and disability; older adults and service providers describe service deserts without access to transportation and medical supportive services; providers note lack of funding, personnel and training are 'critical barriers;' and rural and urban areas differ in vulnerabilities. The report suggested the aging department expand services to meet growing needs; plan for a growing aging population and expanded service requirements; improve public outreach; address workforce shortages; complete a statewide services inventory; and implement a statewide consumer survey. These findings are reflected in the current draft plan, which members of the public have had a chance to comment on. According to the draft, the plan is set to go into effect in October 2024. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Listening in on a Talk to Me oral history session in Las Cruces
Lynn Austin, a Las Cruces senior, recorded an oral history at Munson Senior Center Thursday, May 8 with the Aging and Long-Term Services Department. (Photo by Leah Romero / Source NM) When Lynn Austin sat down with a microphone on his lapel and stories at the ready Thursday, he joined a statewide program of collecting oral history from New Mexico seniors. After a brief introduction, Austin talked about his move from Kansas to New Mexico. When asked about what brought him to the Land of Enchantment, he paused for a beat and replied wryly, 'My car.' He laughed and went on to talk about his education at New Mexico State University and the motto he has lived by most of his life. 'Just go for it,' he said. 'Don't hold back.' The New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department unveiled the 'Talk to Me' program in October 2024 at the Annual Conference on Aging in Albuquerque. Brian Garcia, a contractor working with the ALTSD, told Source NM that the program has since expanded and he and his team have spent the last several months traveling to senior centers across the state to connect with older New Mexicans. They were in Las Cruces the week of May 6, and have also recently visited Farmington and Clovis. Seniors sign up for a time slot online and then spend about 15 to 20 minutes sharing stories from their lives. Garcia has flash cards with prompts to encourage a conversation, with questions such as: 'What has given you purpose in your life? What gives you hope? What advice would you give to your younger self?' Participants can also talk about whatever they want. The conversations are recorded, formatted and then sent back to contributors or their families several weeks later. If you or a loved one are interested in contributing to the state's oral history project, check upcoming recording locations online at Next session: May 23, 2025 at 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Isleta Elder Center, 1005 Tribal Rd. 140, Isleta Village Proper, NM 87022 'We're really trying to give senior New Mexicans around the state a platform to voice their stories and experiences,' Garcia said. Austin told Source NM that he was interested in recording some of his stories because he likes to write short vignettes about people he's met throughout his life and this project aligned with his interests. 'There's two reasons I came here. The one is to just fulfill the requirement, come and chitchat,' he said. 'But the other one is… I write different things, I write what I call vignettes of life.' Garcia added that the Talk to Me program is also a way to connect older New Mexicans with the senior centers in their communities and the services they provide for free, such as in-person meals, delivered meals, homemaking services, transportation, social events and more. Garcia said the plan is to return to towns later in the year to collect and record more stories as people become more aware of the program. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New Mexico agency seeks input on services for aging population
The New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department wants to hear from seniors and their caregivers. The department is accepting comments through May 15 on a draft of the State Plan on Aging for Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2029, a proposal aligned with the federal government's fiscal year that bills itself as a "comprehensive roadmap to improve older New Mexicans' health and well-being." The plan comes at an important moment for aging in New Mexico, which by 2030 is projected to have the fourth highest percentage of people over 65 in the nation. By 2040, nearly a quarter of the state's population will be over 65, according to 2024 projections by the University of New Mexico's Department of Geospatial and Population Studies. The state is seeing a serious dearth of caregivers for older adults — both paid professionals who can handle tasks like medication management, and volunteer caregivers, who are often family members. The demographic shift will mean a lot more work for senior services providers — and the next three years will be a key time to prepare for and respond to the needs of a growing number of elderly residents, said Denise King, Aging Network operations division director at the Aging and Long-Term Services Department. "We want input from not only older adults but direct service providers that are contracted to provide many of these services," King said Monday in an interview. "We want their input on this plan so that we can be prepared — because our population is growing as we see across the country." One of the main priorities in the draft version of the department's State Plan on Aging: administering core programs to enable older New Mexicans to age in place — something most seniors want to do — through home- and community-based services. Many of these core programs, which the draft plan describes as the foundation of the Aging and Long-Term Services Department's work, help make aging in place a possibility, providing meals, transportation, in-home services, caregiver support, health promotion and disease prevention care that seniors need to live independently in their community. These programs are also funded largely through the federal Older Americans Act, legislation originally passed in 1965 to deliver social and nutrition services to people over 60. Though federal funding cuts under the Trump administration appear poised to jeopardize other services to seniors — including nutrition assistance programs like Meals on Wheels and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — lawmakers haven't taken aim at the Older Americans Act's core services yet, King said. "We know that the climate right now is concerning, and we also know that it seems to be changing every week. … We have yet to see anything that impacts largely the Older Americans Act services," she said. For now, then, those services can continue with business as usual — and are set to improve with the implementation of the statewide plan. The draft version of the plan includes a long list of changes to improve home- and community-based care, such as expanding local referral services, expanding food pantries and food distribution options, and developing opportunities for tribal providers to fund and administer core senior services. The plan also proposes training and support to caregivers and the workforce through its Office of Alzheimer's and Dementia Care — a change that could be particularly relevant to the many New Mexicans struggling to find quality and affordable memory care. Accomplishing that goal would require new partnerships with Alzheimer's and dementia support organizations, implementation of new training programs for family caregivers and establishment of a statewide data collection system, specific enough to identify county-level data on Alzheimer's diagnosis, mortality and stage at diagnosis. Finally, the plan recommends enhancements to mitigate abuse, neglect and exploitation of older adults, including creating a "Mobile Behavioral Health and Nurse Response Team" to assist seniors who cannot care for themselves. The change, which comes less than a year after four long-term care facilities failed surprise visits, would include an increase in funding for Adult Protective Services to monitor in-home care, like meal delivery, personal care and chore services, plus a 10% expansion in caseworker staffing, the plan states. "It's really looking at working with our stakeholders and our community members to really address the different needs," King said. "... Really, this is a broad plan to address those kinds of needs."
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kinship program will begin after rulemaking this summer
About 36,000 New Mexico children were raised by their grandparents or other next-of-kin in 2023. (Photo courtesy of New Mexico Aging Services) Kinship caregivers in approximately half a dozen counties will be part of a new pilot program expected to start this summer designed to help support older New Mexicans and other relatives who take over raising children when parents are unable to do so. That program is a result of House Bill 252, which establishes the Kinship Caregiver Support Pilot program, signed last week by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Joey Long, a spokesperson for the Aging and Long-Term Services Department, told Source NM that the department does not anticipate services starting before the beginning of the next fiscal year, which begins in July. The process will also include a 30-day public comment period. According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, about 36,000 New Mexico children were raised by grandparents or other next of kin in 2023 – an increase from about 30,000 in 2017. The bill states that the pilot program will be established in five to seven counties in the state with 50 participants chosen in each county. A previous version of the bill identified Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Taos, McKinley and Doña Ana counties as communities participating in the program, but the specific counties were struck from the final version of the bill. Long told Source in a written statement that the department is 'assessing geographic areas based on data, stakeholder consultations, and availability of private funding to support participant stipends, as well as other considerations' before choosing communities to participate. Program participants will eventually be connected to case management assistance, legal assistance, mental health support and respite care. 'Too often kinship caregivers—especially grandparents—are left to navigate complex systems alone while providing childcare,' Kaltenbach said in a statement. 'This pilot program will help us establish more resources to help keep families together and ensure caregivers have the support they need to provide the best care possible.' The program is a three-year pilot, meaning the state will evaluate the outcomes of all participants to help create a possible statewide program in future years. An annual report with outcomes and recommendations is due each December to the Legislative Finance Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
