Latest news with #EmilyKaltenbach
Newsweek
5 days ago
- General
- Newsweek
SNAP Benefits Expanded in Two States: What To Know
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Federal authorities have expanded emergency food assistance for residents affected by recent severe weather in Kentucky, while, in New Mexico, older SNAP recipients with disabilities will get one-off extra benefits this month. Why It Matters Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, commonly known as food stamps, are provided to low- and no-income families across the U.S. to help them with the cost of groceries. Across both states, just over 1 million people receive food assistance. What To Know Kentucky In Kentucky, those who already receive food stamps will benefit from a temporary relaxation of rules. It means they will be able to buy hot meals with their payments in certain counties impacted by recent severe weather. Nearly 20 people died in the Bluegrass state and hundreds of properties and buildings were damaged in storms that swept across the Midwest in May. The USDA has confirmed the relaxation of SNAP restrictions is in place "in order to increase access to food after power outages as a result of severe storms." Under regular rules in Kentucky and throughout most U.S. states, SNAP benefits can be used to purchase ingredients, prepared cold snacks and nonalcoholic beverages. But through to July 2, residents of 26 counties who get SNAP payments will be able to buy preprepared warm meals from participating retailers. File photo: A SNAP sign is seen in a storefront window. File photo: A SNAP sign is seen in a storefront window. GETTY The following counties have been approved for D-SNAP: Adair Caldwell Calloway Casey Christian Clay Clinton Crittenden Cumberland Henderson Hopkins Jackson Knox Laurel Lincoln Lyon Marshall McCreary Pulaski Rockcastle Russell Trigg Union Wayne Webster Whitley New Mexico In New Mexico, SNAP recipients who are aged over 60 and have a disability will get a one-off extra payment of $68 uploaded to their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card. The extra food assistance has automatically been added to 29,444 eligible individuals' accounts as of June 3. What People Are Saying Kyra Ochoa, deputy cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Health Care Authority, said in a statement: "Through this collaboration, we provided critical additional food support for important members of our communities. 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." Emily Kaltenbach, cabinet secretary at the Aging and Long-Term Services Department (ALTSD) in New Mexico, said: "We are proud to once again partner with HCA to bring additional relief to New Mexico's older adults and adults with disabilities. This boost reflects our shared commitment to ensuring New Mexicans have access to the nutritious food they need." What Happens Next The D-SNAP expansion will be in place in Kentucky until July 2. In New Mexico, anyone with questions about the supplemental benefit can contact the Health Care Authority at 1-800-283-4465.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NM Aging agency announces forums on dementia-related illnesses
A senior woman being assisted to walk using a walker by caregiver at park. (Stock photo by Thianchai Sitthikongsak via Getty Images) The New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department will host three community forums throughout the state over the next three months to hear about experiences with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia-related illnesses and connect people with available services. The free forums, jointly produced by the aging department and the Alzheimer's Association, will be held in Silver City, Clayton and Tucumcari. 'No one should have to face Alzheimer's alone,' Emily Kaltenbach, secretary of the Aging and Long-Term Services Department, said in a statement. 'Whether they are caregiving for a loved one or facing a diagnosis themselves, we hope that we can start to break the silence around Alzheimer's, promote early detection, and ensure that everyone has the resources they need.' Silver City March 26, 3 to 5 p.m. Silver City Public Library, 515 W. College Avenue Clayton April 16, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Clayton Civic Center, 124 N. Front Street Tucumcari May 8, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tucumcari Convention Center, 1500 U.S. Route 66 RSVP to the forums by calling 505-404-9857. According to an ALTSD news release, organizers encourage attendees to share their stories of living with dementia, caring for someone with dementia, voice concern and ask about available services. Joey Long, aging department spokesperson, told Source NM an Alzheimer's Association's representative will be on hand at all three forums, as well as staff from the department's Consumer and Elder Rights Division, who will provide information about Medicare and Medicaid options, home-delivered meals, prescription drug assistance, caregiver assistance and legal service options. Kaltenbach will attend the Silver City and Clayton forums, while Deputy Secretary Antoinette Vigil will attend the Tucumcari event. During the recently completed legislative session, lawmakers passed several bills that will impact seniors in the state, including House Bill 131, which would tighten background checks for potential caregivers; and House Memorial 53, which requests more research be done on Alzheimer's disease, clinical trials and early detection, and asks the Aging and Long-Term Services Department and the Department of Health to work together in disseminating information to New Mexicans. Both passed and HB131 awaits a signature from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NM Legislature Day 5 recap: Senior Day shenanigans
A crowd assembles for Senior Day in the Roundhouse Rotunda on Jan. 27, 2025. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM) Hundreds of New Mexicans convened today at the Roundhouse for day 5 of the legislative session. For the first half of the day, the Roundhouse was packed with older New Mexicans, caregivers and advocates in honor of Senior Day, hosted by the state's Aging and Long-Term Services Department. Secretary-Designate Emily Kaltenbach said several hundred people attended. 'Those stories you share will have a direct impact on the budget we get for our department this year,' Kaltenbach told the crowd in the rotunda. 'That budget, which I think is very reasonable this year but critically needed, will support aging in place, providing services in our homes and our communities.' Fern Reyna, Laverne Zaragoza and Alfie Levaldo traveled from Acoma Pueblo to ask lawmakers for additional funds for the senior center. 'We're looking to build a computer center, so we can learn to use computers and our smartphones, which are way too smart for us,' Zaragoza quipped. In addition, Levaldo said the pueblo needs additional funds to expand services with an assisted living facility and a daycare. Adrienne Smith, president and CEO of the New Mexico Caregivers Coalition, joined the crowd to encourage people to find their legislators and share with them their personal stories of caring for loved ones. 'I'll tell you what, if you're not a caregiver now, I bet you will be,' Smith said. She specifically asked Senior Day attendees to encourage lawmakers to reactivate the Long-Term Services Division and call for more direct funding for family caregivers. New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department seeks $1M to reactivate key division Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also made an appearance at Senior Day, where she maintained her stance on public safety, promising New Mexicans that legislators would address stricter sentencing for drug offenses. The Paid Family & Medical Leave Act received its first committee hearing this morning in the House Health & Human Services Committee and passed by a 6-4 vote. Both bills before the Senate Rules Committee moved on. Senate Bill 85, which proposes expanded definitions of expenditures and donations in campaigns, received a unanimous 9-0 pass, while Senate Bill 5, which reforms the state's game commission, received two amendments and passed by a 7-2 vote. Tomorrow, committees are getting warmed up with big bills. House Bill 4 on criminal competency, one of the top priorities by both lawmakers and the governor, will be heard in the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee at its 1:30 p.m. meeting. Senate Conservation Committee has a full slate, with Senate Bill 4, the Clear Horizons Act first up, which would codify state emission reduction goals into law. Committee members will also hear two bills on stream protections, which you can read more about here. The agenda concludes with Senate Bill 23 which proposes increases to the state's oil and gas royalty rates. NM State Land Office Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard backed earlier this month. House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources is scheduled to meet at 8:30 a.m. to discuss a proposed one-mile buffer zone preventing oil and gas companies from producing pollution around schools, daycare facilities and public parks. Phillip Mondragon and Dolores Aragon brought their two dogs, Boo and Pumpkin, with them to Senior Day, driving up from Clovis on Sunday. Mondragon told Source NM that their 6-year-old service pups go everywhere with them to help Aragon with her sight. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Incoming Aging and Long-Term Services leader talks vision, priorities
Emily Kaltenbach, the secretary appointee for New Mexico's Aging and Long-Term Services Department, at the Roundhouse on Jan. 22, 2025. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM) 'We know that the number of older adults is growing significantly, and that's happening in many of our rural communities that do not have access to the same resources and support as other parts of the state,' New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department Secretary- Designate Emily Kaltenbach told Source NM recently. Kaltenbach's own parents are in their 70s and 80s, she said, and so, like many fellow New Mexicans, she wants to ensure they have the right support systems in place to help them as their needs change. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Kaltenbach to lead the department last September after Jen Paul Schroer left the position, subject to confirmation. Kaltenbach worked in the Aging and Long-Term Services Department previously, but most recently spent a decade at the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance, most recently as senior director of state campaigns. She holds a master's degree in health care administration from the University of Washington. Source New Mexico spoke with Kaltenbach recently about her plans for the department and how her professional experiences will inform her work. The following interview was edited for clarity and concision. Source NM: What improvements to the Aging and Long-Term Services Department would better serve older New Mexicans and people with disabilities? Emily Kaltenbach: When we think about that vision of what we need to do moving forward, one of those areas is around caregivers, both formal and informal. We know that there are not enough individuals in our workforce to meet the needs of our older adults – from home care services to specialty medicine. And so we need to make sure that we're focusing on the pipeline of direct care workers and others that will touch that individual. Too often individuals turn – and this is not a bad thing – to our friends and family to provide services and support. But we need to make sure that those informal caregivers also are being provided with support and training. One of those programs is the New MexiCare program and [it's for] individuals that don't qualify for Medicaid, don't have the financial means to have a full-time caregiver in their home and pay for that. New MexiCare is really addressing that gap for those individuals. We still have yet to roll it out in Bernalillo and Doña Ana counties because we've been testing that model, but seeing incredible results. Aside from the department's budget request, what bills will you be supporting? So obviously our budget is critically important and that's our priority, right? If we don't have the budget to support our older adults in New Mexico, then we're not going to be able to address the tsunami of older adults in our population. We're also partnering with the Developmental Disabilities Council's Office of Guardianship to work on supported decision-making. That was a bill that was introduced in 2003 and an important complement to our guardianship program in New Mexico for individuals. Whether they're developmentally disabled, if they have behavioral health issues, if they're elders, having someone who's legally represented as their supported decision-maker can really help an individual make those informed decisions in their life from housing to financial, to education. You've worked with the Aging and Long-Term Services Department previously. Can you talk about why this specific department is important to you? My passion has been in public health and community health forever. I grew up here. I saw how communities that were under-resourced and economically stressed really struggled, and so I knew that I wanted to work in the communities I grew up in. I grew up in a rural community, it was about 40 miles south of Santa Fe. We got our health care at a health center that the University of New Mexico started. It was once a week on Thursdays and the whole community would gather. I saw that as a place of community gathering in addition to just health care. And I saw the power of how local community health programs are more than just the provision of health services. We know how important social interaction is to our health and well-being, especially in translating that to older adults. My parents still live out in that community, it's down a three-mile dirt road. My father's 80, my mother's in her late 70s and they're the individuals that our agency's serving, right? Rural, older adults who love the communities they live in, want to stay in the communities they live in for as long as possible. And I'm determined to support those individuals. How did your work with the Drug Policy Alliance inform or shape your worldview on health care? How will you draw on that experience? In my work with Drug Policy Alliance, it really was about public health. It was about figuring out person-centered care and approaches to behavioral health issues. And so I see some of those direct links into the aging and disability world. Many individuals are making choices about how they live, and our seniors who want to stay home as long as possible, and we're honoring that. There were some of those same sorts of issues around self-determination that came up in my work at the Drug Policy Alliance. The other group are older adults who are transitioning out of the criminal legal system, and we know there are so many. What are those reentry points and supports to be able to provide older adults or adults with disabilities who may be cycling in and out of the criminal legal system? So I definitely see overlap there. But the thing I want to highlight is that in my policy making responsibilities at the Drug Policy Alliance, we made sure to be listening to the communities we were serving and developing policy with and for. I take that very seriously and so, in this position, I will be drawing on the lessons I learned as an advocate. Listening intently to the communities who are serving and making sure that policy is not devoid of their voices is something that I absolutely will be bringing with me as I move forward in this position. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
