LA County Board

6. Addressing the Needs of Older Adults in Los Angeles County through\nComprehensive Outreach\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisors Solis and Hahn: Instruct the\nDirector of Public Social Services, in collaboration with the Director of Aging\nand Disabilities, the Executive Director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, and\nother relevant County Department Heads, to report back to the Board in writing\nin 90 days on all countywide benefits and services available to older adults,\ndefined as adults aged 65 and older, in the County, including State benefits or\nservices that are run or operated by a County Department, and include, at\nminimum, the following information for each program:\nDescription of services and/or benefits, including length of services and\nbenefit amount;\nSummary of eligibility criteria, including financial and noncitizenship\neligibility, and application process for each program;\nUtilization rate for each program, not just how many people are currently\nusing the programs but what is the estimated eligible County population\nbased on census and other reliable studies and data, if available, if\nutilization rate is not available, also include any current efforts or\nstrategies to gather that data or find out how many eligible residents are\nnot being served;\nNumber of applications and processing time, number of denials and\nreason for denials; and\nCurrent or past outreach efforts/information campaigns, including\nlanguage inclusive and culturally competent outreach efforts; and\nDevelop an outreach plan to increase the utilization of services and benefits\ncatered for older adults, with the outreach plan to aim to be as accessible as\npossible and take into consideration the following:\nLanguage barriers - the information should be available in all 14 threshold\nlanguages;\nImmigration eligibility and public charge - within immigrant communities,\nthere are significant fears and apprehensions over accessing\nmuch-needed benefits due to lack of accessible information about\nprogram eligibility, chilling effect of anti-immigrant propaganda and\nxenophobia, and misinformation about which programs could potentially\naffect public charge determinations by immigration agencies, the\noutreach plan, with collaboration of the Executive Director of the Office of\nImmigrant Affairs, needs to consider how to inform and encourage\neligible noncitizens to apply for benefits, including, by disseminating and\ncorrecting public charge misinformation, as appropriate and relevant, to\nbenefit programs;\nMobility barriers - outreach may require meeting people where they are,\nespecially for individuals whose mobility is impaired, at facilities like\nsenior centers, senior residence buildings, nursing homes, community\nevents, etc., to ensure that we are reaching the most vulnerable\nresidents, with the outreach plan to also include strategies to create more\naccessible ways to enroll for different benefit programs and submit\nrequired documentation;\nTechnological barriers - while technology has allowed for the swift and\nefficient dissemination of digital information, there remains a significant\nnumber of the population who do not have the skills or the devices to\nproperly access information available on the internet; the outreach plan\nneeds to take into consideration how to reach individuals via multiple\nmeans, including non-digital mediums; and\nStigma - there is significant stigma associated with the use of\ngovernment benefits and services, this is tied to inaccurate portrayals\nand misrepresentations throughout history about the groups who benefit\nfrom safety net programs; the outreach plan needs to consider, in its\nmessaging, framework, and proposed training of frontline/call center\nstaff, how to destigmatize and help correct past negative notions\nassociated with the use of public benefits; no one should feel shame in\nasking for help. (24-2133)