Here it is, the day after the first hearing. I am encouraged by the turn out, around 100 people made their presence known, including a fairly good number of clients. I'm actually surprised that many did show up, as the letters the county sent out were greatly delayed, especially the Spanish language version, which weren't sent until Monday or so. I really feel the county is being at least lazy about producing correspondence, and at the most I would call it sabotaging the clients opportunities to participate. That's my opinion, of course. But let's remember this is a population of people who have to make plans to travel, reorganize their and other peoples schedules to go out of the house. In general it seems a great deal of the communication available is word of mouth only, so of course people are ill informed and fearful of what is happening.

I was there with my Father, who, though he doesn't play a part in my care, knows the importance of this issue to not only me but also himself and my grandmother, his mom. Before the hearing began, I was introduced to Karen Fields, the Director of Pima Health System. I was told to expect very soon a written response to my statement (see earlier posts here to read it). I look forward to it and I have no idea what to expect. Stay turned. The hearing began with introductions and a Spanish translator. They followed with a brief history of the program, which began in 1989 to fill the void of provided care that agencies would not fill. (Sound familiar?) What proceeded was an abbreviated description of the proposed plan. Then about two hours of a question and answer session. Some people were satisfied with the answers to their specific questions, but many people were told, "we'll get back to you on that."

The issues I had with the meeting? For one, the county representatives are continuing to tell everyone that this is just a plan for the future, the supervisors haven't made a decision, yet, one way or the other. But I use the PCA pool every weekend and they are still transferring that staffing group, one at a time, to other, non personal care positions. What started with numbers nearing 30, are now down to 11, give or take. And many of those are out ill or injured at any given time. Second, a few reps from agencies came and spoke about hiring for attendants. But this was supposed to be a forum for client concerns, yet no one corrected these people when they got up to speak. Jobs fairs, where the agencies and attendants care interview each other, have been announced for some time in the near future. Of course, this announcement also tells me the supervisors are going ahead with the major plan or there would be no need for job fairs. Third, only one member of the media showed up, from the Tucson Citizen. She stayed for the entire hearing and interviewed several of us. The article is supposed to be out today, go get a paper or see if it's online!

But still, my on going concern is the same: of the 20 agencies (a number updated at the hearing) not one is set up to cover the care schedule I have currently. I know I am not the only client in this position. Even my county case manager called me Thursday to let me know that, as of her call, only one agency is looking promising. So, understand I am not confident in my choices. Which is why I find it amusing some well meaning people out there want to call users of these services 'consumers.' Makes feel as if I should get a credit card. I know people want me to calm down about this topic, to wait and see that everything will be alright, but I do not have that luxury. If this goes wrong, I am the one who will get hurt.

I've spend a lot of time this week making calls and emails to various groups to inform on this issue. I hope it's made some sort of impact. There are two more meetings in the near future. Here is the schedule:

Saturday Feb 9, 2008 at 10:30am. El Rio Neighborhood center, Community Center Building. 1290 W Speedway Blvd.

Wednesday March 5, 2008 at 6:30pm. TMC Senior Services at Avalon Skilled Nursing, 1st floor meeting room (formerly El Dorado Hospital)
1400 N Wilmot Road

So, see you there!

And now, dear reader, you have heard from both Jennifer and I. I hope we can fulfill our objectives in here, some where. Remember, if you have a story about how in home care has affected you, for better or worse, please let us know! Also, if you might question or information, don't hesitate to contact one of us.