Home      Login

Abstract: 

I once heard that a frail elderly person would be better off in prison than in a nursing home—a private room, plenty of food, free medical and dental care and prescriptions, plus the availability of physicians to watch over them in case they fall or become ill. Prisoners should be moved into nursing homes; no explanation required. There have been many articles written about conditions in long-term care facilities and the role of the ombudsman. In California, a number of bills to address the needs of ombudsman programs, most having to do with funding, have been introduced. This program seems to fall victim to massive budget cuts, leaving most of its funding coming from the federal Older Americans Act allocations. This article deals with efforts to create a long-term care ombudsman office that is independent; the office is currently housed in the California Department of Aging, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Keywords: long-term care ombudsman office; Assembly Proposal 32; State Senator Lois Wolk; Senate Bill 345; Committee for an Independent State Office; CISO

Affiliations:  1: California Senior Legislature.