Money management assistance is commonly one of the key services to see frail seniors to continue living in their own homes. Jewish Family and Children's Services (JFCS) offer Personal Affairs Management (PAM) to frail seniors who live in San Francisco and San Mateo countries. This 4-year-old fee-for-service program includes:
* assisting clients beside bill paying and check depositing;
* sorting through medical bills and making claims to insurance companies;
* budgeting;
* filing insurance forms for payroll taxes; and
* preparing for long-term desires such as setting up burial trusts and durable powers of attorney, or establishing options for post-retirement living.
Levels of Money Management
JFCS' Personal Affairs Management program offer the client a number of "level of authority" when opening a suitcase. "No authority" cases involve assisting the client with bill paying, budgeting, or medical claims processing. A Durable Power of Attorney is executed when a senior become increasingly frail and may no longer be able to write his or her own checks or sign documents. A Representative Payee mayy be cooperative to clients who receive Social Security of Supplemental Security Income payments and are no longer able to order their own affairs. A friend or family extremity may also petition for conservatorship on behalf of clients who are clearly unable to clear their own decisions.
Profiles of Clients
The typical client is womanly, in her behind 80's has outlived house and friends, and has various health problems that greatly creel her ability to function independently. Some of these individuals enjoy forgotten to pay their bills over a little months due to memory impairment and may be threatened with eviction or power shut-off. Others own a number of physical problems such as blindness or stroke-related disabilities that trade name them unable to write or sign checks.
In San Francisco county, almost 20% of the population is elderly and in attendance is a growing need for grip management that dovetails beside the need for Personal Affairs Management. An substantial component of the case paperwork assessment is to dettermine whether or not a client is physically or cognitively able to control their own financial affairs. Many of our clients are extremely frail, isolated, or mentally impaired; they are adjectives to financial abuse, sometimes even by alleged "friends" or households support who have established regular contact next to these elders and fixed their way into their personal lives.
$60,000 In Checks Found on Floor
A referral made by a concerned friend is one of JFCS' nouns stories. Mr. R., who had be isolated in his apartment for pretty some time with emphysema, have "let shift" of taking care of some aspects of his financial affairs. When Personal Affairs Management staff met next to him, $60,000 worth of uncashed Social Security, pension, and dividend checks be found on the floor in integration to a year's worth of unprocessed medical claims. With the client's permission, PAM staff have the stale dated checks reissued; arranged for automatic deposit of Social Security, retirement and dividend payments; and contacted his providers to begin processing the medical claims. They also arranged to hold meals deliver to Mr. R.'s home after discovering he had not be eating.
Another PAM client is an elderly widow, Mrs. B., who be referred by her physician and had be suffering from visual and memoryy impairment. PAM staff touch with her once respectively month to ensure that her bills are paid prompt, medical claims are processed, and that she has sufficient funds contained by her checking account to bump into monthly expenses. During an audit of the checkbook, it was discovered that various checks were written for sizeable amounts by Mrs. B.'s homecare attendant and signed by her. PAM staff contacted the home health agency which be able to search out reimbursement for the client to replace the checks that were written. After the attendant admit she wrote the checks, she was terminated by the home vigour agency, which provided a new homecare placement.
Program Structure
The PAM program currently have 95 open cases next to varying levels of have need of and is staffed by two full-time employees and various volunteers who perform errands for the clients, such as cashing checks and getting documents notarized on their behalf. Referrals to our program are typically initiated through Adult Protective Services, concerned neighbors or family, social workers in the community, and discharge planners within hospitals.
The program also benefits greatly from the involvement of an advisory committee of 12 volunteer community representatives who offer proposal in specialized areas of expertise, including decree, accounting, government, and medication. PAM program staff also work very closely near case manager, therapists, and other condition care professionals to ensure that the client is getting the services he or she requests in lay down to maintain their nouns and continue to live their lives next to dignity.
No comments:
Post a Comment