Issues

County Providing Help For Family Caregivers

In response to the many demands and pressures facing family caregivers who are caring for loved ones with disabling health conditions, the Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging (LACAAA) is launching an outreach campaign to inform caregivers of available support services to assist caregivers with education and training, coping skills to relieve depression, and respite to relieve stress and deterioration of the caregivers’ own health status.

The term caregiver for this program refers to an adult (18 years of age or older) family member who provides assistance to someone else without pay who is, in some degree, incapacitated and needs help. We find in dedicated families that provide most of the care, the care can range from handling family members’ transportation to managing medications, feeding tubes and personal hygiene. Here are a few of the signs that indicate a caregiver may need support:

– Feeling completely overwhelmed

– Feeling he/she cannot leave his/her family member alone

– Trouble sleeping because of care of a family member

Grandparents, step-grandparents, or other older relatives (age 55 and older) identified as the primary caregiver of a young child are also eligible for this program and may receive support services provided by the LACAAA Family Caregiver Program.

The Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging has a support system of services in place for family caregivers; but many of the families in Los Angeles County are not aware of the program. We are launching the Family Caregiver Outreach Campaign to reach as many families as possible said Cynthia Banks, Director, Community and Senior Services/Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging.

The Family Caregiver Outreach Campaign is being conducted in partnership with community agencies currently contracted with the County to provide family caregivers services, such as:

– Respite (a break for the caregiver from the daily responsibilities of caregiving)

– Support Groups

– Counseling Services (ranging from guidance with the responsibilities of the caregiving role to therapy for stress and depression)

– Training (self-care skills to reduce stress)

– Information about available resources

– Assistance in gaining access to services

All services and programs are free or low-cost. For more information about the LACAAA Family Caregiver Program please call (800) 510-2020.

Funding Approved For Renovation And Expansion Of San Pedro Service Center

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved almost $2.5 million in funding to renovate and expand the San Pedro Service Center.

The San Pedro Community and Senior Services Center Addition Project will consist of interior and exterior facility renovations and reconfigurations to adequately support program operations and services while making the facility compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The total budget for the project is $2,480,000, which will be fully funded by Fourth Supervisorial District Capital Improvement funds.

The San Pedro Service Center has been a vital community resource throughout the years, said Supervisor Knabe. The approval of this funding ensures that the Service Center, which has served the San Pedro community so well, remains a great resource for the community for many years to come.

The San Pedro Community and Senior Services Center, which opened its doors in 1972, has continued to expand its services over the years, while receiving few upgrades. Recent studies revealed that the center simply outgrew its current configuration and required substantial modifications due to the shortage of space and the overall condition of the building. The center, located at 769 West Third Street in San Pedro, currently provides a wide array of services to the community, ranging from a senior meals program, child care services, computer and citizenship classes, food pantry, toy loan center, and more.

Supervisors Payout Reward In 2006 Death of Newborn Baby In Alhambra

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today approved payout of two $5,000 rewards for information that led to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the death of Baby Rose, a newborn baby girl whose body was found along railroad tracks in the City of Alhambra.

The body of Baby Rose was discovered wrapped in plastic grocery bags on March 11, 2006. On March 16, 2006, Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich called for a $10,000 reward for information in the case. Over 50 tips were received by the Alhambra Police Department. Two of the tips aided in the investigation, so the County has authorized payout of the reward in the form of two separate amounts of $5,000 each. The two individuals who will receive the rewards have asked to remain anonymous.

Armed with information provided by the tipsters and DNA test results, the Alhambra Police Department was able to positively identify and arrest 41-year-old Tonya Shafer on November 29, 2006. On April 30, 2008, Shafer was sentenced to a prison term of 25 years-to-life.

This case shows that our reward system works and I am glad that the woman responsible for the death of Baby Rose is now in prison, said Supervisor Don Knabe. The sad reality is that newborn abandonments like this don’t need to happen. In Los Angeles County, we have a very successful alternative in the Safe Surrender Program, which allows for a person to confidentially handover a newborn.

The Safe Surrender Program was initiated by Supervisor Knabe and approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in 2001. It allows someone to surrender an infant that is no more than three days old, as long as the infant shows no signs of abuse. Since its inception, 67 newborns have been safely surrendered in Los Angeles County.

Reward Payout Authorized In Beating Of Rowland Unified School District Police Officer

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today approved payout of two $5,000 rewards for information that led to the conviction of four juveniles responsible for the beating of a Rowland Unified School District Police Officer at Jellick Elementary School in Rowland Heights.

On August 15, 2006, the 62-year-old officer was investigating a burglary at Jellick Elementary when he was beaten with an aluminum baseball bat, receiving injuries to his head and eye. On August 22, 2006, Supervisors Gloria Molina and Don Knabe called for a $10,000 reward for information in the case. The next day, two tipsters contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Walnut Station, where they viewed video evidence. The tipsters were able to identify two subjects, who were students at Alvarado Intermediate School at the time. Because two separate tipsters aided in the investigation, the County has authorized payout of the $10,000 reward in the form of two separate amounts of $5,000 each. The two individuals who will receive the reward will remain anonymous.

Armed with information provided by the tipsters, investigators were able to ultimately arrest four juveniles responsible for the assault on the officer. Three of the juveniles were convicted of burglary and vandalism and sentenced to probation. The fourth juvenile was sentenced to eight years in custody.

Knabe Opposes Sales Tax Increase

Supervisor Don Knabe announced his opposition today to a proposed half-cent sales tax increase to pay for transit projects across Los Angeles County. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) Board of Directors, which Supervisor Knabe is a member of, is scheduled to discuss the sales tax proposal at tomorrow’s Board Meeting.

Now is not the time to burden the residents of Los Angeles County with yet another tax increase, said Supervisor Knabe. Taxpayers in our County already pay the second-highest tax rate in California, behind only Alameda County. Metro’s proposed increase would unfairly push our local tax rate even higher.

We need to make long-range investments in expanding mass transit options and improving our existing transportation infrastructure across every part of our County, but now is not the time to do it on the backs of taxpayers. We have too many people in Los Angeles County struggling to make ends meet right now. This tax increase, at this time, is an unnecessary burden on residents.

Norwalk Clinic Receives Funding To Provide For More Visits

The Norwalk Regional Health Center will be able to accept roughly 1,600 additional medical visits after the Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with JWCH Institute, Inc., Supervisor Don Knabe announced today.

The Norwalk clinic, which provides free and low-cost medical care and social services to the residents of the surrounding communities, will now be able to see over 1,500 more patients. These newly-funded visits will go primarily to uninsured or indigent adult patients that are not eligible for any publicly funded programs. According to the County’s Health Department, nearly 27,000 people in the City of Norwalk have no health care insurance.

Health centers like the one in Norwalk are absolutely vital to the County’s healthcare system, and the more patients they can see the better, said Supervisor Knabe. A clinic visit is substantially more cost effective than a trip to the emergency room, and by making our clinics more accessible we are reducing the strain on a very fragile ER system.

The $150,212 for the Norwalk clinic was part of a larger $2,075,708 Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program Health Care Services Agreement with JWCH. PPP agreements are critical to the healthcare safety net of the County and through private partners like JWCH they provide primary, specialty, and/or dental care to the indigent, low-income, uninsured patient population throughout Los Angeles County. The Norwalk Regional Health Center is located at 12360 Firestone Boulevard in the City of Norwalk.

New Series Of Property Tax Assessment Seminars Set

The County of Los Angeles is sponsoring a series of free seminars during July, August and September to assist property owners who feel their taxes should be lowered due to a decline in the value of their property. The 90-minute seminars will be offered at six locations: Culver City, El Monte, Glendale, Lakewood, Lancaster and Van Nuys. Additional seminars will be scheduled throughout the County on a year-round basis.

The seminars are intended to help taxpayers better understand the assessment appeals process, which many find confusing. The seminars will be of value to homeowners who are interested in learning about the assessment appeals process and to those who have already filed an appeal. The seminars will cover taxpayers’ appeal rights when and how to file an application for reduction in assessment. The seminars will also cover how to prepare for a hearing, what qualifies as admissible evidence, what will happen at the hearing and what to expect after the hearing.

The dates, times and locations of the sessions are as follows:

– Lancaster – Lancaster Library, 601 Lancaster Boulevard, July 16, 10:00 a.m.

Free parking at library.

– Glendale – Glendale Library, 222 Harvard Street, July 23, 10:00 a.m.

The library will validate three hours parking at the corner of Maryland and Harvard.

– Culver City – Culver City Library, 4975 Overland Avenue, August 18, 10:00 a.m.

Free parking behind the library.

– El Monte – Crippen Senior Center, 3120 Tyler Avenue, August 21, 10:00 a.m.

Free parking at the center.

– Lakewood – Iacoboni Library, 4900 Clark Avenue, September 22, 10:00 a.m. Parking at corner of Clark Avenue and Del Amo Boulevard.

– Van Nuys – Bernardi Senior Center, 6514 Sylmar Avenue, September 24, 2:00 p.m. Free parking, entrance on Hamlin Street.

Persons with disabilities who believe they need reasonable accommodation or help in order to attend a seminar may call (213) 974-1431. Hearing-impaired persons with TDD equipment may leave a typewritten message by calling (213) 974-1707 (TDD).

Schedules for the seminars may be obtained by calling (213) 974-4240 or on the Internet at http://bos.co.la.ca.us/SCRIPTS/publiced.htm

County Seeking Performers For Holiday Celebration

The Los Angeles County Arts Commission is currently seeking County-based youth and adult community and professional choirs, dance companies, and music ensembles to perform in the 49th Annual Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration.

The Arts Commission encourages all Los Angeles County-based performing groups representing diverse communities, traditions, and performing disciplines to apply for the Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration. Proposed programming should be suitably themed for a multi-cultural holiday production. All performing groups are paid. Interested organizations are required to submit an electronic grant (eGrant) application, which is accessible via the Arts Commission website at www.holidaycelebration.org

Both the application guidelines and the eGrant application are available online now, and the deadline to apply is Wednesday, August 6, 2008. If you have additional questions, please send an email to
www.publicevents@arts.lacounty.gov

The Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration is a free public event that honors the spirit of many cultures and holiday traditions through music, song and dance and takes place every December 24th from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles. The stage production is also broadcast live on KCET, and an annual one-hour highlight broadcast is carried nationally on PBS.

Knabe Calls For Conservation Efforts

Supervisor Don Knabe responded to rising gas prices and the statewide drought this week by directing County leaders to begin reducing commuting times for County employees and reducing water usage in County facilities.

In his first motion, Supervisor Knabe called for creative solutions to rising gas prices by updating County polices on telecommuting, offering flexible schedule options, and offering incentives to employees to use public transportation. With tens of thousands of employees, Los Angeles County is the largest employer in Southern California.

A second motion was introduced by Knabe in response to Governor Schwarzenegger’s proclamation of a statewide drought due to a severely low water supply, below-average rainfall, and court-ordered water restrictions. The motion asks for recommendations on how to immediately reduce water usage in hundreds of County-owned facilities.

Higher gas prices and lower water levels are both serious issues facing the County and our employees, said Supervisor Knabe. We need to be sure the County is doing everything possible to address these challenges with creative solutions.

In February 2007, Supervisor Knabe responded to the need to increase the use and longevity of the local water supply by creating the County’s Office of Water Recycling, which was tasked with doubling the region’s use of non-potable recycled water by 2030 – an annual increase of 54 billion gallons.

Harbor Boulevard Improved In La Habra Heights

The County of Los Angeles has completed the construction of a roadway improvement project on Harbor Boulevard in the City of La Habra Heights, Supervisor Don Knabe announced today.

The $904,880 project focused on resurfacing and reconstructing the roadway, the reconstruction of the curbs, gutters, sidewalks and curb ramps, the modification of traffic signals, and the installation of new striping and pavement markings.

It is important that we constantly look for ways to improve the roads in our County, said Supervisor Knabe. By improving Harbor Boulevard, both the residents of La Habra Heights and the nearby unincorporated County areas that travel this route will benefit.