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COMMITTEE ON AGING MEETING Minutes of January 30, 2019 Page 3 7. AREA PLAN DEVELOPMENT: A. The results from the needs assessment surveys and focus groups were passed out. A major issue that was identified is the shortage of workers who can provide in-home care, and the fact that services are less available in rural areas - and even in Kona - than in Hilo. B. Discussion: There were ideas about tapping younger people for internships doing home care. It was suggested that pay and benefits need to be raised. However, Nic Los Banos had been to a conference where research was pre- sented that found the issue is not wages, but the lack of consistency in hours and assignments, and also the fact that travel is not compensated. Also many home care workers are on a path to become social workers or nurses. This is a problem nationwide. The fact that we now have "participant di- rected care" where the client sets the amount of time they need help makes it harder to give workers decent work schedules in advance. Nic will keep us informed of ways other states are addressing these problems. C. The Hawai'i County Four -Year Area Plan will be submitted to the State for approval. The Committee would like to see the objectives listed in the five (5) areas in the Four -Year Area Plan so that we can watch our progress and help brainstorm ideas if we run into problems meeting the objectives. D. Committee members asked that services be equitably provided across the County. 8. CASE MANAGEMENT: Meizhu Lui reported on the Committee's discus- sion in December on bringing Case Management in-house. The general feeling was, "If it's not broke, don't fix it." Quality is our main concern, and the kupuna and their families are satisfied with the current services. However, we understand the issue of complying with the State of Hawai'i Executive on Aging directives. We want to explore more options besides hiring five (5) Case Managers to work as HCOA staff, and to make sure that a good transition plan is in place if there are to be changes. Meizhu proposed that the subcom- mittee on Area Planning led by Lito Asuncion to be tasked with closer consid- eration of the issues. The subcommittee will bring their recommendations to the March meeting for approval, and a letter will then be written to the Mayor.