DHHS to Fund Waitlists, Meals on Wheels with Welfare Reform Savings

08/24/2015 10:17 AM EDT

$3.24 million in TANF savings due to 60-month cap being repurposed to help elderly Mainers

AUGUSTA - Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Commissioner Mary Mayhew announced on Monday that the Department has increased funding to home care services for the elderly and the Meals on Wheels program using savings from the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant-savings realized by the LePage Administration's 60-month cap on TANF benefits and other reforms.

"We are committed to reprioritizing Maine's welfare system to best serve our neediest elderly and disabled neighbors," said Commissioner Mayhew. "The hard and often-criticized work of reforming Maine's welfare system is paying off with this new initiative to care for the elderly in their homes."

The Department is directing $3.24 million in surplus funds from the state's TANF block grant to cover allowable expenses for other programs in the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), which in turn will make that funding available to support four distinct programs to help elderly Mainers: Meals on Wheels, Consumer-Directed Home Based Care, Homemaker Services/Independent Support Services, and the Home Based Care wait list.

Providers have already been notified of the enhanced funding they will receive and are showing support for the move.

"This is a very proactive and innovative move from DHHS to get funding where it is needed most," said Betsy Sawyer-Manter of Seniors Plus. "Seniors Plus is a nonprofit organization that relies on donations and grants, and finding the funding required to meet the needs of Maine's seniors is a consistent challenge. With this new funding, we can begin to take care of many of those who have been on waitlists."

"For too long before this Administration, able-bodied young adults were given priority in Maine's welfare system," added Commissioner Mayhew. "The federal government has put up consistent roadblocks to Governor Paul LePage's mission to prioritize the elderly and disabled. However, we are pleased to be able to announce that we are moving forward with this repurposing of federal and state funds to continue our important mission of reforming Maine's welfare system."

BACKGROUND: Distribution of Funding

1. Meals on Wheels
    a. Is a meals program with home delivery for the homebound.
    b. Has a wait list of 69 people.
    c. Has five contracts through the five Area Agencies on Aging. We are increasing the current allocation by adding $131, 539.
       i. Southern Maine Area Agency on Aging: $35,897 for 18 people
       ii. Seniors Plus: $22,480 for 12 people
       iii. Central Maine Area Agency on Aging: $33,950 for 17 people
       iv. Eastern Area Agency on Aging: $28,189 for 15 people
       v. Aroostook Area Agency on Aging: $11,023 for 6 people
2. Consumer Directed Home Based Care
    a. Personal Assistance Services, Skills Training for adults at least 18 years old with physical disabilities who need help with daily activities and are able to direct own care.    Copays are for 4% of monthly income; 3% of assets over $30,000
    b. Has a wait list of 55 people.
    c. We are adding $1,039,500 to the Alpha One Contract: ADS-16-9702
3. Home Based Care
    a. Five levels of service based on degree of functional impairment. Includes: Personal Care, Respite, Homemaking, Nursing, Nonmedical Transport, Adult Day Care
    b. Has a wait list of 64 people.
    c. We are adding $894,456 to the contract with Seniors Plus: ADS-16-3351
4. Homemaker Services/Independent Support Services (ISS)
    a. Homemaking, routine cleaning, main meal preparation, grocery shopping, laundry, transportation, some personal care for individuals who need assistance; eight hours per month
    b. Has a wait list of 908 people.
    c. We are adding $1,296,624 to the existing contract with Catholic Charities: ADS-16-9151.

Obituary: Donald J. Rodrigue of Shapleigh

Donald J. RodrigueAugust 22, 2015
Shapleigh

Donald J. Rodrigue, 77, of Shapleigh, passed away on Saturday August 22, 2015 at the Maine Medical Center in Portland. He was born in St. Benoit, P.Q., Canada on June 14, 1938 a son of the late Eddy and Bella (Veilleux) Rodrigue.

When he moved to Sanford one of his first jobs was picking apples and this is where he met his future wife, Lorraine Hupe. They married on July 18, 1959 and started their family. Donald also worked in the Sanford Shoe Shops as well as New England Home and operated his own business Rodrigue Construction, Inc. He retired from Pratt & Whitney with over 20 years of service with the company

Donald enjoyed building houses, making furniture, spending time in the woods, making maple syrup. He especially cherished his time with his family and grandchildren. A loving father, he was also a friend and a teacher figure for his children. In his spare time he enjoyed weaving blankets, tending to grounds around his home and playing bingo at the AMVETS.

Donald is predeceased by his son, Ronald Rodrigue, brothers, Guy and Serge Rodrigue.

He is survived by his loving family, his wife of 56 years Lorraine Rodrigue of Shapleigh, children, Jimmy Rodrigue and his wife, Saret of Wells, Daniel Rodrigue and his wife, Beverly of Lebanon, Patricia Margolis and her husband, Mark of Shapleigh, Andrew Rodrigue and companion, Kelly Weymouth of Shapleigh, grandchildren, Kristin Berlin, Kevin Rodrigue, Chantal Margolis, Michelle Margolis, Tasha Rodrigue, four great grandchildren, brothers, Laurent Rodrigue and Real Rodrigue of Ontario, sisters, Anita Veilleux and Christine Routhier of St. Benoit. He is also survived by his extended family that he helped raised when he married Lorraine, Richard Hupe, Maurice Hupe, Sandra Bicknell, Nancy Townsend, Michael Hupe, Donald Hupe and Real Hupe who are both predeceased.

Visiting hours for Donald will be on Tuesday from 4 to 7PM at the Lafrance-Lambert & Black Funeral Home, 29 Winter Street, Sanford. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday at 10AM at St. Therese of Lisieux Parish, Notre Dame Church in Springvale. Burial will follow at St. Ignatius Cemetery in Sanford.

Those planning an expression of sympathy are asked to consider donations in his memory to the New England Cancer Specialists of Kennebunk, 2 Independence Drive, Kennebunk, ME 04043. Checks may be made out to the Cancer Community Center.

Condolences may be expressed at www.blackfuneralhomes.com

Register for the 2015 BOW Intro Skills Weekend!‏ From the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Hello-

Just a quick note to let you know that registration materials for the 2015 Becoming an Outdoors Woman Introductory Skills Weekend are now available!

The workshop is scheduled for October 9-11,2015 at the UMaine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Bryant Pond.
Here is a direct link to the online registration materials: http://umaine.edu/bryantpond/introductory-skills-weekend/
This workshop is designed to provide opportunity for women who are 18 or older to gain or improve skills in hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation in a safe and comfortable environment.  We are so pleased to be partnered with the folks at Bryant Pond and hope to see you in October!
If you would like a copy of the registration materials mailed to you, or if you have any questions, please feel free to email me brittany.humphrey@maine.gov or call (207) 215-0292.

Sincerely,
Britt Humphrey, BOW Coordinator

Since We're Growing SO Quickly, We Thought it Might be Important to Share a Bit About Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers Page Shares!!

Hey Folks...........Deborah here.............

I love that folks are beginning to share things happening in town, and talk to one another about different ideas and things that need to be happening to make our town a better and safer place to live.
I would like to tell you a little bit about how we operate the Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers page.
We promote events, we tell you things going on in town, we cover Selectmen's Meetings or other important meetings happening in town, and we LOVE to have you comment and chat amongst yourselves.
However, We are NOT a news, or an online newspaper. We are only a citizen's based town informational site. And YOU are ALL Citizens!!
We appreciate all the information we can get from Town Residents, Summer Residents, Businesses and Local Agencies. It's GREAT to be able to share information without the fear of being deleted or blocked!!
We've been lucky enough to be included in the Lebanon Bids and Help Wanted postings, and we are a member of the National Weather Service and the Maine Informational E mail list. We are on many of the State Agency mailing lists and we are starting to hear from many events in our area of New Hampshire.
We would like to be able to tell you about serious incidents happening in town, however, we're not sure it's helpful to anyone to post photos of accidents, or information regarding accidents and incidents until we get confirmation of the facts from Fire and EMS, Town Government Officials, Emergency Management Agency or the State Police.
This is not because we don't BELIEVE you when you are telling us something, However, as I recently stated to one resident, Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers promotes telling the truth. We aren't the old Cole pages. We don't "guess" at what's going on, we wait and confirm with a member of the appropriate agency. If you have 5 eyewitnesses to an incident, you will usually get 5 different stories. Not that anyone's lying or hiding something, but because it's human nature.
So, YES, please continue to keep us alert and aware of events, problems, incidents, and meetings!!
PLEASE let us know of special birthdays, anniversaries and the wonderful achievements of our residents!
YES, let us know sports game schedules, school happenings and various board meetings in town!!
YES, YES, YES!!
But don't expect too many accident photos (believe it or not, even though YOU may want to see, the families of accident victims may NOT), and Sandy and I are too busy to run after the ambulance every time they go out.  Don't expect too many photos of crying people or folks from out of town arrested at Walmart for shoplifting.
This is just town stuff, and while we MAY show you local arrests, we try to keep the really painful photos and information to a minimum out of respect for victims and families.
Lebanon is a BEAUTIFUL town and a wonderful place to live.
PLEASE keep sharing the information!!! We LOVE the community sharing place our page has become!!
Thank you!!
~~D