|
 White Plains, NY - Westchester County’s Department of Senior Programs and Services (DSPS) has won two awards for founding a regional program that focuses on ways to reverse the critical shortage of workers in the health and human services labor force to care for the rapidly aging population.
The program is the New York Southern Area Aging Network, or NY-SAAN. One award is a 2008 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACO); the second, an Innovations Award from the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging.
NACO said its award was presented to Westchester in recognition of an “effective and innovative program, which contribute to and enhance county government in the United States.” The Innovations award recognizes programs “that exemplify innovation and sound management practices.”
The Innovations Award included a $1,500 cash grant for being one of the top three counties “making a difference in the community.
DSPS is a major sponsor of NY-SAAN, which will hold a regional conference Sept. 18 in Manhattan on “Cutting Edge Approaches: Recruitment, Retention, Retooling, Policy / Advocacy” – Sizing Up the Workforce for the Elderboom.”
The department and the Westchester Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services are major sponsors of NY-SAAN, whose members represent 41 community-based organizations, educational institutions and agencies including the New York City Department for the Aging. For more information, log on to www.westchestergov.com/seniors or www.ny-saan.org. or call Jill Adler at (631)368-2082 or
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
.
DSPS also won an Achievement Award from NACO for its Livable Community Connection (LCC) program.
The LCC is a network of nine regional sites located throughout Westchester, which are headed by a coordinator who works with an advisory council and local task forces to create senior friendly communities. Such communities are places where seniors can continue to live in their homes and neighborhoods as they age with dignity, independence and civic involvement.
County Executive Andy Spano said the awards are for two unique initiatives, which will benefit seniors for many years to come.
“The county strongly supports the proactive work that NY-SAAN and the Livable Community Connection do,” Spano said. “They are helping us to better serve seniors right now, and we are also using them as building blocks to develop projects for the future.”
DSPS Commissioner Mae Carpenter said as the population ages the need for livable communities and ensuring an adequate work force to care for the elderly have increasingly become urgent social issues.
“It is gratifying that our projects are receiving national recognition,” Carpenter said. “It gives us even more momentum than we already have to move forward to help Westchester’s older population.”
 |
