...to represent the needs of elders.

Gema G. Hernández

In 1992, the people of Florida voted to create a Department of Elder Affairs and the Department of Veterans Affairs. This was the first time in the history of the State that Floridians, young and old decided to modify the Constitution of the State by adding two administrative agencies to be part of the permanent structure of our state government. This bold move was for the sole purpose of providing a strong voice to these two groups of people with unique needs, our elders and our veterans. The fact that these are the only two departments mentioned in the constitution of the state clearly indicates the importance Floridians have given to their role.

The idea behind the creation of both departments was to make sure that the needs of veterans and elders will not be lost in the bureaucratic maze of other departments. The People of Florida felt that by raising the agencies that deal with issues affecting elders and veterans to a cabinet level position, the administrators of the agencies will be free to truly represent the interests of the groups without fear of retaliation from other political appointees or fear that their voices will be silent. This was the idea, now comes the reality.

Since the creation of the Department of Elder Affairs there have been three Secretaries who have administered the department, each with their unique vision, style and personal experiences. Some secretaries have direct experience with elders and with care-giving issues, others have not. Each secretary has served and continues to serve at the pleasure of the Governor. In reality they are representing the Governor’s views and not the views of elders, and regardless of whether or not budget decisions and policies benefit or affect elders, they have no choice but to support them.

Maintaining the needs of elders at the forefront of the Department of Elder Affairs agenda has not been a priority of some elected officials. In some cases the elected official that supervises the head of Elder Affairs has been more preoccupied with his own religious agenda than with protecting issues dear to some elders like the right to die. This conflict between the purpose for which the Department of Elder Affairs was created and the way the Department of Elder Affairs has been reduced to a third or fourth level priority has been painfully obvious in the last five years.

One example of the lack of independence that the head of elder affairs has is in the budget preparation. The budget is a critical document that should reflect the needs of the group. It is supposed to be an independent assessment done by the Secretary for the purpose of requesting financial and human support for elders and caregivers. Since the inception of the department, and particularly in the last 2 years, the department’s budget has been prepared, massaged, and put together by the office of the Governor. As a matter of fact, the Governor’s budget is the Department’s budget. This issue caught the attention of some legislators who requested that Secretaries sign an affidavit stating that the budget was done independently of the Governor’s budget. Unfortunately, this request has been lately forgotten since the Republican party has assumed full control of both the House and the Senate. The Secretary is therefore at liberty to ditto the Governor’s interpretation as to the financial resources required to provide quality care to our frail elders.

Another example of the lack of autonomy the Secretary has can be seen in the lack of funding two critical programs have experienced in the recent years. One program, Community Care for the Elder is the only program without an income eligibility criterion. This means that it is the only program that provides assistance to the middle class. CCE, as the program is commonly known, has received almost no funding in the last few years. The second program provides financial support to caregivers to purchase the extra box of diapers or the brand name medication not covered by medical plans, but needed to maintain the quality of life of the frail elder. This program is called Home Care for the Elders. Despite the request from the Department of Elder Affairs Advisory Board, funding has not been forthcoming to this area. Instead, the Secretary of elder affairs has requested and funded the Destination Florida program, an advertising campaign to attract more wealthy elders to our state. Destination Florida as we know is the brainchild of one of the biggest contributors to the Republican Party, a very well to do developer that would like to expand his Continuing Care Retirement Communities in the State if not in the nation. Money has also been diverted to fund this marketing campaign and to fund dancing and singing demonstrations in our state capital.

If the purpose of the Department of Elder Affairs is to make sure the needs of elders are being heard the present system is not addressing this issue. On the contrary, the department is being used to detract the attention of the public to other non critical issues in the elder’s and caregiver’s life. When, may I ask, shall we continue to support a system that is addressing the goals and objectives of the people of Florida?

What we need is to create an independent mechanism to achieve that goal, and the only way this can be done is to make the position of Secretary of the Florida Department of Elder Affairs an elected position. This way the incumbent cannot use the excuse that the Governor told him or her to do it. This way, whoever occupies the position can take full responsibility for his or her action. If he or she cuts programs it is not because the Governor ordered him or her to do it, but because he or she has chosen to do it.

If elders want to have control over the department’s vision, mission and objectives they need to make this an elected position, free from pressures and totally accountable to the public. As long as politicians have control over the appointment of that individual, this will defeat the purpose for which the department was created. It will force the individual to look the other way and to ignore the demands for action.

If we continue the existing format, elders will lose time and time again because when there is a need to request a budget increase that need will be superceded by other budget requests and other political agendas. Making the position of Secretary an elected position will provide parity to the department’s main objective that of giving voice to the 2.3 million elders in our State. If you think this is a good idea let us start a petition and see where this will take us.