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December 22, 2015

Celebrating Our History and Honoring Our Gems: All Advocates in Our Network

As Consumer Voice Celebrates our 40th Anniversary we want to take this opportunity to reflect on our past and recognize the individuals who shaped our organization. In honor of the 40-year ruby anniversary we will highlight Consumer Voice's Gems which include key leaders, organizations, and special moments that have made a significant impact on our organization's development, mission, and advocacy.

For our final gem, we extend our thanks to  all of the advocates in our network, past and present.



For 40 years the Consumer Voice has been the voice of long-term care residents on national issues and has provided support to advocates working in their communities to improve the quality of resident care. Our efforts would not have been possible without our network. We recognize and would like to thank all of you for your support and encouragement to help us to accomplish our mission, you are all truly gems.

In collaboration with Consumer Voice, consumers, family members, long-term care ombudsmen, citizens advocacy groups (CAGs), providers, policy makers, and other advocates have worked together in diverse ways to obtain one goal of quality care.

Read more about this month's gem here.

As we celebrated our 40th Anniversary this year, we received many messages of congratulations and support from our network.  Read the comments on our website; add your congratulatory note on our e-card.  Visit our website to see all of the gems we celebrated this year, archival photos, and Consumer Voice history.

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Support the Consumer Voice Matching Campaign

Our organization has always drawn strength from our network. Your support allows us to support you. As often occurs in small mission-driven organizations, we face cycles where our need for support is more immediate. This is one of those times. We are asking our friends, partners, and networks to support the Matching Campaign we launched on the last day of the 2015 conference in which we were able to raise $7,900 in ONE HOUR. We ask you to consider joining our effort of raising $40,000 to start our next 40 years of advocacy. Donate here. Learn more about this year's Matching Campaign here.

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EasterSeals and n4a Launch National Aging and Disability Transportation Center

EasterSeals and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging have launched the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center.  This national technical assistance center is funded by the Federal Transit Administration with guidance from the Administration on Community Living. It will support the delivery of more effective, efficient, high-quality, and coordinated specialized transportation services that maximize federal investments. For more information, read the press release.

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Materials Available from Webinar on State Strategies for Meeting Assisted Living Residents' Health Care Needs

Materials are available from Justice in Aging's recent webinar "Assisted Living: State Strategies for Meeting Residents' Health Care Needs."  This webinar presented an overview of state approaches to meet assisted living resident health care needs.  It discussed current state laws as well as trends within assisted living.  Access the materials here.

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Additional Federal Funding for Some Aging Programs in 2016

Last week, the U.S. Congress approved the FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill, legislation that will continue the funding of federal programs through Fiscal Year 2016. This bill, which has since been signed into law, will increase funding for elder justice programs as well as Alzheimer's research in the coming year. Specifically, it will double the amount of funding provided for the Elder Justice Initiative from $4 million to $8 million and increase funding to $350 million for Alzheimer's disease clinical research at the National Institute on Aging. The additional funds provided for the Elder Justice Initiative will continue to support the creation of an Adult Protective Services (APS) National Data System and the support of evidence-based research regarding elder abuse. These appropriations also contain new increases for caregiver support activities through the National Family Caregiver Support Program ($5 million) and Native American caregiver support ($1.5 million).

However, programs such as the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and Elder Rights Support Activities funded under the Older Americans Act will remain at Fiscal Year 2015 levels ($20.6 million and $3.8 million respectively). In addition, there is no additional funding for survey and certification activities at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which includes the oversight and inspection of nursing homes.

We thank all of you who reached out to your members of Congress asking them to increase funding for programs benefiting long-term care consumers. Consumer Voice will continue to advocate for additional appropriations for these underfunded programs in the next fiscal year. To view the text of the final FY 2016 appropriations bill, click here.

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Spotlight on Educational Resources

The Consumer Voice and the National Ombudsman Resource Center (NORC) have a multitude of resources available online covering a wide range of long-term care topics.  Visit the Consumer Voice website and the NORC website to explore all the available resources.  Take a look at this week's highlighted resource:

Transfer/Discharge Issue Page - Transfer and Discharge continues to be one of the top complaints that ombudsmen report encountering, and these cases can be complex and extremely time consuming.  NORC's webpage on this issue provides information on federal law, state resources, sample notices, ombudsman best practices, and information on transfer/discharge in assisted living and board and care facilities.

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In this Issue

Celebrating Our History and Honoring Our Gems: All Advocates in Our Network

Support the Consumer Voice Matching Campaign

EasterSeals and n4a Launch National Aging and Disability Transportation Center

Materials Available from Webinar on State Strategies for Meeting Assisted Living Residents' Health Care Needs

Additional Federal Funding for Some Aging Programs in 2016


Spotlight on Educational Resources


Combined Federal Campaign

#10552

Thank you for your support!


Get Your CARE Matters Buttons and Wristbands

CARE Matters wristbands and buttons are sold in packs of 20, 50 and 100.  See the Consumer Voice online store for more information.


Calendar of Events

Wednesday, January 6: Hospital Care and Dementia: A Tough Mix, 2pm ET, Free webinar from Cognitive Solutions LLC (Repeat of Dec. 16th)

November 2-5, 2016: Consumer Voice 40th Annual Conference, Arlington, VA


Join the conversation and follow us on social media!

Last Week's Most Popular Post:

Thursday, December 17:
Former and current Consumer Voice staff, Governing Board and Leadership Council members and consultants are in our final #tbt pictures

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Tuesday, December 15
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Long-Term Care Resources & News



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About The Voice

The Voice is a weekly e-newsletter, published by the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care. If you do not wish to continue receiving this publication, please unsubscribe below. Your contributions and comments are welcome and should be sent to info@theconsumervoice.org. Copyright © 2015.

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Consumer Voice is the leading national voice representing consumers in issues related to long-term care, helping to ensure that consumers are empowered to advocate for themselves. We are a primary source of information and tools for consumers, families, caregivers, advocates and ombudsmen to help ensure quality care for the individual. Consumer Voice's mission is to represent consumers at the national level for quality long-term care, services and supports.


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