Council on Aging Director Debbie Thompson told the selectmen at their Dec. 2 meeting that the COA’s biggest need is for more personnel hours to do outreach to seniors. She asked for an additional person for 19 hours a week, at a cost of about $20,000 a year.
Thompson described the COA’s fundamental mission as helping seniors stay in their own homes as long as possible. In some cases, that mission requires repeated home visits, referrals to home-care agencies, assistance with aid applications, and dealing with specific problems such as hoarding or even insect infestations. Those jobs are the work of outreach staff.
The COA handled 83 such cases in fiscal 2014 and already has 65 cases halfway through fiscal 2015, according to Thompson, who expects that number to rise.
Selectman Ron Ricci expressed doubts about the need for another person working 19 hours a week, saying that is equal to the staffing levels in Groton, which he said has twice Harvard’s population. But other members of the BOS supported the half-time position, and Ricci agreed to support it, given that the cost would still be scrutinized by the Finance Committee. The measure passed unanimously.
