The Planning and Service Area
The Planning and Service Area designated as Region VI consists of the four rural counties of Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, and Santa Cruz, and covers a territory of approximately 14,000 square miles. It is bordered on the east by New Mexico and on the south by Mexico.
The region has fourteen incorporated cities and towns ranging from a population of 857 in Duncan to 46,697 in Sierra Vista, according to the July 2009 population estimates published by the Arizona Department of Commerce.
The total population estimate for the entire region is 236,643, for a density of around 17 people per square mile. The economic base varies from one community to another, but most communities have been dependent on one major employer and little economic diversity; mining, ranching, border trade, agriculture, military, prisons, and tourism are the major industries.
According to the 2000 Census 17.95 percent of the population was aged 60 or older, with the highest concentration of 19.97 percent in Cochise County and the lowest of 13.56 percent in Greenlee County. Hispanics comprised 62.57 percent of elders in Santa Cruz County, 43.76 percent in Greenlee County, 21.55 percent in Graham County, and 19.6 percent in Cochise County, for a regional concentration of 27.74 percent of elders.
Of those aged 60 or older, 13.07 percent were below the federal poverty level.
The SEAGO Area Agency on Aging
The SouthEastern Arizona Governments Organization (SEAGO) was designated as an Area Agency on Aging (AAA) in 1974. The AAA is a separate organizational unit within SEAGO, which is a Council of Governments. Over the years AAA staff has worked with a variety of community organizations as partners, as well as with contract service providers in order to develop, and maintain community based systems of service that meet and fit the needs of the communities within the planning and service area.
Every five years, the AAA issues a competitive Request for Proposals in order to select the best qualified service providers. Once a contract is awarded, the AAA monitors those services at least annually and ensures the efficient utilization of available funds to achieve the Goals and Objectives of the three-year Area Plan.
The SEAGO AAA currently contracts with the agencies identified below. The AAA combines Older Americans Act, federal Social Service Block Grants, and state appropriations into one line in the providers contract operating budgets. Providers identify all other funding sources that are not administered by the AAA, and these are also included in the contract budgets.
Because of the vast distances between communities, elders in this region have always identified transportation as a high priority. Therefore, the AAA has worked closely with SEAGOs transportation planner, and has become knowledgeable about transit funding mechanisms.
The AAA has assisted its contract providers to apply for SAFETEA-LU Section 5310 vehicles. Providers are encouraged to transport multiple population groups, because it is inefficient to only transport the elderly. Because of efforts at a state level to improve coordination of transit services, the AAA will be actively involved, along with its contract providers in state and regional planning efforts initiated by ADOT.
SEAGOs AAA Organizational Structure:
All policy decisions related to the AAA are presented to the Advisory Council on Aging and to the Administrative Council for input before being presented to the Executive Board, which is the policy making body of SEAGO. The AAA director reports directly to the executive director of SEAGO and staff report directly to the AAA director. (See staff outline below.)
The Advisory Council on Aging meets quarterly and the Action Plans will be a regular agenda item at every quarterly meeting. In this way, the Action Plan will be used as a tool to track progress on meeting the Area Plan Goals and Objectives. Should changes to any goals or objectives be identified, the Advisory Council will revise the Area Plan and seek Executive Board approval for these changes.
Several of the strategic objectives call for implementation in a different county each year. This allows for the lessons learned in one county to be applied in the next county, rather than attempt to spread staff too thinly by implementation region wide.
Positions and duties within the SEAGO AAA are as follows:
Position Duties
AAA Director Full-Time
Under administrative direction, plans, organizes and directs the operations and staff of the Area Agency on Aging for the SEAGO region; develops and implements the agency plan; negotiates contracts with provider agencies; monitors performance under these contracts; and ensures compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations.
Office Specialist Full-Time
Sets up and maintains computer records on clients, maintains program administrative files, responds to questions from providers and clients, and provides administration support.
Health Insurance Counselor Full-Time
The health insurance counselor provides counseling to seniors on Medicare and other benefit programs.
Ombudsman Half-Time
Coordinates the ombudsman program that represents and advocates for residents in nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the Sierra Vista, Bisbee, and Douglas area. Represents the Area Agency on Aging program with these facilities; recruits, trains, and oversees volunteers for each facility.
Accounts Manager AAA supports 1/2 of this position
Under limited supervision, establishes and maintains the central accounting system, all accounting records and financial controls; reconciles bank statements to general ledger and maintains agency cashbook; prepares monthly financial statements and quarterly reports; ensures that financial system is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Executive Assistant AAA supports 1/3 of this position
The executive assistant is certified in nutrition sanitation and is responsible for monitoring the meal and transportation programs and for nutrition related provider training. She also assists with the contract process and provides secretarial support.
The SEAGO AAA Network:
The SEAGO AAA is tiny with only 3.5 dedicated staff. Without partnerships very little could be accomplished. Because SEAGOs focus over the years has been on in-home services, senior centers are not effective in reaching seniors, especially since participation in nutrition sites in those centers has declined over the years.
A variety of agencies have been willing to provide space for SEAGO staff to meet with clients, or have agreed to co-host training events. The AAA currently has contracts with 18 different agencies, one of which is SouthEastern Arizona Community Unique Services (SEACUS).
Headquartered in Safford, SEACUS has gone beyond the scope of its contract to schedule appointments for Medicare beneficiaries needing assistance from SEAGOs insurance counselor, and to sponsor Break the Silence events.
The insurance counselor also has established partnerships with libraries in Willcox, Sierra Vista, Huachuca City, and Clifton to serve as counseling sites. Health Fairs sponsored by hospitals, high schools, Eastern Arizona College, and senior and disability expos.
SEAGO Area Plan on Aging July 2010-2013
AAA started the Cochise Elder Abuse Prevention Partnership, which has sponsored a Break the Silence event in Sierra Vista in 2008 and most recently helped promote the AGs Senior Anti-Crime University with Cochise College. Cochise College and the Sierra Vista Regional Health Centers (SVRHC) Wellness Depot have hosted workshops on Medicare, advanced directives, and selecting LTC policies.
These agencies can attract participation from a different audience than the AAA would reach on its own. Cochise College and the United Way of Cochise County host an annual social service Synergy event to promote networking and to provide training on topics of mutual interest such as grant writing.
In Santa Cruz the public fiduciary hosts an elder abuse task force that holds a semi-annual conference, and SEAGO generally covers the cost of speakers honoraria or travel costs.
The Desert Southwest Chapter of the Alzheimers Association has also been a partner for conducting training events in Sierra Vista, Nogales, and Safford. The SouthEastern Arizona Health Education Center (SEAHEC) in Nogales is about to co-sponsor the fifth annual Alzheimers Mini-Conference on June 19, 2010.
SEAHEC and the Mariposa Community Health Center sponsored an older adult work group in Nogales for a couple years, but attendance at networking groups throughout the region has tended to only work when a specific goal is being addressed. Distances have made it difficult to sustain these types of groups.
The AAA director has established a distribution list of almost 200 addresses that is a statewide network to share information regarding benefits and other items of interest in the field of aging.
When the AAA had a planner this individual attended all of the emergency management meetings in each of the four counties, and successfully established a seat at those meetings for an AAA representative. The AAA director has taken on this role, and fortunately, since each county has completed their emergency response plans, there are fewer meetings.
Since Cochise, Greenlee, and Santa Cruz Counties each have case management contracts with SEAGO AAA, these counties have integrated systems for contacting clients who need assistance to evacuate into their emergency response plans. In Graham County, SEACUS is the case management provider and has participated in the countys planning meetings.
In both Graham and Greenlee Counties, the SEAGO transportation planner has facilities memorandums of understanding between transportation providers and the county emergency services for the use of vehicles to be used in an evacuation. Each provider contract includes a description of that providers emergency response plan.
Other partnerships
The SEAGO AAA has partnered with faith-based and community organizations to assist older individuals and their families meet home and community based needs by co-sponsoring training. As described above training for caregivers dealing with dementia has been provided with the assistance of the Alzheimers Association and SEAHEC.
The Faith Presbyterian Church in Sierra Vista, in addition to its nursing home ministry, has been very active in providing education about Alzheimers disease, and the AAA has helped finance speakers for some of these events. This church has twice been the site for direct caregiver workforce training at no charge to SEAGO.
The United Way financed ambassador training in December 2009 was held at this church, and 15 individuals learned how to use the Elder Resource Directory for Cochise County. Although only four of these individuals committed to becoming ambassadors for the SEAGO AAA, the 15 who attended are now able to help their friends, family, or congregation. For this training, individuals were recruited from the parish nurse program that the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center has established.
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