Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Older Adults Committee, Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Place: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 1h 3m (video)
Official meeting video (Fairfax County): https://video.fairfaxcounty.gov/player/clip/3348
Official Board of Supervisors page (Fairfax County): https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-11-01. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:03] Okay. Let's go ahead and get started. I'll call this meeting of the Fairfax County Board's Older Adults Committee meeting to order. Welcome, everybody. We have really one big item and then a smaller item on the agenda. Hopefully, everybody has the meeting materials. But we do have quite a bit of material to go through. So let's just dive right in. We have the

[00:00:38] annual report of the Shape the Future of Aging plan. And if everybody is ready, let's go ahead and jump in. Bethann, the floor is yours. Thank you. All right. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bethann Margetta. I'm the Assistant Program Manager of the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging, and I'm here today with Linda Hernandez-Giblin, Kathy Cole, Kathy Muha, and the rest of the

[00:01:17] Commission. Hey. Hello, commissioners. All right. We're here today to provide an annual report on the progress of the Shape the Future of Aging plan. It's great to see all of you, and we have so much to share since last we met. I'd also like to take a minute to thank Supervisor Herity and Supervisor Walkinshaw for their leadership on the Older Adults Committee and for the vision and support that they have provided in their time as chair and vice chair of the Older Adults Committee.

[00:01:51] We welcome Supervisor Alcorn as the new chair of the committee, and we also welcome Supervisor Palchak as the vice chair. We appreciate the great support that you've shown to us already, and we look forward to working with you along the way. So the goal of the Shape the Future of Aging plan is to act as a North Star, not only internally as we evaluate the needs of our older adult population and their caregivers, but also to inform and support the work of community-based organizations that serve and support the same population.

[00:02:22] As you know, the plan was intentionally designed to be in alignment with the countywide strategic plan and one Fairfax. At the last Older Adults Committee meeting in April of 2023, we reviewed feedback from the Board of Supervisors on the Shape the Future of Aging plan and spoke to next steps to operationalize the plan.

[00:02:45] We told you that we would develop SHAPE committees in partnership with the Department of Family Services Area Agency on Aging and the Fairfax Area Commission on Aging to inform operationalization of the SHAPE the Future of Aging plan. One committee was developed for each of the five SHAPE categories, and a sixth committee was developed to be dedicated to data and reporting.

[00:03:10] These Initiative Development Committees, or IDCs, would then review SHAPE recommendations within each domain. The IDCs would then solidify initiatives and categorize them as short, taking about a year or less to complete, medium term, about two to three years to complete, or long term, needing about four or more years to complete.

[00:03:32] IDCs would also identify initiative owners who will lead the work forward. And an annual update would be provided to the Board of Supervisors and added to the report. I'm thrilled for the Commission on Aging and the team here to share all of the work with you today that's been accomplished thus far and for our annual report out on the progress of the plan that's to be shared with you today. A public information campaign for the Shape the Future of Aging plan was launched by the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging shortly after the plan was

[00:04:12] approved by the Board of Supervisors to build awareness in the community. This public information to develop awareness included a county conversation podcast with an interview of Tara Turner dedicated to Shape the Future of Aging, which was released in the fall of 2023. A Mature Living feature of Shape, which aired on Channel 16, featuring interviews with Tara Turner and Kathy Cole during fall of last year. The Golden Gazette published a six-month update on Shape, which was released in February of 2024. And a special edition of the Golden Gazette is to be released this June, dedicated to the work of Shape in year one, highlighting initiatives and equity work.

[00:04:50] As I mentioned, SHAPE initiative development committees were established for each of the five SHAPE domain categories, and each is facilitated by two commissioners. The data and reporting committee was dedicated to supporting data-driven decisions and continued alignment with the countywide strategic plan and one Fairfax.

[00:05:10] It was supported by DFS data analytics staff and also included two commissioners. IDC membership is composed of experts from community-based organizations, 50-plus community ambassadors, and a rich blend of public and private stakeholders, including private citizens and business owners, older adults, adults with disabilities, and caregivers.

[00:05:34] Staff subject matter experts, ranging from supervisors to direct service workers, were available at IDCs to give frame of reference for available services and support the building of initiatives.

[00:05:46] Committee membership includes representation from the Fairfax Falls Church Community Services Board, Department of Emergency Management and Security, the Department of Family Services, the Fairfax County Health Department, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Department of Land Development Services, Fairfax County Public Library, the Department of Planning and Development, Fairfax County Department of Transportation, and the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services.

[00:06:17] Membership also reflects representation from the following boards, authorities, and commissions, including the Affordable Housing Advisory Council, the former LTCCC Coordinating Council on Aging and Adults with Disabilities, the Commission for Women, the Human Services Council, and the Transportation Advisory Commission.

[00:06:39] One Fairfax was used to form our approach to ensure diverse participation on committees and was introduced at the onset of IDC work as a foundational concept.

[00:06:56] An intentional approach was taken to developing committee membership to create a foundation rooted in community voice. Upon first meeting, the makeup of the committee membership was addressed directly with attention to diversities and representation. Members were asked to consider who is at the table specifically and that there was diverse representation both culturally and professionally.

[00:07:22] Members were asked to consider, one, is there broad representation on this committee from all areas of the county, people representative of ethnicity and race in our community? Two, is there an area of expertise needing representation on this committee?

[00:07:40] Three, is there anyone else you would like to see engaged in this discussion? This conversation was revisited with committee members at later meetings, reemphasizing the importance of representation and seeking to bolster diversity and inclusion within the membership.

[00:08:00] Area Agency on Aging staff or COA advocates would seek to invite recommended members introduced during these discussions. As I mentioned, one Fairfax was introduced at the onset of committee work. We set a course for a journey with the SHAPE plan as our North Star and laid the groundwork with equity as a foundational concept.

[00:08:22] Discussions of equity considerations for initiatives were initiated in committees through an introduction to One Fairfax and a statement of the county's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As part of the work to ensure initiatives were equitably sound, each proposed initiative would go through a review of equity considerations.

[00:08:44] The Department of Family Services Equity Analysis Framework for Proposed DFS Policy and Business Process Changes, which was created in 2022 by a team at DFS under the direction of Dr. Michael Becketts, was used as a model to review proposed initiatives through an equity lens.

[00:09:06] The DFS Framework was presented as a model to the COA advocates, and discussion on how it had been applied to work was given for context to the COA. This tool and approach to discussing equity with SHAPE teams was developed and planned in collaboration with the DFS Director's Office.

[00:09:26] One example of how the tool and this process affected planning was tied to our discussion about an initiative implementing the Stronger Memory Program in senior centers. The equity discussion uncovered information about populations that are disproportionately impacted by Alzheimer's disease. This resulted in the committee recommending specific centers for NCS to consider further implementation of the initiative. A SHAPE facilitation and planning toolkit was developed

[00:10:02] to support COA leaders, which included talking points to support the COA advocates in facilitating discussions about SHAPE to the committees and for SHAPE presentations to the public. A first-year timeline to help build structure, identify milestones, and deliverables for committee members. Meeting facilitation tools like sample agendas were provided.

[00:10:31] Communication tools for SHAPE subcommittees to report back to COA advocates on the work of approved initiatives. And the equity analysis tool I mentioned was provided as part of this toolkit. The Initiative Development Committee's IDCs met and reviewed all recommendations in the SHAPE plan under respective domains. IDCs worked to identify initiatives and determine if they were short, medium, or long-term. The DFS Data Analytics Unit met with the Commission on Aging

[00:11:07] and SHAPE IDCs individually to support discussions around data to inform the work and provide recommendations for building robust, smart objectives and establishing measures for outcomes in the initiatives. Many of our initiatives required additional data for successful targeting.

[00:11:29] Through the support of the data analytics team, we have that information to inform our work. We have overlays of maps to identify areas of vulnerability, such as areas of the county where older adults reside, live alone, general income information, in relation to senior centers, libraries, bus stops, to name just a few data points available to us. Once the IDCs identified potential short-term initiatives, committees identified community champions, staff liaisons,

[00:12:04] and COA advocates to support the work. Committees also kept the three A's, affordable, actionable, and achievable at the forefront of considerations around proposed initiatives. To seek approval and endorsement from the Adult and Aging Division, equity reviews were conducted to ensure that the initiatives were sound and not creating unintended barriers.

[00:12:28] After initiatives were approved, committee members developed subcommittees to initiate moving work forward in the SHAPE implementation. This slide illustrates the scoring keys used to measure progress in the SHAPE initiatives.

[00:12:47] You will see these keys located on page 33 in the SHAPE the Future of Aging annual report document in your packet. The first is a scoring key, which was developed and approved by the Board of Supervisors based on previous iterations of the 50-plus plan.

[00:13:04] To measure success, one to four bullet points are assigned to each initiative to reflect the progress made. One bullet will indicate little progress or inactivity. Four bullets will indicate an achieved operation.

[00:13:19] An initiative that is just in its beginning stages will have fewer dots. As an initiative progresses, it will have more dots. The score for each initiative is in the report and referenced throughout this presentation. The second key is a series of clocks that denotes the duration or time associated with each initiative.

[00:13:42] One clock denotes a short-term initiative or one that can be completed within a year or less. Two clocks is a medium-term initiative and may take between two to three years to complete. Three clocks is a long-term objective which may take four or more years to complete.

[00:14:01] In the upcoming slides, our commissioners will review initiatives under each committee and you'll note page numbers associated with the recommendations. will point to you the location in the shape plan where you can find the reference recommendation and again as mentioned you'll see the dots which indicate the progress of the initiative and can also be found in the key located in the annual report document now we will move into discussion of the shape initiatives and i will pass it over to kathy cole the chair of the commission on aging

[00:14:34] good afternoon i'm going to start with the first idc committee which is the ask committee standing for services, and we're going to talk about the specific initiatives that we've undertaken initially under this recommendation. So under the first recommendation, publicized comprehensive, easy-to-access information in multiple languages about services and events for older adults, we have the market research initiative. This medium-term AAA-led initiative

[00:15:10] seeks to address a theme highlighted in the CASOA survey that there are an array of county services available for adults, but the awareness in the community is low. This initiative is based on the recommended strategy to research how older adults are currently learning about resources and to identify gaps. The initiative will help us, will help tell us how adults in the community are learning about our services. We learned from the CASOA survey that only 37% of the respondents rated the availability of information about resources for older adults as excellent or good.

[00:15:45] And only 52% of the older adults reported feeling informed about the services and activities available to older adults in their community. So a short-term goal was to initiate a market study, which was launched in April to research how older adults, adults with disabilities, and caregivers in the Fairfax area seek information about adult and aging resources.

[00:16:11] A long-term goal is to develop an awareness campaign to inform the community about adult and aging programs available to older adults in the FedFacts area, which will be developed as a result of this market research. The information gained from this market research initiative will help inform the approach to outreach across the SHAPE committees.

[00:16:31] This has been initiated, and preliminary data is expected back by the end of May. This will progress from two to three dots when the market research is obtained, analyzed, and an awareness campaign is launched. The next initiative is the targeted mobile outreach.

[00:16:49] This medium-term initiative seeks to collaborate with existing community mobile outreach vehicles to extend the outreach of the AAA's caregiver unit and the other AAA services and resources. This builds upon the recommended strategy of utilizing existing dissemination networks to share information about aging services.

[00:17:13] This reflects a collaboration with the AAA's Caregiver Unit and the Service Sources Caremobile and is currently championed by the staff of the Arc of Northern Virginia. If you recall, the Caremobile was an initiative that was created out of the COVID-19 response plan.

[00:17:32] As part of the short-term goals, the champions identified and contacted organizations that offer outreach vehicles, vans, or mobile fleets. for example the Caremobile, to expand outreach efforts. In the medium and long-term goals, the champions will work to extend the outreach to targeted areas of need, utilizing other identified mobile fleets, for example the NCS Carevan. The results of the market research will be valuable in helping to develop the areas of focus for the long-term approach. This will advance from two to three dots as collaboration expands to include additional mobile response

[00:18:10] vehicle fleet and outreach materials have a broader reach into the community under the next recommendation increase the support and guidance for family caregivers we have exploring the dimensions of aging the embodied labs pilot this again is a triple a triple a led initiative is a long-term pilot supported by elder link exploring the dimensions of aging through virtual reality by Embodied Labs is an immersive training platform that allows participants to see through the eyes of

[00:18:44] an older adult who are facing real-life challenges to their safety and well-being, experience social isolation, or other chronic health conditions like glute body dementia or Parkinson's. The objective is to increase empathy and inclusivity and equity in professional and family caregivers.

[00:19:05] THIS PROGRAM SUPPORTS BUILDING CAPACITY AND -- OH, I ALWAYS SAID THAT. IN THE SHORT TERM, ELDERLINK STAFF WILL PROVIDE 24 EMBODYED LAB VIRTUAL SESSIONS TO PROFESSIONALS THROUGHOUT THE FAIRFAX COMMUNITY THROUGH WEB-BASED VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATIONS BY NOVEMBER OF 2024.

[00:19:24] ELDERLINK SEKS TO TRAIN AT LEAST 240 PROFESSIONALS AND FAMILY CAREGIVERS THROUGH SESSIONS FACILITATED BY ELDERLINK. A POSSIBLE LONG-TERM GOAL IS TO EXPAND THE PROJECT BEYOND NOVEMBER 2024 and could include offering facilitated sessions on other topics available through the embodied labs and broadening the reach of the program to include community partners, businesses, villages, and dementia friends.

[00:19:52] This will advance from two to three dots as the program expands to include additional outreach and have a broader reach in the community. The recommended strategy to increase support for Fairfax older residents with disabilities was to survey adults with disabilities to understand needs.

[00:20:12] This yielded the Community Needs Assessment Initiative. This long-term initiative seeks to explore the development and administration of a comprehensive community needs assessment, specifically targeting individuals with disabilities. This reflects a collaboration between the Department of Family Services, Adult and Aging, Neighborhood Community Services, and SPARC Solutions.

[00:20:36] In the medium term, this initiative seeks to identify partners and resources to support a community needs assessment. The long-term goal is to assess the needs of the disability community in Fairfax County. The CASOA survey did not ask respondents if they had a disability or collect information regarding the specific needs of older adults with disabilities.

[00:21:02] So this assessment would provide Fairfax County with concrete data to help guide and shape services the county provides to better meet the needs of the disability community. Having concrete data would help. My printer printed it twice, sorry.

[00:21:21] Okay. Data like this would provide more of the story behind the numbers to ensure county resources are being used responsibly to best meet the needs and interests of the disability community. This will advance from two to three dots when the additional partners are secured and potential funding sources are identified.

[00:21:40] Another initiative to increase support for Fairfax County's older residents with disabilities includes the Disability Services Board and Commission on Aging Community Forums. The median term initiative reflects a collaboration with the Fairfax Area Disabilities Board and the COA to host forums during 2024 focused on older adults with disabilities.

[00:22:05] One of the outcomes will be a list of documented gaps in services for people with disabilities that are raised during these forums in the short term this initiative will seek to cultivate partners and will advance from one to two dots when the community partners form topics dates and locations are established next I'll move to housing and neighborhood supports under the recommendation assist older residents and assessing resources to meet their home to meet their home accessibility needs there is a consumer resource guide to home repair and

[00:22:43] renovation. This medium-term initiative is to develop a consumer resource guide for home repair and modifications and is championed by Patty Klein, the executive director of Rebuilding Together, a non-profit that collaborates with adult and aging and the county's home repair for the elderly program. Only 21% of the CASOA survey respondents were satisfied with the availability of accessible homes, which would mean homes with no step entry or single-floor living, wide hallways and doorways.

[00:23:19] And nearly half, 49% of the respondents, said they had a minor, moderate, or major problem maintaining their home. So in the medium term, this initiative seeks to develop a guide for adults who are seeking information about needed resources to support aging in place.

[00:23:35] This will be a tool developed and housed on the Rebuilding Together website, used for distribution to county residents supported through the Home Repair for the Elderly Program. In the long term, this initiative will work to provide information broadly to targeted audiences in need of such information based on the data gathered from the market research study. This will advance from two to three dots when the guide is developed and is made available to consumers online and in print. From the recommendation Advanced Opportunities to Reduce Housing Costs

[00:24:13] for older adults and increased support and partnerships targeted to help older residents who are housing insecure. The Housing Initiative Development Committee identified a home sharing awareness campaign.

[00:24:28] This initiative is to promote awareness of the existing home sharing resource guide, a consumer's guide to home sharing, which is a resource that was developed in 2019 by the Health Department in partnership with the National Shared Housing Resource Center.

[00:24:44] We know that high housing costs disproportionately affect older adults with low incomes and limited savings, especially if they are in declining health or lack family support. To help adults remain in their homes and avoid, in the worst-case scenario, becoming homeless, they need additional supports, but only 21 of the CASOA respondents thought the availability of affordable housing was excellent or good.

[00:25:13] This initiative builds on the recommended strategy to develop additional resources to educate consumers about the home sharing program. This will advance from two to three dots when the tools, such as a fact sheet, to promote knowledge of the consumer's guide to home sharing has been developed for distribution to promote awareness of the existing resource.

[00:25:37] Moving next to access to mobility options, under the recommendation, increase the viability and convenience of non-automobile transportation options for older adults and increase the support and guidance for our family caregivers.

[00:25:55] This committee has developed the initiative to pilot targeted outreach of transportation resources through the libraries. This medium-term initiative is to increase awareness of alternative transportation options that are affordable and accessible and reflect a collaboration and partnership with Neighborhood and Community Services, and the Fairfax County Public Libraries.

[00:26:18] Public libraries are seen as a viable link to adults and caregivers in the community, and partnering with the libraries was a recommended strategy outlined in the SHAPE plan. CASOA data tells us that 55% of adults who identified as caregivers indicated that they also used the public library.

[00:26:37] A median-term goal is to establish posting resource information at these libraries electronically on digital scrolls to provide an affordable outreach opportunity to disseminate available resource information. A long-term goal is to improve the awareness of transportation resources for adults in need.

[00:26:56] By targeting caregivers, the initiative seeks to put information about options into the hands of those who are providing care to adults in the community. This is another initiative where the market research initiative will help guide the long-term efforts and will progress from two to three dots when locations are identified for targeted dissemination of transportation information.

[00:27:23] From the recommendation, Consider Strategies for Lowering Transportation Costs of Alternative Options, we have the Community-Based Organization Volunteer Driver Recruitment Study. This medium-term initiative seeks to identify the relationship between existing volunteers and recruitment strategies to bolster the availability for volunteer-assisted transportation for adults.

[00:27:48] It reflects the collaboration between the AAA and its champion by Northern Virginia Rides manager, Emily Braley. Each year, MVRides surveys the riders and volunteer drivers. This initiative will use their surveys of volunteer drivers to better understand the incentives and examine how to support building a stronger volunteer pool to address the unmet needs no Dubai MV rides in the Fairfax community.

[00:28:16] This will advance from two to three dots when the survey data is gathered and analyzed to make recommendations. I'm going to turn the floor over to Kathy Muhu. Muhamu. That's a new one.

[00:28:31] That's a new one. To review the last two initiatives. Thank you, Kathy. Next, we have the Personal Well-Being Initiative. I'm delighted to share that we've accomplished in the past year with the committees having only first met at the end of last summer.

[00:28:47] From the recommendation, Increase Inclusion and Acceptance for All Older Residents, we have the SAGE Cultural Competencies Certification for the AAA staff. The AAA-led initiative seeks to address inclusion, build cultural competence, and improve best practices in providing care to adults who identify as LGBTQ+.

[00:29:09] SAGE is a national advocacy and services organization which has been devoted to looking out for LGBTQ plus elders since 1979. SAGE Care is a cultural competency training program developed by SAGE. SAGE Care credentialing includes aging LGBTQ plus cultural competency training, which supports an inclusive person-centered approach to care.

[00:29:32] In the medium term, the Fairfax AAA will become SAGE Care certified by completing training courses to increase knowledge of best practices for providing inclusive care to LGBTQ plus adults. This will advance from three to four dots when SAGE certification is obtained for the AAA staff.

[00:29:51] Under the recommendation, increase access to and engagement with physical and mental health care for all older residents and increase community engagement and decrease social isolation of older residents, I'm proud to introduce the pilot of Stronger Memory and Senior Centers.

[00:30:08] the Stronger Memory Initiative seeks to introduce the brain health program established by Goodwin Living into senior centers and then to the greater community. This is an established program that has been implemented in senior centers in Maryland by Goodwin Living. Stronger Memory programs are evidence-informed and seek to improve brain health, may reduce the risk of dementia, loneliness, and isolation in participants through a 12-week module. This module is designed to stimulate the brain's prefrontal cortex, which governs our ability to retrieve memories. The program encourages

[00:30:44] participants to spend a short time reading aloud each day, writing, and completing simple math problems. This module draws on the power of social connection and utilizes simple activities to maintain and improve brain health. This is championed by Goodwin Living and reflects collaboration with neighborhood and community services. A short-term objective is to pilot out stronger memory in two senior centers in Fairfax County, beginning work in Jim Scott, the former Providence Senior Center, and Little River Glen. With success of their first program pilot, a medium-term objective is to expand the program and implement stronger memory in the additional

[00:31:23] county senior centers. A long-term objective is to explore expanding stronger memory to the wider community beyond the walls of our senior centers, utilizing best practices from similar efforts in Maryland to pilot stronger memory in Fairfax County senior centers and then in the broader community. This will advance from two to three dots when stronger memory is implemented in multiple senior centers. Next, we'll move to the e-initiatives. Under the recommendation, increase awareness and education for financial security to prevent and reduce economic distress

[00:31:58] of older adults, we introduced the financial planning seminars in senior centers through Bright Pass. This initiative seeks to address the recommendation of increasing awareness for financial security to prevent and reduce economic distress of older adults. A recommended strategy from the plan was to consider providing financial planning seminars at senior centers. Bright Pass is the lead non-profit partner with United Way of the National Capital Area and Fairfax County managing the Financial Empowerment Center at South County. Bright Pass Executive Director

[00:32:33] Maria Jose Cantoni is a community champion for this initiative and supported adapting financial planning workshops offered by Bright Path for area senior centers to provide seminars on financial planning on a budget. A short-term goal for Bright Path staff to deliver financial planning seminars at three Fairfax area senior centers, a goal was to complete one presentation at one identified center per month starting in April of 2024. We are happy to report that this has been initiated. A medium-term goal is to record a virtual session to be made available to the

[00:33:09] Virtual Center for Active Adults for future programming. We are happy to report that this has been implemented in three senior centers and will advance from three to four dots when training is made available in additional senior centers and seminars are developed for use through the Virtual Center for Active Adults. Next from the recommendation, increase awareness of protections to prevent financial exploitation of older adults. The EIDC identified an initiative to increase awareness of the Silver Shield Anti-Scam Program. This medium-term initiative seeks to promote awareness of the Silver Shield Program through mailing information to Fairfax County

[00:33:49] residents. It reflects a collaboration between Adult and Aging, the Department of Tax Administration, and Silver Shield. The initiative will include information about Silver Shield and scam prevention information as part of tax mailing to Fairfax County residents in the summer of 2024. This will advance from two to three dots when the promotional flyer has been approved for distribution by the Board of Supervisors and plans to distribute via the Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration's property tax mailing. To move this initiative forward, we seek to formally request the Board's permission today to approve the flyer to the personal property tax mailing.

[00:34:27] This can be found in your packet. Thank you very much for your support, and I'll turn over to Bethann to conclude. Thank you. Thank you, Kathy. So as the COA vice chair just explained, as part of our next steps, in partnership with the Department of Tax Administration, we'd like to formally request the board's approval to distribute the non-DTA flyer today, which is included on the last page of your packet.

[00:34:57] All right. Thank you very much, Bethann, Linda, Kathy, and Kathy. excellent presentation and I'll just note that last piece is actually item agenda number three or agenda item number three on so if folks want to ask about it that's great but we'll review that I think once we go through any other questions or issues in the report so so much important stuff underway thank you for that very comprehensive report thank you also for taking the time to explain the process and how you're doing the implementation of these initiatives

[00:35:36] see lots of two dots a number of two dots going to three dots which is good you know we definitely want to see that and and I would just note several of these items involve outreach materials guides so and I know you're gonna do this anyway but make sure that board offices receive that outreach material because we also have channels that we can use to get information out to the community.

[00:36:05] So with that, I'll open it up. Mr. Chairman. Yeah, thank you very much and appreciate the presentation. I guess I did have a question and maybe a suggestion. I think at a higher level question, since this is the annual report that we're getting, I guess, did anything that you have reported to us go against the grain of what you thought you would be reporting to us a year ago?

[00:36:35] In other words, did anything in here really surprise or shock you, or when you gave us your annual report, something stick out to you that maybe didn't stick out to us at the beginning of this process? I think the lack of information about the disabilities community was startling, and And so we are anxious to be able to go forward with the needs assessment for that community.

[00:37:06] And the COA, Joanne and I have partnered with the Disability Services Board to host forums, not only to look at the needs of those with disabilities, but also to look at the caregiver needs of the same population and the idea that some of those who are care receivers of their parents, from their parents, they will become the caregivers for their parents.

[00:37:34] So it's a complicated set of needs there, and that's something that we're looking forward to figuring out. Okay. I think that's helpful for us to know, because obviously there are things, you know, we can be doing on that front as well. It's maybe a suggestion, but I, you know, I paid particular attention to the health section, just because obviously it jumps out where, you know, Fairfax residents experience the most challenges.

[00:38:02] One of those three areas is physical health care. And obviously, you know, we're sitting here in a region that prides itself on, you know, our health care network that exists here. And I know I've talked to a number of seniors, including my own folks, who are reluctant to leave the area simply because they feel like this area has the most state-of-the-art, best network of health care you can probably get in most parts of the country.

[00:38:31] And then when I read the information here, I've also worked with them on the challenges that they've had with Medicare and navigation and understanding all the different complexities of health care and reading some of the comments that people provided us about how difficult it is to get appointments, how difficult it is to find physicians who will take certain insurances or federal support, I guess surprised me a little bit given how far we've come at the federal level with providing health care to individuals.

[00:39:06] And I'm just wondering, you know, if there's some data or something that we should be taking from that to put into our federal legislative package. because a lot of these things are beyond the control of, say, the Board of Supervisors or the county, but the perceived lack of physicians that will take people with certain federal entitlements or programs is something that we need to be making sure that we're sharing beyond the boundaries of the government center

[00:39:42] and with our federal partners, the lack of dental care and dental insurance that's out there, you know, is something I think all of our residents are dealing with. I mean, having gone to an affordable dental clinic a couple weekends ago, and there's a very popular one that goes around the county, and people line up the night before to get into a free dental clinic the day that it's being held.

[00:40:09] That's a difficulty that all of our population is challenged with. And we know that dental care can, in fact, be fatal if proper dental hygiene is not a part of the equation. And so I raise those issues because on the health care front, there's a lot the county does in providing affordable health care, particularly for people who are uninsured.

[00:40:30] I'm not sure we're doing enough to communicate with our federal partners about the real challenges that people are facing getting access to fundamental health care, even in a region that's perceived as having ample, sophisticated, highly recognized health care network.

[00:40:48] So there seems to be a little bit of a disconnect between the assets that we have and the experience that our people who are trying to access those assets are being faced with on a daily basis. and we probably need help understanding that a little bit better and making sure we're going to the right places to try to help with that.

[00:41:09] So just a takeaway, and I think something I know I'd be interested in drilling down a little bit more on. But excellent update, and, I mean, this is why we wanted to get these updates so that we could have these conversations, so thank you for all your work. All right, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[00:41:26] Supervisor Lust and Supervisor Palcci. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll go quickly. I really appreciate the report and the discussion here today. I'll note that one of these that really steps out to me and I know it's really important and that is Helping our seniors get the opportunity to get their repairs to their homes and renovations And so I just want to lift this up I think this one is very significant and appreciate the work that's being done with Rebuilding together and I'll note even in my own district. We've done a number of projects with them. They are exceptional

[00:42:00] I also wanted to lift up, and this is the one that makes my stomach turn, I'm going to be perfectly frank, and that is on the exploitation of seniors. I mean, this idea that people are targeting seniors to take their money and do scams with them, and this is just so outlandish that this happens.

[00:42:22] And the sad part is it's education, because what they're doing is basically pulling on their heartstrings and saying it's a grandchild that's in jeopardy or there's a child that's in jeopardy, and we've got to help them learn about these scams.

[00:42:39] So I appreciate the work that's being done here with Silver Shield as well, and just acknowledge the more people that we can reach through this program, probably the better. I know that this is going to come up a little bit later, and I do have a couple of questions on that DTA item when we get to it later, so I'll defer it to them, but I just want to uplift what's been discussed here in this SHAPE plan and acknowledge the good work that you're doing, so thank you.

[00:43:09] If you don't mind, I'd like to make a plug to one of the projects for our Shark Tank was called Scam Cops, and it was to educate people on how to interpret a scam email or a text or telephone call.

[00:43:27] So even the kids are aware of it and are putting their best efforts, and it's a really good project, and you'll hear about that next week. Wonderful. Supervisor Palcic. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much to the Cathys and the team who've worked on this and continue to do great work.

[00:43:46] First of all, to that, I mean, it's not just seniors. They really are targeting adults, people of all, even IT professionals. They just get a little bit more savvy on that one sometimes. So I think we all need that. So thank you for that work. One comment, I think my favorite part has to be page 27 on the slideshow.

[00:44:09] I don't know what page, the personal well-being. The cultural competence and dementia-friendly training and neighborhood champions, that's what I want to see for everything we do. I was just talking to our stormwater staff after their presentation of we are just a few of us.

[00:44:25] How do we build more neighborhood and community champions? I think especially as we see in our One Favorite X community, our demographics of our aging community, of those getting older in the county, are becoming, as you know, more and more diverse.

[00:44:46] And when it comes to memory, music, food, culture, what we connect to, right, from our youth, are just wider and I think more culturally rich than they've ever been, right? And so how do we look at creative partnerships and way to do that at our senior center?

[00:45:04] We've got music and music all the time. We have so many different communities represented there. So I think that's critical for all of this, right, as we better connect with our whole community and build those champions and that ownership and that advocacy. I think that the champions in each community are critical.

[00:45:23] So very much want to commend you on that. Two specific areas that I'm very focused on, you had here, the mobility options and the housing, right, and often tied together or hopefully helping us tie them together. My one question on the mobility option would be, I don't know that it was specifically here, but as we talk about new options, looking at how we track the TOPS program and how our county programs have been successful and how we continue to enhance those options.

[00:46:00] Those are, I think, targeted options that have really shown to help us in an area where we're looking at that last mile. Because you mentioned fast train and mobility management, but we have a great bus system, and I would put a plug in, Better Bus Network. Please help us push out having our seniors really collaborate in that WMATA feedback that's happening right now.

[00:46:23] So I don't know if you have additional information or suggestions as we move forward to continue to tie in our human services with our transportation work, as well as, as we know, the housing piece and right-sizing housing for our seniors. That's the one I've been trying to figure out what other resources or training we can provide on that.

[00:46:43] So if you have more information today or moving forward on that piece, the right-sizing and the more mobility options. Thank you. Oh, sorry. And a little plug, we'll be sharing it out June 1st, just off the presses, Mosaic Arts is partnering with the Park at Tysons to do a photography contest on aging.

[00:47:07] The lady who runs Mosaic Arts works with the National Council on Aging. We'll share that out so you can share it with your networks. But it's an exhibit that will be up for several weeks in Tysons. All right. Very good. Thank you, Supervisor Palchuk. Supervisor Stork.

[00:47:25] Thank you Mr. Chairman and this is an excellent report and I think I'm just impressed how you how the group and all of your collective work is is truly shaping shape into something I think that is I think it's more than what I expected I mean part of is I'm maybe a skeptical of one more report and you know here's where we go again and it looks nice and it sounds great and then we all kind of move on to the next thing and moving on to the next thing is moving on to the next thing of getting this implemented and getting it

[00:47:58] I think a powerful part of a senior is at least empowerment and awareness and scam avoidance and all that. So I very much appreciate the really significant amount of work in here already, and I know so much more that's coming.

[00:48:14] So again, my deep thanks for all that work. My, I guess probably the core key question, maybe that's a theme throughout, is you've identified, in essence, you've identified priorities and you've identified the time frame. I'm always looking for kind of the driver date, if you will, because when something's going to take a year or two or three, that's important to kind of state and have that objective in mind, but without an end date, at least in my experience in the business world, even

[00:48:47] in the public world, it's easy to just kind of have it go on and not really push and drive to a specific outcome, and I think particularly on the public side, we tend to typically do because we want to bring in one more person and bring in one more idea, I would urge you all to take a look at that and have at least for some of these, I know it's probably not appropriate for all of them, but at least some of these to identify here's our date that we're going to have this particular thing or things done and identify that and help us all drive that

[00:49:23] because some of that might mean to get to that date you need these kinds of resources or you need this kind of support or you need whatever that is, but you'll tend to focus all of us on how do we help get that outcome. So please take a look at that, and hopefully you can add that to really the powerful and wonderful work you've done already.

[00:49:44] So I'm very enthusiastic. And then as a final shameless plug, we have the Senior Safety Summit tomorrow from 10 to 1.30 at the Lorton Community Center Library. and Park, a senior in our youth center.

[00:50:01] We have about 30 vendors there, and it'll be a great learning curve. There's also free lunch for those who come. We had amazing attendance last year. I think this is our fifth or sixth one that we've done, and I think this particularly feel like we're hitting our strides with the kind of information, the kind of opportunities that people have to learn more and hopefully feel more empowered and be able to better manage their shape, if you will, their lives in the way that they want.

[00:50:28] So, again, my thanks to all of you. Thank you, Supervisor Stork. Supervisor Herdy. Yeah, I'm just going to keep it quick. Thanks again. It's a lot of work, a lot of really good work, and I know all of you work really hard at it. Thanks for keeping the affordable action a little achievable in there.

[00:50:46] I like that. That gets us where we need to go. And I know there's actually a lot more work that's not in here and initiatives that are still to come. So I want to thank you for that work as well and look forward to seeing them as well. Thanks. all right thank you supervisor harry and thank you for chairing this committee past few years um if there are no other questions let's do move into agenda item number three um and uh yeah everyone stay put there might be some questions relating to this um this does relate to a proposed

[00:51:19] input uh to go out in personal property tax mailing um as has been mentioned by a couple of board members scams that are being perpetrated against um our particularly our senior population are really a problem uh and i would flag uh for the board supervisor walken child and i attended scam jam a couple of weeks ago and uh basically which was very well attended i think there were There were about a couple hundred people, maybe more, in the board auditorium for that,

[00:51:56] people coming to hear about how to detect and avoid scams. As part of that broader outreach effort to make folks aware, board members have, or committee members, have in front of them a draft of an insert that would go into the mailings, and I just opened it up for anybody that has thoughts, suggestions, comments.

[00:52:24] Mr. Chairman. First, I love the idea. I'm very glad we're doing this. I guess I do have a couple of questions and thoughts. I'll start on the easy one, which is on the back side where we do talk about the scams. Bullet point number four, create a safe word or phrase with your family as an added layer of protection.

[00:52:44] I'm not sure how intuitive that is. I mean, if I read that, you know, and I didn't know about this stuff, I'm not sure I would know what that means. So I'm just putting that out there. The other ones are very clear to me, but I don't know how to do that.

[00:53:01] And so it might just need a little bit more explanation. My larger questions are on the other side, and some of these may not necessarily be able to be answered. But the phone number at the top, I want to make sure that a real person answers that.

[00:53:20] And I want to make sure we're prepared for that. Because when this mail goes out, you know, this is a lot of mail. And probably the most annoying thing, especially an older adult, could experience is getting a robot on the other end of the phone or not being able to get through.

[00:53:39] So I just want to get a reassurance that a real person is going to answer and that we're prepared for what could be a large flow coming in soon after the mail pieces go out. Yes, I can confirm that live people answer that line.

[00:53:54] That is our Aging Disability and Caregiver Resource Line. So that's the front door to the Adult and Aging Services. And we're ready for, it will be, the volume will be fundamentally different for at least a couple weeks.

[00:54:10] And I just want to make sure we have the staff resources to be able to help with that and that we could get a pretty high volume come in. Yes, yes, we do. full team um seven staff there that are staffing those phones monday through friday okay and i the reason i'm confirming that is because the next call if they can't get through to this line so we need to be prepared too so i'm trying to i'm trying to head that off if i can mr chairman just to follow up i you're going to get asked about taxes too

[00:54:45] that's just i mean anyway just okay yeah so i just wanted to just prepare us all um and then um you know one of the other things we talked about a lot here and you all have talked a lot about is transportation we know that's a huge challenge and yet i don't don't really see it as a bullet point on here as the type of services we offer older adults there may be a reason for that i just want to make sure that we don't want to list that um and then lastly the last two points i have facebook is listed there um my teenagers tell me you know that now instagram is the new

[00:55:24] even seniors have embraced this like you know i don't know if there's other social media platforms that we should we should have on there not to just ask that question open-ended but i do think we need something on here about connecting people with language services because that was another big thing that was raised here. I do know that, you know, the county has done a really good job lately launching Facebook pages that are in specific different languages that people can access. I know the Korean one is out there, but I would just say that, you know, the issue of

[00:56:01] language services, I'm not sure how to capture it here, but if you have a language challenge and you get this in the mail, what are you supposed to do? I mean, are you calling the same number? Are you going through a different portal? How do I know if I'm not, you know, a very good English language speaker that this would be something that I could take advantage of?

[00:56:23] So I think those are just some open-ended questions just to think about before we go to final print. But the most important one to me is to make sure that, you know, we can handle the flow of individuals who might be calling need to get help because we know in a lot of cases, one bad experience, they're not going to come back again.

[00:56:43] They call one time, can't get through, they're probably done with the county. And that's the opposite of what we're trying to do here. So thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Supervisor Luss. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think I indicated earlier I had a couple questions on this one, so I appreciate the questions that the chairman has asked.

[00:57:01] My question is more specifically to who's going to receive this. And understanding that it's going out to the taxpayers, it's going to be property owners principally who are going to be getting this. Now the question is, there's a whole group of others who are not property owners, and they're not going to be getting this information.

[00:57:20] So how do we address those who might be in apartments, those who might be in manufactured housing units? Because we know that they're going to need the same information as well. This is Carcad's mailing, not real estate.

[00:57:39] Oh, I'm sorry. I just want to make sure we know personal property. That's a little bit better. Yeah. So it actually was an intentional decision on the part of the committee to seek doing a personal property tax because it would have a broader reach. Okay. I guess that helps, but there are going to be some who don't own cars.

[00:57:56] I'm not going to say it's going to be as bad as you still have some issues with getting as many people access to them. So I don't know what we do. Maybe try to give some coverage to those who might not be personal property tax owners. - Yeah, I think that this was one step, kind of something we knew we could do that would give us a broader reach than we've ever been able to have, and we're trying to direct people to the phone number and to the website, but we have discussed that, you know, actually in our equity discussions, we're like, well, what about people that don't have properties or other languages, or maybe a disability, and we'll be able to understand this,

[00:58:34] and so we are saying, well, we hope, first of all, this reaches caregivers, that we'll be able to then have a discussion point, but this is, we have more to come, and that is actually on our minds, so I'm glad you raised it. No, no, and actually maybe we could connect up with our Transit Services Division and get these on all of our connector routes, fast tram buses, because where are people who don't have a vehicle likely to gain access?

[00:59:02] Those may be, you know, partnerships within the county we can make sure we use. If I may also add, we're making an effort to include information about this upcoming mailing in the Golden Gazette this July, I believe.

[00:59:17] So it should be in advance of this mailing to give more people awareness about this as well. Yep, and then the last thing I'll mention is I know their police department does a lot to address some of these scams and the work that they do in investigating them and really finding those who are perpetrators is very important.

[00:59:36] So I don't know to what degree we've got the ability to include the police department or some information about them in these documents as well. All right, thank you, Supervisor Lasz. Supervisor Palczyk. Thank you.

[00:59:51] Just a quick follow-up, hearing what I heard earlier, is if it's not too late, I mean, I would recommend we get rid of a lot of the bullet points and add the languages as small if we can. I think that's probably worthwhile. I'll just mention that the document that you're looking at on the reverse side of the text, I'm sorry, on the reverse side of this insert is actually our script card for the adult and aging services.

[01:00:19] So that's kind of our standard form that we have available. So that is trying to be inclusive of all our services there. Correct. So maybe less of the menu if we can and more of the other options.

[01:00:35] But I appreciate the more that you can help us and help you really spread the word. I think that this will be huge. Thank you. thank you and and just one other idea uh you know buses transit stops that kind of place for these also senior centers senior housing facilities i would think um because there are folks that don't have cars there uh it wouldn't necessarily get the mailing um other questions thoughts suggestions all right well we won't stay any longer than we need to thank you all so much excellent presentation uh great feedback and thank you to all the other commissioners that

[01:01:15] came today as well appreciate all your work um making progress here on a number of fronts beth ann do you have uh final comments or kathy i do if you don't mind yes go ahead there are there's some takeaways here and one is the market research will and will help us know how people get their information i think that is important and will be a driver the other one is our ability now to actually identify where targeted populations are.

[01:01:45] And that is due to our data analytics team, John Rutanowski and Kelsey. They have been fabulous in putting that together. And that will drive and come up with the deadlines that Supervisor Stort has mentioned. We'll know where to go and then we'll go there.

[01:02:03] And the third thing is the project management tool that was developed by staff. Our committee work overlaps in so many ways. And to figure out where those places intersect so we don't duplicate what we're coming up with is invaluable.

[01:02:19] So you've got your money's worth with this staff, and I think the kudos to them are also due. Thank you very much, Kathy. I totally second that. I know we're all very appreciative to the staff and the commission for everything that you're doing on this front.

[01:02:37] So, Supervisor Palchuk, do you want to add? I was going to reiterate, I heard North Star earlier, I think it was Beth Ann, and as I'm sitting here, this really truly is a North Star kind of project. So, really want to thank everyone who's worked on this. Thank you so much. And can I just ask to be sure that given the comments today, if approval is granted for this flyer?

[01:02:58] Yeah, I think I've not heard any objections, no objections. We don't vote in committee, but I didn't hear anybody express any concerns. So, thank you very much for clarifying that. And if there are no other comments or questions, we are adjourned.

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