Page C2, Sunday, January 30, 2011 Carroll County Times

LIFE & TIMES

Act helps elderly take benefits into community

Possible cuts to Mary- is more cost- effective for Under the Deficit Reduc- she can go home and the the Web at donnaengle-
land Medical Assistance patients who are able to tion Act, if our older funding for services will attorney.com. Her column,
(Medicaid) programs in manage outside a nursing woman remains in the follow her out the door. which provides legal infor-
Gov. Martin O’Malley’s home with support serv- nursing home for a mini- mation but not legal ad-
proposed budget prompted ices, Congress and the mum of at least six months Donna Engle is a West- vice, appears every other
a small group of protesters patients will both be and qualifies for Medicaid, minster attorney. She is on Sunday in Life & Times.
to gather in the State happy.

Lo ve is in th e a ir...
House recently. They Why don’t people who
didn’t come to talk about need services and have ex-
“Money Follows the Per- hausted their resources,
son,” but their protest il- but want to stay in the
lustrated a point about the Donna Engle community, just apply for
program. Legal Matters Medicaid without entering
The protesters’ bottom
line was they wanted to
a nursing home?
Because in Maryland, ap-
N othing says “I love you” quite like a L ove N ote
keep Medicaid benefits
and remain in the commu-
News reports did not ex- plicants for the Medicaid
Home and Community
in our sp ecialValentine’s p ages this F ebruary 14th.
plain, but one possible an-
nity rather than be read- swer is “Money Follows Based Services Waiver A ctualSize 1x2.5
mitted to nursing homes. Program face a waiting list
One disabled protester
the Person.”
so long you could probably Photo & M essage
said he spent three years in
a nursing home before
Congress allocated
“Money Follows the Per-
wrap it around the state of-
fice buildings and have
$
15 H ap p y Valentine’s D ay
finding out about a Medi- son” funds in the Deficit paper left over.
to m y better half.
caid program that would Reduction Act of 2005. The Because of the way Med- T hanks for allthe
allow him to move back funds cover grants that icaid is set up, the situation w ond erfulyears and
into the community. states must use to give at the grass roots level can m ore to com e.
The governor’s budget people who need long- play out like this: L ove, W en d y
proposal calls for $68 mil- term care the option to ■ An older woman is H A PPY
lion in cuts to Medicaid leave a nursing facility and
get the support services
hospitalized. V A L E N T IN E ’S D AY
spending, but is accompa-
they need to live in the
■ She would like to go
M IK E ! 6 L ine L ove N ote
nied by promises from home after being dis-
state officials that current
Medicaid recipients will
community. The federal
government will pick up a
charged but cannot man-
age activities such as L ove,
$
7.50
not face cuts in services. share of the tab until the bathing, toileting, taking M elissa
Much of the cost saving is grants expire. medications on her own.
expected to come from Not coincidentally, a 1999 ■ She does not have fi-
lower- than- expected en- report showed that Medi- nancial resources to pay
rollment in some pro- caid programs nationally privately for care. P lace your L ove N ote an d you w ill be en tered to w in on e of the follow in g:
grams. spent $36 billion to care for ■ She faces several years
How could the protester
have left the nursing home
1 million nursing home res-
idents and $16.4 billion to
of waiting to reach top of
Home and Community T he L ock ed D oor
for community living
without losing the Medi-
caid benefits that enabled
care for 1.8 million home
and community- based
adults. Congress would
Based Services Waiver
program list, but cannot
wait.
L ingerie
him to live outside a nurs- like to hold down Medicaid ■ She is placed in nurs- in E m m itsburg in U nion B rid ge in H agerstow n
ing facility? costs, so if community care ing home. S u n d ay B ru n ch for 2 $25 G ift C ertificate $20 G ift C ertificate
D ead line: T uesd ay,F eb. 8th @ 5p m . L arger size ad s available!

Service dogs provide

M ailor d rop off to: H eart-to-H eart M essages,C lassified D ep t.
P.O . B ox 346,W estm inster,M D 21158-0346
YES! Plea s e pla c e m y pho to a nd /o rLo ve N o te o n “ Hea rt-to -Hea rt” Pa ge.
Lo ved O ne’s N a m e

support during court M es s a ge

Yo u rN a m e
matic for the witnesses.”
Animals help keep people calm Oakland Circuit Family Ad d res s
Judge Joan Young recently City Sta te Zip
THE OAKLAND PRESS court and then spent more welcomed Amos into her Ho m e Pho ne D a ytim e Pho ne
OF PONTIAC than 10 years as the super- courtroom when children Chec k o ne (A) 1x 2 .5 d o u b le b lo c k = $15 (B ) Line a d = $7.5 0
visor of Victims’ Services at were asked to testify during
PONTIAC, Mich. — A M etho d o f pa ym ent: Chec k # or
434901

the Oakland County Prose- a child protective proceed-

bright smile spread across cutor’s Office before retir- Cred itCa rd # Ex pira tio n D a te
the 17-year- old girl’s face ing.
ing, launched the Canine Utm ostcare w illbe taken w ith your photo,we’llreturn itAS AP.N otresponsible for lost/dam aged photos/typographical errors.Please
when she spotted a friend in Advocacy Program in “Amos was very well- be- use additionalpaperifneeded form essage.Prepaym entis required.Private party,no businesses please!
a courthouse hallway. spring 2010. haved,” she said. “He only
“Amos! I missed you!” she
called out. The girl
Amos visits courthouses
after receiving referrals
sat up once, because it was
time to take a potty break.” 4 10 -8 5 7-5 5 8 1
scratched the dog’s ears,
from judges, law enforce-
and his tail whipped happily
ment officers or agencies
back and forth.
that deal with young vic-
Amos, a 2-year-old choco-
late Labrador, has been tims.
trained to sit with children The program is the first of
who have to testify at court its kind in Michigan.
proceedings. He also at- Cojanu said the presence
tends support group meet- of a dog can help relieve the
ings for teenage girls who anxiety that children may
are survivors of sexual feel while waiting to testify
abuse and serves people in or while they’re on the wit-
other ways. ness stand.
Amos is one of a number “He is trained to be with
of canines working locally kids as a support, trained to
who provide comfort, sup- lay down in the courtroom
port, companionship and and be very quiet and unob-
sometimes even a boost in trusive,” Cojanu said,
confidence to people who adding that the program is
are going through difficult set up to ensure that no
times in their lives or have legal issues arise from
a disability. Amos’ presence in court.
“He’s an amazing dog. He For instance, he’s not used
helps out so much,” said the during jury trials.
teenager with Amos. “He’s At 52-1 District Court in
definitely a miracle wor- Novi, Amos is popular with
ker.” court staff and spends much
Amos’ handler, Dan Co- of his time with people in
janu, got the idea to bring a witness rooms.
service dog to Oakland “He’s got an instinctual
County’s courts after hear- grasp of people’s emotional
ing about a similar program state,” 52-1 District Court
in another state that has Judge Brian MacKenzie
been very successful. said. “Everything I can see
Cojanu, who worked for suggests that he really
Oakland County’s juvenile makes the wait less trau-

S a turd a y, F eb rua ry 12th

Ifyo u lo ve to c o o k C hili a n d /o rha ve a s pe c ia l s e c re t
re c ipe tha tw ill b lo w o u rta s te b u d s o u t... W E W ANT YOU!
Lim ite d a m o u n to fs po ts a va ila b le s o c a ll
Jo e Ab e ll NOW !410-79 5-1200 o r e -m a il
jo e a b e ll@ je ffb a rn e s c he vro le t.c o m
434213

Rts 26 & 32 • Eld ers b u rg M D

At the 4 Co rn ers In Eld ers b u rg Acro s s fro m W a l-M a rt