Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1978)
MARCH 10. 1978 PAGE 9 —— Home Care Is Often Best For Elderly-------- — by Donna Behrend In conclusion of our two- p a rt se rie s on the ca re of the elderly, this a rtic le will deal with home care of the elderly. Many families are presently dealing with the problem of finding a suitable person to come into the home. Most famil ies depend on relatives to cook, clean, bathe and do other chores th at cannot be done by the elderly. The Central Oregon Council on Aging provides services to aid local families in locating a suitable person. COCOA’S head quarters are located in Bend but there a re Inform ation and R e ferral Centers located in Prine ville, Redmond and Madras. Upon talking to John Weber , D irector of COCOA, we found th at COCOA has a N utrition program , a H om em akers P ro ject and a Weatherization Pro ject. Over 200 persons take ad vantage of the n utrition P ro gram. In Bend, this program is offered daily, but it is offered in outlying cen ters only two to three times per week. The meals are for those who can’t afford or are unable to p rep are them selves a hot, nutritious meal at least once a day. The Homemakers services a re provided for those who cannot Clean, make beds or for those who have recently been released from the hospital. The Homemaker goes into the home for two to three hours a day, two to three days a week. Presently, they service 90 people a week. The W eatherization P ro gram serv ices and readies homes of the e ld e rly , up to the a m o u n t o f $800, for winter. The services are.free, providing that the person meets the financial qualifications. The Weatheriza tion project began in August 1977 and 100 hom es have been s e r viced thus far. They anticipate servicing 25 homes monthly. A nother p ro ject is the D ial-a-Ride serv ice. I t is for those who need transportation to the doctor or the nutrition cen te rs. This serv ice has proved very successful in the Bend area and hopefully the Inform ation Students Tour (Continued from Page 8) ships, for Forestry majors. We presently have 15 students and are seeking 15-20 freshmen and transfer students at all levels. The program is funded by the State of California by special appropriation to the State Col lege and U niversity system ; prior to this year it was funded by the H.E.W . Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary E ducation. Because of the un certain nature of the State fund ing, we a re also seeking addi tional long ran g e funding and funds for program operation and students financial aid. The nature of the program m akes it extrem ely im portant for Indian people and also for those governm ental agencies and private organizations who are seeking qualified minority professionals. T herefore we would appreciate hearing from all persons in terested in the program — students, employers, and potential-funding sources. Contact: David Jackson, Director House 80 Humboldt State University Arcata, CA 95521 Phone: (707) 826-4994. and Referral Centers in Madras and P rin ev ille will soon be getting vans to provide the same services to elderly residents in their areas. The COCOA project is fund ed 90 p e rc e n t by F ed eral and State G overnm ents with the balance of their financial needs provided through donations and volunteer hours. Those who work in the centers and provide homemak ers serv ices a re all CETA em ployees and a re paid the m in imum wage. These services are not lim ited ju st to W elfare clients, but are also provided to people over 60 y ears of age, to those in the low income bracket, or the disabled. A single person who has an annual income of $3,600 or less is considered at or below poverty level. The same goes for a couple who has annual income of $4,800 or less. The N utrition C enters are open to persons over 60 and the paym ent for m eals is on a voluntary basis only. The Home makers project is free to those people a t or below the poverty level, but to those whó are above th at level, the cost is 60 cents per hour. The w eatherization project is also free, depending on income. The Dial-A-Ride ser vices are for Senior Citizens and the handicapped. Rides a re 25 cents but on a donation basis only. The Confederated Tribes are faced with; the choice of seeking their own funding and go direct ly to the Federal Government or through COCDA for aid. The problem with going directly to the Federal Government is that the amount they can provide is a m ere drop in the bucket com pared to what COCOA can offer. “ The m ost we can get through the F e d e ra l G overnm ent is $6,000, which is hardly worth the effort,” stated Art Tassie, Tribal Grants Planner. “The route now is to go to COCOA, as they are budgeting now. Their monies will be av ailable in June or July.” The H ealth and W elfare committee feels that the Tribes can provide the sta ff here and all that COCOA will have to do is train personnel and offer tech nical assistance. However, they have the right to investigate and audit w henever they feel it is necessary. The T ribes hope to even tually provide these services themselves, but at present only three of the services are being offered to the elderly on the reservation. One is the provision of fire wood. The wood is cut and delivered, but som etim es it is not chopped. The other service is home visitation to senior citizens who a re unable to get out. On those visitations emer gency food applications are sometimes taken. These appli cations are not limited to those with little or no income, or to T ribal m em bers only, but for any person in need. They are $35 for a single person and $45 per couple. The other service is a mon thly m eal a t the Community Center. Five departments chip in and donate time and money to this project. However, the last m eal was around C hristm as time. The C onfederated T ribes also have Community H ealth R epresentatives who a re r e sponsible for transporting clients to and from doctor visits if no fam ily or relativ e is available. They are also respon sible for making out-reach visits to clients, instructing indivi duals about medication and its application, m ake follow-up home visits, and deliver medi cations upon recommendation of physicians when no fam ily m em ber is able. Above and beyond these duties, the CHR’s are req u ired to p re p a re and m aintain adequate records in relationship to home visits, transportation, special clinics, resource re fe rra ls and other daily functions they then submit monthly reports on all services provided to the G eneral Man ager, local Service Unit Director and immediate Supervisor. The most important require m ent is th a t a CHR be able to speak the languages of the Con federated Tribes. A CHR must have a high school education or equivalent, one to six m onths experience in a health related field, and a valid Oregon chauf- feurs-drivers license. A CHR m ust also be w illing to take fu rth er training and m ust be able to com m unicate with In dian people, IHS medical staff, and resource agencies. Care of the elderly in the home is considerably less ex pensive than care in a rest home or elsewhere. The elderly people seem to be m ore com fortable and happy when they are able to stay a t home. They often feel they will be forgotten in a nurs ing home and th a t no one will come to visit with them - sort of an “ out of sight, out of m ind” idea. The above summary of ser vices presently available to per sons in need on the reservation is limited. This would indicate th at m ore services need be established. Those working as CHR’s are feeling pressure from all sides. One CHR can’t be in two places a t one tim e. They a re not re sponsible for cleaning, cooking, and other chores that should be done by others. The H ealth and W elfare committee’s duties include not only finding resources to care for the elderly, but they also offer advice and suggestions to the W elfare d ep artm en t, Ma ternal child health clerk, CHR’s and Public Health Service. The H ealth and W elfare Com m ittee is responsible for setting up m ore services but they a re lim ited because they can a c t only upon the recom m endation of the people. The T ribal Council can act on im proving services only through the recommendation of the Heal th and W elfare Com m ittee. If you feel there is a service that can be improved upon or needs to be launched, contact any member of the committee. To conclude, the type of care you choose is your decision. Rest home c a re , a t tim es, seem s im personal and sterile. But, usually you can rest easy, know ing th a t your loved one will receive 24 hour care. The difficulty in choosing the right person to come into the home is frustrating. Most people suitable for the job are already working or a re not interested. But, if you hit it lucky and find the rig h t person, you and your older person will be among the very fortunate. Turnover Of Indian Counselors Matter Of Concern * (Continued from Page 2) to job security as another factor in their decisions^ The relative insecurity of a job th a t is dependent on the continued funding of the federal govern ment was less attractive to the family men than the higher paid positions with b e tte r benefits offered by the Tribes. S ecurity alone was not enough to lu re the counselors away from their work with the students, which they all found to be satisfying. Clem ents, in fact, feels he could probably have made more money if he had stayed a t the school and w orked sum m ers. But it had always been a dream of his to come back and work for the T ribes, to help his people locally. Working in Madras left him out of touch with thè Warm Springs com m unity, he said. Now he aids in local planning but also m ain tain s his contact with students and the school district through involvement on the T ribal E ducation Com m it tee. Calica understands and ex plains th is allegiance to the T ribes. “ Our trib a l m em bers will naturally'return to the res ervation to work. The Tribe is growing in the complexity of its operation and n a tu ra lly it is going to draw our people back into the organization to lend their expertise.” Neither Calica nor Clements has turned his back on the edu cation of Indian students. Rut they both feel they have left some frustrations behind. As a counselor, Calica felt frustrated with his “relative in ability to effect any kind of long-range improvements.” He also recognized the uncomfort able positions in which Indian Education staff are placed, “get ting it from both sides of the r iv e r .” They a re constantly having to explain and defend th eir activ ities to justify their positions with the district , he said. At times Clements felt alone as a T itle IV em ployee whose program did not alw ays have the ad m in istra tiv e support it needed to be successful. Some staff people didn’t understand the federal programs and view ed them as a form of favoritism, he said. If the program had the backing of everyone in the building, the resignation of a counselor would not spell the failure of the program, suggest ed Clements. Apparently discouraged by the pattern of hiring and train ing Indian people only to lose them to the Confederated Tribes, the School Board unhappily ac cepted the la te st resignation. The T itle IV P a r t A P a re n t Commitee also accepted the resignation relu ctan tly . “ We thought we had a good thing going,” said Sutterlee. “Small F ire would have been g re a t if h e ’d stay ed . . . but he up and left without letting us know.” Sutterlee suggested that the Committee be more involved in the next screening and selection process to ensure that they are better tuned to the “ tru e feel ings” of the candidates. District Superintendent Dar rell Wright, who said he had been aware of Hawk’s interest in law enforcement, feels less dis couraged by the turn of events. This was a unique year, he said, and he doesn’t see the counselor position as any more transitory than other school positions have become. W right is fairly optim istic about federal Indian programs, detecting recent progress in the development of cooperation and understanding among staff. Of course “ in the best of all pos sible worlds” there would be no need for special programs, said W right, but given the circu m stances they are necessary and valuable, and as an adm ini strator he supports them. One solution to the turnover problem th a t W right can en vision is the absorption of fed eral positions by the school dis tric t budget, thereby offering more job security; Wright also hopes that with plenty of time to locate a counselor and with the chance to start at the beginning ra th e r than the m iddle of a school y e a r, a good, qualified candidate will be selected. It is doubtful th a t a trib a l member with the proper creden tials will be available for the counselor job, according to Wright and Calica. But an Indian who isn’t local is better than no Indian counselor a t all, say those involved, and they a re willing to take another risk. As Calica noted, “You can’t control persdnal aspirations and the d esire to im prove profes sionally.” But he recommended the “ possibility of providing more incentive for the recruit ment and retaining of qualified people.” Man Pleads Not Guilty To Murder Charge In a federal court hearing March 9, Owen Jam es Wallula- tum , 18, en tered a plea of not guilty to the charg e of second- degree m u rd er in thé recent gunshot death of George Cle ments, Jr.-, also 18. The trial was set for the week of May 1. Wallulatum is being held in the custody of the U.S. Marshall at Portland’s Rocky Butte jail, with bail set at $25,000. A motion to reduce bail has been denied. A rraigned before the U.S. M agistrate George Ju b a on March 2, Wallulatum was indict ed the following day by a federal grand ju ry for second-degree murder. Wallulatum’s attorney in the case is Jeffrey Rogers. Clements, a senior at Mad ras High School, died instantly when shot once with a .22 mag num rifle at the Clements’ home in West H ills a t about 1 a.m . Saturday, February 25. Accord ing to w itnesses, the shooting occurred during an argum ent betw een W allulatum and Cle ments. W allulatum w as a rre ste d later that day and transferred to P o rtlan d . U nder the M ajor Crim es Act, m u rd e r cases, on reservations are handled in the federal courts.
