On Thursday, aging and disability advocates gathered at the state Capitol for the annual Family Caregiver Day. This year, the goal is to ensure families have access to resources no matter where they live in the state.
There are more than 800,000 family caregivers in Arizona, and they often struggle to access training or resources. It’s why the Arizona Caregiver Coalition, along with 28 organizations, created a roadmap of sorts. Kathrine Steele-Watson is the organization’s executive director.
“And we highlighted three essential priority areas to enhance a better ecosystem for family caregivers in Arizona. So first is access to services," she said.
As well as outreach and awareness and education. Another hurdle facing caregivers are potential funding cuts. Brandon Baxter is a coalition board member and the director of the Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG).
“Much of our funding comes from the Older Americans Act as well as the social service block grant programs and those are programs that they are looking at as far as determining whether or not to continue to fund those at the existing levels.”
Baxter is not just worried about federal dollars.
“So it's a double whammy that we're looking at right now, possible cuts on the state level as well as possible cuts on the federal level. And if that does come to fruition, we'll have no choice but to draw back services to the communities that we serve.”
That includes home delivered meals and in-home services.
