Social Security and Medicare are perhaps the best known government-assistance programs for older adults. There’s another federal benefit specifically for residents of long-term care facilities, and it was recently at risk of losing funding.
KJZZ's Kathy Ritchie has more about the advocates who stand up for nursing home residents and their families.
Regan Smith is standing in the hallway of a skilled nursing facility in Scottsdale. Smith is the director of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program for Maricopa County.
"But the program serves the whole state, where we have about 60,000 beds; over 2,000 facilities," Smith said, and 40,000 of those beds are in Maricopa County.
Ombudsman are resident advocates. And this program isn’t new. It was created in the 1970s to improve nursing home care and is funded by the Older Americans Act.
Five decades later, Smith said what surprises her most is that "residents don't always understand that they have basic human and civil rights that they had when they were out living in their own home, their own apartment."
And those rights don’t change when you move into a long-term care facility, she says.
For example, "you have the right to leave the facility, go out on pass, to have visitors come into the building. You have the right to have your own doctor. You have the right to make calls to family members. They have the right to come see you. You have the right to protection under the law to not be discharged involuntarily," Smith said.
"You have the right to have your own doctor. You have the right to make calls to family members. They have the right to come see you."Regan Smith, the director of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program for Maricopa County.
'We're really good at our jobs'
The ombudsman also plays another role: that of problem solver.
Karen Jones is the board chair of the National Association of Local Long-Term Care Ombudsman, or NALLTCO, which supports local and regional ombudsman programs.
"We can resolve about 80% of the problems without involving any other agency," Jones said.
And they do that without any punitive powers.
In fact, most of the long-term care ombudsman are volunteers. According to the Administration for Community Living, which oversees the program, there are only 1,500 paid fulltime staff and slightly more than 3,400 volunteers nationwide who are trained to investigate and resolve complaints.
Smith oversees 15 paid staff and 20 volunteers.
"We can't fine a facility. We can't cite the facility. We can't take a license. We can't fire people. We don't have any giant stick to make people behave with. But we're really good at our jobs. And we know the regulations. We know what they have to do," Smith said.
A lifeline
Gina Crosby, 59, has been staying at the facility Smith is visiting for nearly two years.
"So, my support system consists of the ombudsman program, for me, personally," Crosby said.
Crosby is from Florida, and has no family in Arizona. She came here to participate in a health and rehabilitation program for bariatric patients. Her hope is to become independent enough to eventually go home.
In the meantime, "It's good to know that I have the ombudsman that I can call. And even if it's to vent, you know, or to just to, you know, say, ‘no, you're not crazy. No, you're right.’ Or ‘yeah, I understand.’ I mean, that's so helpful to know that they're there," Crosby said.
'Making it top of mind'
Jaime Roberts is the CEO of Leading Age Arizona, which represents more than 55 long-term care communities across the state.
"The ombudsman program really is a vital part of Arizona's long-term care landscape, if you will," Roberts said.
But even Roberts acknowledges more work needs to be done to educate residents and their families about the program.
"I think it kind of energized us a bit to rally around the ombudsman program and remind people about the service that is available to all Arizonans."Jaime Roberts, CEO of Leading Age Arizona
Long-term care facilities are required to “conspicuously” post ombudsman information both in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Usually that’s in the lobby area. And facilities are supposed to provide residents with a written copy of their rights. Still, the message isn’t always received.
Roberts says staffing shortages are, in part, to blame. Long-time leaders are retiring, and that institutional knowledge may not get passed down to new hires.
"I think it's a matter of making it top of mind," Roberts said.
In April, a leaked budget document from the White House proposed cuts to the ombudsman program. All sides sounded the alarm.
"I think it kind of energized us a bit to rally around the ombudsman program and remind people about the service that is available to all Arizonans," Roberts said.
Late last month, the Department of Health and Human Services released its proposed fiscal 2026 budget. Funding for the ombudsman program now appears to be intact, but other critical programs could be on the chopping block.
Jones of NALLTCO likens these cuts to a game of Jenga.
"But you pull too many of those pieces out of the Jenga game, and it doesn't matter if you've kept ombudsman or Adult Protective Services, or voting access, or whatever it might be, the whole thing comes down for people who are really vulnerable," Jones said.
