The Coalition recognizes the complex nature of in-home services and their funding. This page is designed to help answer any questions you may have. If you do not see an answer to your question here, please complete the contact form below and a member of the coalition will respond to you.

The Silver Key Coalition goal is to eliminate wait lists for in-home services, how will it help my community that has no wait lists because we have a strong senior millage?

The Silver Key Coalition goal of making Michigan a no wait state for senior services is not limited to serving only the approximately 4,500 older Michiganians who were on existing wait lists at the beginning of FY 2013.  The Coalition advocates that assistance be available to address the unmet in-home service needs of older adults.  Being on an agency wait list is probably the clearest indicator of unmet need, but there are other indicators and circumstances that suggest individuals have equally severe unmet needs that put them at significant risk of losing their independence.  Even communities with strong senior millages have seniors with unmet needs who are not on a wait list.  An example would be individuals who need more assistance than what is available, such as a second or weekend meal.  Any increased funding will be distributed to all areas of the state based on their population, and will address wait lists and unmet needs.

How much of any new state money will go toward directly serving seniors, as opposed to bureaucracy?

Every dollar allocated will go directly toward the cost of providing services, and to the organizations that provide the services.  No state funds will be used for administrative purposes by the Michigan Aging and Adult Services Agency (AASA) or Area Agencies on Aging.  They will have to use existing staff to administer the extra funds.

Please explain why families don’t care for their parents or grandparents themselves, and take responsibility for their loved ones?

While some recipients of AASA in-home services have no family, most do have family involved in their care, and state supported services help fill in the gaps that families cannot manage.  Studies suggest that 80% of all care received by disabled older adults is provided by unpaid family and informal caregivers.  Many caregivers may be too physically weak to provide some of the assistance needed, or may be a sandwich generation caregiver who cares for an older parent but must also work to support a young family. OSA services provide a very limited amount of assistance that helps prevent the caregiver burnout that often leads to nursing home placement.  The vast majority of service recipients have lower incomes and cannot afford private home care rates of $18 - $21 per hour, however they do contribute toward the cost of their services in accordance to their ability to pay.