Lawmakers hear push to keep and increase funding for respite and senior volunteer programs

Representative Mary Jane Wallner, prime sponsor of House Bill 704, told the House Committee on Health and Human Services and Elderly Affairs the bill is primarily an appropriations measure to make sure funding that has been in place for respite, volunteer and related family caregiver programs "stays in place."

Wendy Altman, bureau chief for the Bureau of Adult and Aging Services at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, described the bill as aligned with DHHS's strategy for healthy aging and family caregiver supports. She told the committee the Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) respite grant currently serves a little more than 250 individuals and that proposed increases would allow the state to serve "a few hundred more" caregivers depending on outreach and demand. Altman said the respite grants commonly run about $2,000 per award and can be adjusted when needs require more support.

Advocates and program directors told the committee that senior volunteer programs and respite grants are cost'effective and provide essential services that keep older residents at home. Lily Wellington, director of volunteer services for the Friends program, described volunteer rides to medical appointments and grocery shopping that can be life'saving: she said volunteers in her program provided six months of weekly rides for a dialysis patient within a day of a request. Doug McNutt of the New Hampshire State Commission on Aging and Kathleen Stewart of the AmeriCorps Senior Companion Program described large numbers of volunteer hours and the relatively low administrative cost of those programs.

Family members who testified described the financial and emotional toll of caring for relatives with dementia. Olivia Parzic, 21, said family caregiving for her grandfather imposed both heavy time demands and major out'of'pocket costs; another caregiver, John Zimba, told the committee an alarm system and police response once prevented his wife with dementia from wandering into danger and described respite care as vital to his ability to continue caregiving.

Committee members asked about how many people the increased appropriation would reach and whether the funding was new. Altman and other DHHS witnesses said much of the request preserves existing supports and would expand capacity; the ADRD respite grant line would be increased from roughly $302,000 to about $552,000 (an increase proponents described as roughly $250,000). Altman said the bureau expects the appropriation to be requested in the biennial budget cycle and that outreach and the bureau's new brain health public awareness campaign will drive additional demand.

The committee did not take final action on the bill during the hearing. Supporters asked the panel to move the bill to the Finance Committee so the measure can be considered during the budget process. Opponents did not dominate public comment at the hearing.

Ending: Committee members pressed for more implementation details, including exact fiscal-note accounting, but several members signaled support for moving the bill forward to the Finance Committee so the requested increases can be considered in the coming budget.