Human Services Association presents Alzheimer’s care, meal and home‑support programs to Cerritos commission

Ricardo Motta, chief executive officer of the Human Services Association, and Darren Dunaway, the organization’s senior services director, presented an overview of HSA’s senior programs to the Cerritos Senior Services Commission on March 17, 2006.

Motta told commissioners HSA employs about 250 people, manages roughly a $35 million budget and serves approximately 20,000 clients across Los Angeles County. The nonprofit has partnered with the City of Cerritos since 1987, he said, and provides senior services in the city through a long-standing contract arrangement.

Dunaway described a suite of services that HSA operates countywide, emphasizing programs relevant to Cerritos residents. He called the Alzheimer’s day care a “social‑model” program (not tied to Medi‑Cal), open to anyone coping with dementia or social isolation; the program averages about 18 participants a day and charges $30 per week for full‑day attendance (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.). “It’s an amazing program,” Dunaway said, noting the center welcomes participants from throughout the region.

On care management and the SSP (Senior Service Program), Dunaway said HSA places a care manager weekly at the Pat Nixon Senior Center to handle walk‑ins and conduct home assessments. He reported HSA currently serves 31 active clients in Cerritos and that the program helps residents navigate benefits, complete applications and connect to services free of charge.

Dunaway summarized MSSP, the state waiver for Medi‑Cal clients eligible for nursing‑home placement, explaining roughly half the program funding is federal. He said a nursing‑home bed can cost about $85,000–$90,000 per year, while MSSP pays approximately $5,000 per client per year to support home‑based services and keep people in their communities; HSA’s MSSP site is among the largest in the state. “They want people to be home. They want people to stay in their community,” he said.

The presentation covered nutrition programs in detail: HSA administers 32 congregate meal sites (out of 90 countywide) and delivers about 2,000 meals a day across sites. Dunaway said during the pandemic the Cerritos pickup program served roughly 360 seniors weekly and that HSA provided about 1,000,000 meals countywide in that year. For home‑delivered meals (Meals on Wheels), he reported HSA serves about 1,200 clients across 22 cities and that Cerritos currently has about 45 clients receiving home delivery.

Commissioners asked for clarifications on contracting and capacity. Motta and Dunaway explained that some county contractor lists show the county’s direct contractor names and that HSA serves Cerritos on the city’s behalf. When commissioners asked about the numeric “slots” in the MSSP/care management tables, Dunaway said those numbers represent the program’s capacity to serve clients at any one time.

Commissioners also raised culturally specific menu requests for congregate meals. Dunaway said county rules require a single certified menu for nutrition sites, but special daily menus can be arranged in some locations if there is strong demand and a local contract — for example, he described past arrangements in other cities that brought in a local restaurant for a culturally specific menu day.

Several members of the commission asked about enrollment procedures, and Dunaway and Motta outlined an intake process: a resident calls HSA, completes a standard intake form, and a coordinator arranges an orientation or visit. Dunaway added HSA maintains a scholarship program for Alzheimer’s day care and does not turn away seniors who cannot pay the fee.

The presentation closed with commissioners thanking HSA staff for the detailed overview and asking the city to invite HSA back for future updates when substantive changes occur.

The commission took no formal policy action on HSA programs at the meeting; the presentation was informational.