SB 345 has passed another hurdle. Vote on Senate floor 26 in favor 9 opposed. Yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Now on to the Assembly.

So grateful for your support of this bill.

Sylvia

Re: Letter of Support – FLOOR ALERT (see below)

I want to update you on our advocacy efforts to create a stronger and more effective state ombudsman office in California.  The Bill SB345, author Senator Lois Wolk, sponsor CISO, was passed by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee.  It will be heard on the Senate floor on Monday, January 23^rd.  SB345 is a much needed bill as it aligns state and federal law, and utilizing the current federal law that governs the state ombudsman office, it helps ensure a much improved state ombudsman office.  I also want to add that the cost of this bill is not impactful as it is underwritten by the over $1,000,000 of federal funds that currently flow into the state office every year.

It is time California long term care residents and disabled persons had the advocate at the state level that was envisioned when this program was created back in 1978. 

Our coalition letter of support is attached for your information and review.  Please support our efforts by contacting your local senator and urging his support of SB 345.

For those of you in Ventura or Santa Barbara County please contact
Senator Tony Strickland at:

—–916—651-4019 (Sacramento)   
                                                                                                                                              —–8-306-8886 (Simi Valley)
                                                                                                                                              —–805-965-0862 (Santa Barbara)

 Thank you so  very much for your support!

‘‘

Sincerely,

 Sylvia Taylor-Stein

Committee for an Independent State Ombudsman Office  (CISO)

I want to let you know that SB 345, for which the Committee for an Independents State Office (CISO) is the sponsor, is scheduled for hearing January 10th at 1:30 PM before the Senate Committee for Health and Human Services.

I have attached the fact sheet for your review. Factsheet (23)

I have also attached CISO’s support letter of the bill.Support Letter (19)

As the CA Dept of Aging will be auditing our local ombudsman program next week, I am unable to attend the hearing, but two members of our CISO committee will be speaking on behalf of the bill.

SB 345 has gone through many revisions since we started back in February of 2009, and there have been many rewrites, but the most significant revision which was the cornerstone of the bill involves the outsourcing of the state ombudsman office to a private entity. We were forced to eliminate that section as the CA constitution prohibits the elimination of civil servant positions as a result of outsourcing to a private entity, and the bill, in its original form, would have eliminated about 8 civil servant positions.

The bill is not where we started, but the revised bill, SB 345, when enacted, will be a good first step toward strengthening the state ombudsman office in that it will mandate stronger advocacy and accountability from that office.

I wanted to share this with all of you as many of you have been on this long journey with us for the past three years, and we very much appreciate all your encouragement and support.

I also want to wish each of you a very Happy and Healthy New Year, and thank you for being such an integral part of our community and our team.

Warmest regards,

Sylvia

Sylvia Taylor Stein

Team Leader

Committee for and Independent State Office (CISO)

I am so thrilled and happy to report that we met our goal of raising $50,000 by November 30th!!

From all of us here at the Ombudsman Program in Ventura County, THANK YOU!!!

When we first received this unexpected blessing of a matching grant the night of our 30th Anniversary, and understood that everything we brought in that night, and any amounts we could bring in through the end of November, would be matched up to $50,000, we were simply overwhelmed. What an amazingly unanticipated, most welcome gift, but how to do this in 3 weeks was the question. Our hope and prayer was that we could. We weren’t sure how, but then you stepped up with open hearts and open wallets, and your generosity made it happen. Every dollar you gave counted and was doubled, and it was enough!

It is such a blessing to be part of a program that is so highly regarded that it is the recipient of such generous giving hearts in our own community, and even outside our state. We received gifts from as far away as Pennsylvania and Florida.

We can only believe that some of you must have been spreading the word, and we thank you so much!

Knowing that so many non-profits are struggling to keep their doors open today, we can only express with humble hearts, what this gift means to us. It will help us keep doing what we do – advocating and giving an unfettered voice to those who have no voice – and continuing to show them that they are important, they are not forgotten, and we care about them.

On behalf of our Board of Directors, Staff, and Volunteers, we wish all the blessings of this wonderful season on you and yours. Again, Thank You!!

Warmest Regards,

Sylvia

We are not there yet, but we are on our way.

As you will recall, Amgen has given us a challenge matching grant and will match every dollar we bring in between now and the end of November. This wonderful and unexpected announcement came from Amgen Foundation, President, Jean Lim Terra, the night of our 30th anniversary gala fundraiser.

We have now received all our income from our Gala, including credit card sales and outstanding checks, and our net proceeds are $32,536.71. Yesterday we received an anonymous gift of $5,000 and collected another $1450 today, bringing our total funds eligible for the match to $38,986.71

Won’t you please consider making an early year end gift to the Ombudsman Program in Ventura County, which is the only program created solely to provide free and confidential advocacy and support services to over 8,000 elderly persons living in long term care facilities throughout out county – 60% of whom in nursing homes have no family or friends who ever visit or check in on them. Ombudsmen fight for the rights and needs of these vulnerable individuals who have no voice.

What your gift will provide:

1. It will help us bring in more state certified volunteers, and provide the training and support they need to be strong effective advocates for this population.

2. It will help us reimburse the mileage for these volunteers as they travel the almost 50,000 miles each year across Ventura County, visiting and advocating for our elderly neighbors in long term care.

3. It will help us meet the continuing education requirements our volunteers and staff must complete each year to qualify for recertification by the state of California.

4. It will help us maintain our weekly visitations to all nursing homes in Ventura County.

5.Your donation will do this and much much more.

Remember…your gift is 100% tax deductible and will be doubled by the Amgen matching grant.

Thank you again from all of us here and we wish you a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!

Gratefully,
Sylvia