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County Senior Services Outline Top Priorities For 2008
By Bill McLaughlin
The Ocean County Office of Senior Services has identified five priorities for the upcoming year, county program coordinator Jane Maloney told the county freeholders last Wednesday.
The county recently got approvals from the state for the 2008 Ocean Area Plan Grant Contract, which outlines services provided to the elderly in this county. The five priorities the office hopes to implement include: improving services, support for family caregivers, promoting healthy aging, helping frail older adults be more independent and actively promoting senior issues at all levels of government.
Longer life spans are a fact of life for many American adults. In 1900, the average male lived to age 47. Today, the average is 30 years longer.
Ocean County has also become a choice retirement location, with about 22 percent of the population 65 or older, 27 percent 60 or older. The county ranks at the top in New Jersey in every senior age group.
Seniors are increasingly prone to disability through illness, accident or the ravages of time, so more help is needed to maintain the quality of their lives, Maloney said.
In total, 540,000 units of service were provided by caregivers in 2007, with the county providing 50 contracts to 21 care providers serving more than 36,000 clients each year.
The grant funding in 2008 will total $5,198,437, paid largely by federal grants comprising up to $2,377,666. The county's share will be $1,513,782.
Maloney, who recently was presented the Hope Award by the Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey, said part of the office's mandate is to get pertinent information to seniors through the Ocean County Mobile Connection and to meetings at senior centers throughout the county.
Freeholder Joseph Vicari, the county government liaison to senior services, said the office of senior services held 152 meetings and public hearings on what services the county offers.
"We want to bring county government to them," Vicari said. "They want to talk to people,"
Freeholder Director John Kelly said the personal service provided goes a long way toward making seniors feel wanted. Kelly noted the majority of seniors wanted to place a voice or a face with a name when asking for information.
"I've recently had three calls to my office, all of them so happy to hear back from a person," he said.
Vicari said the 16 employees of the county office "work weekends and long hours" in service to their constituents.
In other business, the freeholders agreed to follow the recommendation of the Natural Lands Trust Fund Advisory Committee to purchase land in Plumsted and Ocean Township.
The Plumsted tract, known as the Downs property, is 20 acres of wooded wetlands, said Freeholder James Lacey. The asking price was $350,000 but by paying cash, the transaction was completed for $203,000.
Nineteen acres of woodland owned by John Spadoforo, one of the founders of Ron-Jon Surf shops, was bought for $275,000. It was appraised for $350,000, Lacey said. The county has purchased nearly 2,000 acres in the Ocean Township, also known as Waretown, area.
The board also approved the establishment of no-passing zones in the northern end of the county. County Road 5, which at various times is Route 528, Maple Avenue, Main Street, New Egypt-Lakewood Road and Central Avenue as it winds through Plumsted, Jackson and Lakewood, is one of the busiest east-west county roads.
Traffic lights have been approved for the Beaverson Boulevard-Shorrock Street- Old Toms River Road intersection in Brick and Lakewood, and also two at Shorrock Street intersecting with Dumbarton Drive and Country Center Driveway in Lakewood and Beaverson Boulevard at Lions Head Boulevard and Regent Drive in Brick.
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