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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Mahathi Yera, Staff Member of the Elder Law Unit at Legal Aid Society
1:17:22
ยท
142 sec
Mahathi Yera from the Legal Aid Society's Elder Law Unit testified in support of the proposed bill to establish a program supporting older adults providing kinship care. She highlighted the challenges faced by older kinship caregivers and provided three recommendations for the committee to consider.
- Recommended making the program available to both formal and informal kinship arrangements
- Suggested that participation in workshops should not be a requirement for receiving case assistance
- Emphasized the need for sufficient wraparound services to encourage participation by older adults
Mahathi Yera
1:17:22
Great.
1:17:23
Good afternoon.
1:17:24
My name is Mahathi Yarra.
1:17:25
I'm a staff member with the Elder Law Unit at the Legal Aid Society.
1:17:29
The Elder Law Unit is a multidisciplinary team that specializes in eviction defense for seniors in Bronx and Brooklyn.
1:17:36
The Legal Aid Society supports the proposed bill which seeks to establish a program to support older adults who provide kinship care for their families.
1:17:45
The elder law unit represents older adults who provide kinship care for their grandchildren and other minor children in their households.
1:17:51
We are aware that older New Yorkers make up a majority of all kinship caregivers in New York and face unique challenges due to their age socioeconomic status and additional barriers.
1:18:01
Notably many older caregivers raise their children on fixed incomes while they live at or below the federal poverty line and many face housing and food insecurity.
1:18:11
We are here today to provide three recommendations for the community to consider.
1:18:14
The first is we recommend that this program is made available to as many kinship households as possible by ensuring that both formal and informal kinship arrangements are both supported.
1:18:24
Formal kinship arrangements are those where the older adult has or is in the process of obtaining guardianship or custodial rights where informal kinship arrangements may lack those formal documents or legal rights or nonetheless crucial for many families where children still rely on the older adult for the majority of their care and needs.
1:18:44
This barrier often creates distinct hardships for informal families in obtaining certain housing vouchers due to the lack of documentation or access to formal legal systems.
1:18:55
Therefore they would greatly benefit from the individualized case assistance to maximize their resources rental subsidies and other benefits.
1:19:02
Second, we agreed that the eight workshops would provide a great benefit for older caregivers but we want to ensure that participation is not a requirement for receiving case assistance as many older adults may struggle to attend all workshops due to a variety of barriers.
1:19:17
And lastly we want to ensure that the program has sufficient wraparound services to encourage participation by older adults and this can include.
Crystal Hudson
1:19:25
Are you almost finished?
Mahathi Yera
1:19:27
Yeah, one more second.
1:19:30
Coordinate transportation as well as caregiving assistance while older adults are attending workshops or appointments and these recommendations are just meant to ensure that the program meets older adults where they're at and would encourage more older adults to seek out these services.