The state’s largest advocates for older adults were in Scranton on Friday, at the home of the future senior Advocacy Center at Telespond set to open in June.
Construction began over the summer to build a roughly 2,000 square foot addition to Telespond Senior Services, a senior day center in the city’s south side. The center will serve as a state and national model, as it will be the first of its kind. It is specifically designed to help adults 60 and older facing abuse or neglect.
Representatives from many locations and fields of expertise gathered for a roundtable discussion led by Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich.
“The Advocacy Center is more of a community response than it is a bricks and mortar facility,” he said. “This is medical services, behavioral health services, legal services, judicial services, because guardianship will play a part here, all of those initiatives will funnel in through the Advocacy Center.”
An older adult suffering from financial exploitation, for example, could come to the center to be connected with a financial advisor and an attorney, if necessary. The facility will have four bedrooms to accommodate those who need a place to stay for up to 45 days, and they will receive help creating a housing plan.
Described as an a la carte approach, Telespond will recruit gerontology professionals and social workers, and outsource for other services. Secretary Kavulich says the partnerships are key.
“Where else do you see legislators sitting in the room with funders, sitting in the room with judges, sitting in the room with social workers and medical care providers to try and make sure that we're moving the needle on such an important topic? Not many places,” he said.
State Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, a former nurse, chimed in to say she is thankful this will alleviate some congestion at Scranton hospitals.
“Our emergency rooms are at full capacity,” she said. “And as a geriatric patient, they need a little bit of special TLC.”
She emphasized the value of specialized care.
“And we all know that the explosion of behavioral health crisis that's happening here in our state and all across the country, but to have specific resources for geriatric mental health is a game changer,” she said.
The center will serve Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne Counties. Funding for the project came from county Agencies on Aging, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and charitable foundations.
Teresa Osborne is the State Advocacy Director for AARP. Previously, she was director of the Lackawanna County Agency on Aging, and served as Secretary of Aging from 2015 to 2019.
“Things have changed. You know, resources have changed,” she said. “Nursing homes have closed, personal care homes have closed and our care worker shortage has occurred. Health care has a lot of strains on it. But at the end of the day, if there's an older adult who's the victim of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or abandonment, this older adult Advocacy Center is going to be a tremendous resource for them, as they are provided with a pathway to elder justice.”
