Social services encompass a wide variety of services from
information and referral to help applying for various entitlement
programs. Senior Centers and Social
Service Agencies across the country provide a wide range of services. Some of the things that are included under
Senior Social Services are:
-
Adult
Day Care (all day and half day)
-
Banking
(many banks give seniors free checking and may also provide check writing
services and other bank services)
-
Bereavement
Counseling
-
Benefits
Eligibility Screening (for local, state and federal programs such as
energy assistance, pharmaceutical help, tax breaks, qualified medical
beneficiary which pays for the Medicare premiums, deductibles and co-pays
and others)
-
Caregiver
Support Services or Caregiver Support Groups
-
Carrier
Alert Program (program with the local post office to notice if a senior’s
mail is not taken in and notify the appropriate agency or party)
-
Case
Advocacy and Support (almost
anything to help or assist a senior or senior’s family from answering a
question over the phone to helping a senior apply for benefits or moving
them into affordable housing)
-
Case
Management (individual care management providers will do a wide variety of
services for seniors (more resources and stronger support than case
advocacy)
-
Chore
Housekeeping (usually state program that provides housekeeping, meal
preparation and laundry assistance needed to keep the senior in their own
home)
-
Community
Care Program (program may include case management, homemaker, adult day
care and senior companion)
-
Community
Spousal Impoverishment Program (provides asset limit and income limit
(besides house, car, personal belongings, etc. for the community spouse,
if
 the other spouse has to go into a nursing home – SENIORS NO LONGER HAVE
TO BE DESTITUTE TO GET HELP FROM PUBLIC AID FOR NURSING HOME CARE IF ONE
SPOUSE REMAINS IN THE COMMUNITY – and they don’t have to “sign over their
house” which is still a fear of many seniors)
-
Disability
Services (usually a state program to provide various services to the
disabled and there may be a Center for Independent Living available)
-
Discounts
(seniors often are eligible for a wide variety of discounts from many
businesses, stores and service providers)
-
Education
(many community colleges provide senior programs and discounted class fees
– also senior centers often have educational programs and seminars)
-
Elder
Abuse/Protective Services (states have different rules for what
constitutes elder abuse so check with your local senior resource – can include
physical, emotional, sexual, financial or neglect or willful deprivation –
may or may not include self-neglect – may include an ombudsman program for
nursing home residents)
-
Emergency
Programs (various programs that provide short-term assistance or funds)
-
Employment
Counseling or Job Boards
-
Foster
Grandparents Program
-
Grandparents
Raising Grandchildren
-
Health
Care (most states have some type of program to provide medical care to
low-income folks who aren’t old enough for Medicare yet – remember,
seniorhood starts at 55 – this can also include dental assistance)
-
Health
Care Insurance Program (type of state insurance coverage for people who
have lost their group health insurance because of loss of spouse or loss
of employment)
-
Income
Tax Preparation (many senior centers provide free tax preparation done by
trained AARP volunteers)
-
Home
Repair (programs are available that do major home repair at no interest
loans as well as area and national volunteer groups that
provide free projects)
-
Home
Sharing Programs (matches up seniors with houses who need help to maintain
their home or do chores with someone who needs housing)
-
Housing
Assistance Programs (can be a HUD building with subsidized rents or a
voucher system)
-
Individual
and Family Counseling (usually on a sliding scale based on income)
-
Information
and Assistance (direction of where to go next and referrals)
-
Legal
Assistance (may include referrals to Elder Law Attorneys and guardianship
information)
-
License
Plates and Signs for disabled drivers
-
Meals
on Wheels Program (meals delivered hot and ready to eat to homebound
seniors)
-
Multicultural
Program (for specific ethnic populations – both social services and
recreation)
-
Nutrition
Programs (besides MOWs –meals on wheels – can be noon dining at a senior
center)
-
Pharmaceutical
Assistance (many states provide some version of pharmaceutical assistance
– sometimes it requires the person’s doctor to participate which can be a
problem) NOTE: MEDICARE PART D
(PRESCRIPTION DRUG ASSISTANCE) MAY CHANGE THE STATE
PROGRAM. DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT THE STATE
PROGRAM WILL STILL BE AVAILABLE.
-
Photo
ID Cards (many states provide picture id cards for seniors who no longer
drive so they can use them for identification instead of driver’s
licenses)
-
Public
Aid – can be called by different names but a rose is a rose…..(usually
will provide food stamps in some form, help with medical expenses and
possibly cash)
-
Real
Estate Tax breaks (most states have some form of tax break for seniors)
-
Respite
Care (comes in many different forms from providing an actual service at an
agency or nursing home to providing a person to sit with a senior for a
few hours)
-
Reverse
Mortgage Program (a way for seniors to have additional income from their
fixed asset - their house)
-
Senior
Centers (most communities have some sort of senior center program so check
it out and see what they have available)
-
Social
Security
-
Subsidized
Housing Information
-
Supplemental
Security Income (federal program that augments social security to bring
the senior up to a minimum figure of income)
-
Telephone
Assistance (may include free TDD phone – not to be confused with
 telephone
assurance programs where the senior is called or calls in for a check in
to ensure the senior is doing okay – may also include financial
assistance)
-
Transportation
or Transportation Information (may actually run a bus service for seniors
or may be able to provide you with information about municipal bus
service)
-
Veterans
Benefits
Volunteers often provide the following services under the
Agency’s supervision:
-
Escort
Transportation (give rides back and forth to medical appointments to
seniors who no longer drive)
-
Shopping
Assistance (takes the senior shopping or goes for him or her)
-
Friendly
Visitor Program for homebound seniors
-
Phone-A-Friend
Program (for friendly visiting over the telephone)
-
S.H.I.P
or Medicare counseling (they review all of the hospital and doctors bills
and check for errors and help with insurance counseling and forms)
-
Yard
Work and House Repair volunteer projects (these can range from cleaning up
your yard to painting your home or putting on a new roof)
-
Respite
care (will sit with homebound seniors so family can get out)
or provide a group setting for seniors to come into for a
period of time.
 If your senior is out-of-state (of IL), contact their local
agency, senior center or Area Agency on Aging office for direction and
suggestions in their area.
Here in Illinois, you can contact local senior centers,
Kenneth Young Centers, Catholic Charities, Township General Assistance offices
and the local Area Agency on Aging offices for help.
For
more information on benefits for seniors, try www.benefitcheckup.org
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