Taxpayers pay a lot of money to take care of the elderly and mentally illin North Carolina. Could that money be better spent?
"I would say it's staffing and the training of staff," adult care advocateJune Brotherton said.
Brotherton says the issue is not just quality, but quantity of staffers.
The state only requires one care worker for every 20 to 30 residents.
"You have to enter the field knowing that you're the voice of these people,"said Donna Ferguson, a former adult care worker.
Ferguson says there are problems at every level.
I think it's a huge accountability issue. No one wants to takeaccountability," she said.
Lawmakers are pushing for change.
Tuesday, the Study Commission on Aging listed 10 recommendations for the GeneralAssembly to consider in the upcoming short session. They include training, a$5-a-day raise, broader criminal record checks for workers and allowing moreMedicaid dollars for home care instead of institutional care.
Even if these recommendations were approved, they would take years toimplement.
Advocates feel that the suggestions move the state closer to a system thatgives consumers more information about the facilities and about how taxdollars are spent.
"We have close to 80,000 residents in long-term care in North Carolina andabout 80 percent are Medicaid patients."
Taxpayers in this state spends a billion dollars every year for long-termcare.
"That's why it's so important to make sure we get our money's worth astaxpayers," Brotherton said.
A performance audit on the state's long-term care system was conducted in 1998.The state auditor's office says tracking dollar-to-dollar spending would be "complex".
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