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Ventura County Star

September 14, 2009

Injunction restores benefits to seniors, disabled

By Tom Kisken

Carmen Arroyo of Fillmore dances with Arlen Synovec of Oxnard at the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center on Monday. Photo: Rob Varela.

Vera Konrat helps Pamela Spoor, right, as she eats her lunch at the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center on Monday. Photo: Rob Varela.

Maricela Nolasco serves corn soup to seniors, including Samuel Lopez of Ventura, left, at the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center on Monday. Photo: Rob Varela.

Leslie Anthony of Ventura, right, who is visually impaired, visits with Chad Thomas of Ventura at the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center on Monday. Photo: Rob Varela.

A preliminary injunction blocking the state from cutting services at adult day healthcare centers means Raquel Lopez, for the moment, doesn’t have to face her nightmare.

The ruling, delivered by a federal judge in Oakland last week, prevents the state from limiting seniors and others with disabilities from going to centers more than three days a week for therapy, care and other programs.

Without the decision, Lopez would have tried her best to take care of her 63-year-old husband, Samuel Lopez. He suffered a stroke about seven years ago, uses a wheelchair and receives care at a center five days a week.

But she worried the path could have led to a nursing home.

“It would have been horrible,” she said at her husband’s side at the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center. “We’ve been married 43 years.”

The reprieve means about 8,000 people across the state with severe needs that include Alzheimer’s and other disabilities will continue to qualify for care four or five days a week. It means their family members don’t have to worry about placing them in institutions or quitting their jobs in order to be more full-time caregivers.

But it doesn’t mean the worries are over.

The injunction, by U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong, stops the days-of-service cuts that began last week, but could be overturned if the state wins the lawsuit filed against it by plaintiffs including three elderly, disabled Californians. The suit alleges the cuts could violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and force people into nursing homes without adequate alternatives.

In order to issue the injunction, the judge had to decide that the plaintiffs have a good chance of prevailing, said Elissa Gershon, a lawyer with Disability Rights California, one of the groups involved in the lawsuit. In her ruling, Armstrong said the cuts would have done irreparable harm.

Rachel Cameron, spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the state is reviewing its legal options.

Another reason for uncertainty is California’s financial crisis. The cuts in days of service were designed to help save $28 million and passed in July as part of massive budget cuts made to plug the state’s $26 billion deficit. That financial need hasn’t gone away.

“The governor understands how difficult these cuts are and sees the real Californians and the real consequences behind them, but had to make the difficult and necessary decisions to cut spending and close the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit,” Cameron said.

In Ventura County, about 1,500 seniors and other disabled people use adult day healthcare centers. On Monday, owners of the centers cited the injunction as cause for celebration. But they still worried about the state’s plan — also challenged in the lawsuit — to review eligibility requirements for adult day healthcare centers.

“This was a huge victory and a very happy day for all the disabled people throughout the state of California,” said Inna Berger, co-owner of the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center. “Is the crisis over? It’s never over. We’re putting down the fires one by one. When one is out, something else begins.”

Kiana Bahadoran, co-owner of Advanced Adult Day Health Care Center in Simi Valley, still worries state funding for the centers could eventually be eliminated. She said the past few months have been a roller coaster of conflicting news: one day bad, the next good.

The uncertainty is felt by caregivers too. Virginia Romero’s 79-year-old mother, Elvira Puente, has Alzheimer’s and goes to Among Friends Adult Day Health Care Center in Oxnard five days a week. Romero learned on Friday that her mother could continue going to the center every weekday.

“I’m thrilled about it,” she said.

But Romero still worries about the future, about how she would make her mother understand if services were cut.

“It’s very scary to be honest with you,” she said.