Jeanne Leyden is Director of Adult Family Care, the Adult Foster Care program at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services.

By Jeanne Leyden

Adult Foster Care (AFC) helps thousands of families across Massachusetts provide the best possible care at home for loved ones. Last year, the program faced unprecedented budget cuts, and supporters turned out in large numbers to advocate for its funding.

While the program has been able to continue its good work – despite changes to funding – advocates plan to revisit the topic with lawmakers during the second annual Adult Foster Care Awareness Day. The event will take place on Wednesday, March 21, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Nurse’s Hall at the Statehouse.

Organized by the Massachusetts Council for Adult Foster Care, the gathering will offer an opportunity to talk with state legislators about what AFC provides and what those in-home services mean to more than 12,000 Massachusetts residents in the program.

AFC is a MassHealth-funded program that supports the live-in caregivers who meet the daily needs of older adults and people with disabilities who can no longer live alone. It provides a tax-free stipend and ongoing training for caregivers. And most importantly, it enables people to receive the care they need at home.

We see the program as a wise investment of state resources, considering that AFC routinely saves MassHealth money, costing $50-85 per day instead of $125-250 for nursing home care. The number of nursing facility days covered by MassHealth has dropped by 37% since 2000, due in large part to community-based programs like AFC.

This year’s event is sponsored by State Senator Pat Jehlen, and will feature a speech by State Representative Danielle Gregoire, Chairperson of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs.

The AFC program at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES) provides help for more than 250 families across the greater Boston area. We’re proud to participate in Adult Foster Care Awareness Day and we hope to see you there.

If not, please consider calling your local state representative and state senators to let them know you support AFC.

The event is free, but the Massachusetts Council for Adult Foster Care asks that participants register by calling 413-733-1240 ext. 119 or by emailing wendydagle@mcsnet.org.

Adult Family Care is a non-profit program at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services that supports in-home caregivers across the Greater Boston, North Shore, and Merrimack Valley areas. For more information, visit adultfamilycare.org or call 617-628-2601.