AARP NY Members Gather at Governor’s Mansion to Urge More Funding for Older NYers to Remain in Own Homes

Albany, N.Y. – Thousands of older New Yorkers are waiting for the essential services they need to live independently and safely in their homes, and today AARP New York and other aging advocates called on Governor Kathy Hochul and state legislative leaders for the adequate funding that would end these delays that too often have proven to be life-threatening and even fatal.

“We all know that home is where most of us feel secure and comfortable,” said AARP New York State Director Beth Finkel, who joined AARP New Yorkers outside the Governor’s Mansion as they wore red T-shirts and carried signs printed with the slogan:

Governor Hochul

Save Lives

End Waiting Lists for EISEP

“When Governor Hochul is in Albany, she has use of this secure and comfortable home,” Finkel said. “Why is she allowing so many of our older loved ones to face the distinct possibility of having to leave their own secure and comfortable homes to be placed in nursing homes due to insufficient funding for vital in-home services? The Governor, as well as our state legislative leaders, consistently fail to make home- and community-based services a reality for thousands of people who need them.”

Officials with the New York State Office for Aging (SOFA) have testified that 11,000 requests for delivered meals, transportation, personal care, housekeeping and other services provided through the Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly Program (EISEP) remain unfulfilled across the state. Aging advocates, however, believe the number is closer to 18,000, including counties with wait lists in the hundreds.

In addition, a 2023 SOFA report stated that many older individuals awaiting services experienced falls or other accidents in their homes that required emergency room visits or hospitalizations, and some have died before services started.

AARP New York and numerous service providers have called on the governor and legislative leaders for a $42 million increase in EISEP funding that would eliminate the wait lists. Instead, funding has remained largely flat in recent years even as the need has grown annually.

The shortage of home services adds emotional and financial stress on family caregivers who are responsible for keeping older loved ones out of a nursing home. AARP surveys show caregivers are overly stressed physically and financially, often need to cut back their work hours and put off their own health needs.

“When someone’s getting out of a hospital, a family will call us and say, ‘Can we get home-delivered meals?’ We’ve had to say you need to wait a few months,” said David Jordan, executive director of Montgomery County Office for the Aging, who also serves as president of the board of the Association on Aging in New York.

Jordan added that there are three ways people get off wait lists: “They can move out of the county or move in with a family member or a residential setting -- or they die, which is directly the opposite of our mission. Our goal is to keep people in their homes as long as possible.”

EISEP is funded through counties by SOFA, which is under the state Department of Health. Jordan said counties frequently raise money to avoid waiting lists because the EISEP funding has not kept up.

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About AARP
AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org, www.aarp.org/espanol or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspanol and @AARPadvocates, @AliadosAdelante on social media.

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