. Man: 19-25, 1
MICHIGAN cmZEN
3
tate prolect push'e alternative
, ' . .
. to nursing ·home·
ByUs Lo 'ch'
Capital News Service
LANSING - A project. in
southwest Michigan is an ex­
ample of the increasing focus in
adult services to treat people in
the community rather than
sending them to nursing homes,
said C. Patrick Babcock, direc­
tor of the state Department of
Social Services.
The preadmission screening
project, sevicing Van Buren,
Berrien and Cass counties, is a
state-funded pilot project in­
tended to make families aware
of every option available and to
find problems in the present sys­
tem of dealing with the aged
According to Lynn Kellogg,
associate director of the project,
once families are aware of op­
tions other than nursing homes,
an overwhelming majority
choose community-based care.
FREEDOMS
"Nursing h mes are institu­
tions that talc: away certain
freedoms and mforts, - Bah­
roc said. "Too 0 en a patient is
sent to a nursing home when
their needs can be met by com­
munity-based services. •
"I'm certainly not saying send
people home to save the state
money, because it won't. It wiD
make that patient more com­
fortable and that's our goal."
It costs the state an average·
of $267 a month for the 46,000
adults receiving at-home or
foster care.
For the 4�,OOO adults in nurs­
ing homes in Michigan the
average private cost is S2,OOO
per month per person and if
funded by Medicaid the cost is
about $1,400 per month.
Joseph LaRosa, director of
adult services for DSS, said the
at-home figures will be rising to
enhance the quality of care. He
attributes the lower average
cost to family members provid­
ing the services for a much lower
fee.
"Usually family members do
not charge by the hour; they
charge for expenses," LaRosa
said. "But even though it some­
times costs more than nursing
home care, it is still mo e cost ef­
fective because it is personal­
ized care.
AT-HOME PREFERRED
The DSS is working to make
Medicaid dollars as availabe for
at-home care as it i for nursing
home care, Babcoc said
Services such as Home
health, Home Help and Respite
are all examples of alternatives
to nursing home care.
Home Health is a com-
munity-based service that offers
a trained person to come in and
give injections, change dre -
ings OT catheters, or provide any
care thara family member is not
equipped to handle.
Providing this service keeps
many people out of nursing
hom who w uld othcrwide be
iri because th y needed one
hour of sevice a day, LaRo a
said.
I
Home Help is for the dis-
abled or aged who can be sup­
ported at-home by neighbors or
relatives that allows them to
continue their daily living ac­
tivities. Thete is usually more
than one provider in this case
because it is a 24-hour-a-day
job.
More than 60 percent of the
providers are relatives.
TAKE A BREAK
Respite care is a service
focused on the provider. It al­
lows a home care-giver som
time off while a trained person
covers for them. LaRosa said
that there are very few resources
for this service.
Transportation is another
major issue. It is difficult to get
the disabled or aged to the doc­
tor r store, LaRosa said, but
this omething that can best
ealt with at the community
level -
Because of the shift out of
nursing homes and back to a
private setting, education and
training must be provided for
the care givers. United Way and
Red Cross often provide mon y
for the community for these
purposes, LaR sa said.
Too fe . African-American attorneys, Justice sa
By Bethany A. Thie
Capital New. Service
LA I G - The lawyer
glut that many have compl ined
about the past few years is n t
all-encompassing - the number
of minority 1aWyers is far from
surplus level. .
"Minority lawyers are under­
represented," said Associate
Justice Dennis Archer of the
Michigan Supreme Court. "For
example, out of the 715 ODO
lawyers in America, only 43�OOO
are minorities."
Archer, former president of
the State Bar of Michigan and
the Wolverine Bar Association
(WBA), an ssociation for
African-American lawyers in
Michigan, said the breakdown
of those minority I wyers in- many, we arc not over-
eludes about 24,000 African lawyered, " Archer said. .
Americans between 14,000 and Saul Green, current presi-
15,000 Hispanics, several dentoftheWBA, aidthatonly
thousand Asian-Americans and about 3 percent of attorneys in
fewer than 1,000 Native the United States are African
Americans. American.
Although there is a trend "And we don't think
today in blaming the current in- Michigan is doing any better
crease in litigation on an over- than the nationwide statistics,"
supply of lawyers, Archer aid Green said
the rise is really due to g od Because the State Bar does
publicity on the part of the not request ethnic informati n
media and the American Bar on any of its application forms it
Asso iation. is difficult to determine the de-
COU OVER STREETS gree of minority representation
Together they have conviced for the state, he said
the public "to utilize our court . Donald Reisig, president of
system rather than to take an the State Bar, said that ques­
issue to the street or the back- tions concerning ethnic origin
yard, " he said in a Capital News . were taken off all forms several
Service interview. years ago because of the pos-
"So despite the feeling of sibility of discrimanation.
MORE GRADUATES
"We do know, however, that
more and more minorities are
grad ating from law school
toda , Reisig said.
B th the . tate Bar and the
WB arc conccntratin n this
law-s 0 I population.
.. hat we are trying to do .
tell in rity students that there
. are 0 portunitic here once y u
co e a lawyer," R is' said.
"And then we're tryin to make
ure the 0PP rtunities are
there"
rrecn said the WBA not
only sponsors annual receptions
for bl ck students at Michigan's
law schools but also has started
a me torship program at the
University of Detroit Law
School that matches students
with established African-
Arne . can attorneys.
" try to help the students
stay. i law school and ma e the
exper ence as good as possible,"
he sai .
Al 0 being discussed, Green
said, is a program to get
prom nent African American
lawye s into the elementary and
high hools of Detroit, both to
"acqu int the stud nts with the
profe ion and to acquaint them
with hat it takes to make it in
the pr fession, "
AI ough many programs
are ing implemented to im­
prove minority representa ion
in thi field, the push is a long
way m being finished, Resig
said.
re are a lot of things hap-
- he said, "but we ha e a
ogress to make,"
By Bribbe.
Capital News Service
LANSING - The John
Tower defense department fias­
co will have an effect on
Michign, said the chief of the
go emor's personnel office.
. The scrutiny that the former
senator's private life received in
his attempt to become the
secretary of defense may scare
away potential appointees who
are not interested in becoming
"political footballs," said Greg
Morris, whose office is respon­
sible for investigating potential
appointees.
In addition, a justice on the
state's highest court said be is
rried that a w precedent
. may be set in Michigan and else­
ere by the degree to which an
appointee's private life may be­
come public record
, Justice DemUs Neher said
he believes that the criteria by
which a nominee is judged
should be based more on where
the person falls in the political
spectrum and I on his or her
moral standing.
Archer, in a Capital News
Service interview, said that it is
reasonable to question alleged
self-destructive behavior, be­
havior that may affect the per­
(ormance of the nominee.
Morris disagrees with Ar­
cher, saying that there are mini­
mum standards that must be
looked at . .
"If the Senate feels that
someone's lifestyle can impede
his ability to do the job," said
Morrjs, "I think it's a legitimate
�cussion.-
Before he was appointed to
fill a vac ncy on the state
Supreme Court in 1986, Neher
was a member of the Michigan
Board of Ethits.
Under the federal Constitu­
tion, the U.S. Senate plays an
advise-and-consent role, by
holding hearings on a nominees
suitability for office. The com­
mittee holding the hearings
makes a recommendation to the
full Senate, which eventually
votes to accept or reject the
nominee.
The state Senate's function
under the Michigan Constitu­
tion is not the same, with per­
sons appointed by the governor
automatically taking office
unles the Senate votes to reject
them within 60 days of the
nomination. No hearings are
held unless the Senate decides
to take action.
Morris said that most ap­
pointees who are rejected by the
Michigan Seqate are turned
down most often for political
reasons.
"It's a misuse of the system if
they have the capacity to do (the
j b). he said.
Archer said that personal be­
havior may be considered an
issue, but when a candidate for
a sea on the federal bench is
quest oned about his choice of
Videotape rentals, the process
has g ne too far.
He was referring to an at­
tern to determine unsuccess­
ful Supreme Court nominee
Robert Bork's ideology by visit­
ing hiS local video store to see
which tapes he and his wife
rentel
-It ets to the point where
you g to the 'Nth' degree. Is it
rele t, is it important, I don't
know, .. he said.
Mo ris said that political ap­
point receive more scrutiny
in a sh rter period of time than
do can 'dales for elective office
becau . the "fishbowl atmos­
phere of the campaign will
weed t those whom the public
perce as unworthy of hold­
ing the public trust