Please help save a treasure that has been keeping families together for over 17 years! The Manassas Senior Day Program will close June 20 unless many attend the June 17 Board of Supervisors
Meeting, 2 p.m. at the McCoart Building.
The Manassas Senior Day Program (MSDP) allows family members to work, run errands and live together for as long as possible, instead of relying on nursing homes.
Virginia saves about $9 million in Medicaid money annually using day care instead of nursing homes. This could greatly reduce Social Security debt!
Many MSDP participants formerly served in World War II, were foster parents, government and elected officials, and writers. They should not be treated like pawns on a chessboard, expected to “move
over” to Hearth & Home, a much larger facility which has no sliding scale or transportation.
The Board of Supervisors blames “budget constraints” for closure, but the county finds millions for museums, golf courses, a performing arts center and new 24-hour fitness facilities for county employees.
The Assistant County Executive wrote “the [MSDP] Task Force recommended that target utilization should be 80% and the program is currently 78.7%, which is good, but the monthly subsidy borne by
tax payers in March alone was $12,249.80…” Multiply this by 12 months and you end up with less than $150,000, a far cry from the budget figures being thrown around. In addition, MSDP’s utilization
rate averaged 86 percent for the first 10 months of fiscal 2008.
PWC argues it should not compete with “Hearth & Home,” yet they compete with private swimming pools and golf courses. Last year the county offered Hearth & Home $100,000 a year, no matter how
many transferred! This year, despite repeated requests, we cannot confirm this tax subsidy to the private business. Citizens have a right to know!
Citizens also have a right to know why the vote to close MSDP came around 10:30 p.m., with an agenda item called “Reduction in Force,” and a motion that did not mention MSDP. Families were notified
after the vote to close. Government is supposed to serve “we the people,” not operate in the dark.
CATHY MARSHALL
Manassas
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