Dee Woods joined the King County Long Term Care Ombudsman Program two years ago to help make sure residents of adult family homes receive proper treatment.
“I like meeting the residents and letting them know someone is there if they have issues they need help resolving,” said Woods, of Renton, a certified volunteer ombudsman in a recent phone interview. “They can tell us in a confidential manner.”
Woods has found the volunteer work to be quite rewarding.
“It’s good to be able to help people who are vulnerable and have no one else to speak for them,” Woods said.
But the nonprofit program needs more volunteer ombudsmen to serve in Kent. The city has 94 state-licensed adult family homes that care for anywhere from one to six residents.
“We are in desperate need of volunteers in Kent because we have no volunteers in Kent,” said Mary Fogh, the volunteer coordinator and a staff ombudsman for the program. “We are in need of volunteers. We also want to let the public know that we exist.”
Fogh helped lead an outreach event Dec. 3 at the Kent Senior Activity Center to thank volunteer ombudsmen from throughout the county for their work as well as to let people know that more volunteers are needed.
The same day of the event, more than two dozen certified ombudsmen visited more than 60 adult family homes in Kent to help make sure senior citizens and disabled adults felt safe and satisfied with their care.
“We are an advocacy group to look after those in long term care facilities,” Fogh said. “It is a federally mandated program.”
The ombudsmen program is part of Solid Ground, a Seattle-based group that provides food, housing and care programs. About 80 volunteer ombudsmen serve more than 10,000 adult family homes in the county.
“The purpose of the outreach in Kent was to let people know that we are the eyes on each adult family home in Kent,” Fogh said of the many visits to homes. “It was a visit to talk to residents, caregivers and families of residents.”
There are nearly 140 complaint categories that an ombudsman checks out during a visit to a home. The list covers items such as rights to privacy, staff treatment, access to personal information, proper diet and available activities.
“It was a mixed bag,” Fogh said about what ombudsmen found on visits to Kent homes. “We are opening some cases to follow up on. Other residents are happy with their care. We also handed out our contact information. We try to educate residents about their rights. Time will tell if they call us.”
The program serves as the first step to resolve complaints by residents.
“We investigate and come up with a solution with the resident’s permission,” Fogh said. “If the problem is not resolved, we send a report to the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and its residential care complaint unit. Then they send out staff.”
The DSHS sends out staff right away for any reports of abuse or neglect.
“We are not friendly visitors,” Fogh said. “We are citizen advocates. We look at their level of care and their quality of life.”
The ombudsmen program receives funding from the state Department of Commerce rather than the state DSHS in order to keep away from any conflicts of interest with state agency that oversees the adult family homes.
“We act as a third party so that we can agree or disagree with the DSHS,” Fogh said.
Solid Ground has a contract with the Federal Way-based Multi-Service Center that houses the Washington State Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, to run the King County program. Solid Ground employs four staff ombudsmen to help support the volunteer program.
For more information, go to www.ltcop.org.
• How to volunteer:
To become a certified volunteer ombudsman, you must commit to four hours per week for one year and complete a four-day training program.
Call Mary Fogh, volunteer coordinator for King County Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, at 206-694-6703.
• How to file a compliant:
Residents or friends or family of adult family home residents who have concerns about their care can call the King County Long Term Care Ombudsman Program at 206-623-0816 Monday through Friday.
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