Question: Why are they only funding “adult day care” with that new program? We patch together elder care with help from family and even friends and a few hours of paid help. I don’t like the emphasis on “institutional” care for our kupuna who want to stay home.
Answer: The city’s Elderly Affairs Division says the new Kupuna Caregiver program is limited to paying for adult day care (up to $70 a day per beneficiary) for several reasons. Among them: Contracting with numerous, varied providers would increase administrative costs too much; adult day care helps working family caregivers the most, by consistently reducing their responsibilities; and the supervision, meals, social activities and exercise at organized programs help the kupuna, who might otherwise be isolated and unsupervised at home while their family caregiver is working.
The Kupuna Caregiver program is designed to help people stay employed while also fulfilling their family obligations; demand far outstrips supply. Read more at elderlyaffairs.com.
Q: How old do you have to be to drive legally?
A: Teenagers can get an instructional permit at age 15-1/2, assuming that they pass the vision and written tests. The permit is the first phase in Hawaii’s graduated driving license program for drivers under age 18. The holder of an instructional permit may drive only when accompanied by a licensed driver who is at least 21 years old. Between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., that supervising adult must be a parent or guardian. Phase two is the provisional license, available to teens who are at least 16 but younger than 18, and phase three is a full driver’s license, available at age 17. See details at 808ne.ws/gdl.
Q: Auwe! Another audit finds waste (and worse) of taxpayers’ money. This time it’s the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. These audits say what’s going wrong, but do they find out why?
A: Yes, usually. In OHA’s case, the state auditor found that “OHA’s vague rules guiding its discretionary spending are broadly interpreted, arbitrarily enforced and, at times, disregarded,” resulting in the agency spending nearly as twice as much on discretionary grants ($14 million) as it did on publicly vetted ones ($7.7 million).
Reports of many audits conducted by the state and city are posted online. Find state audits at auditor.hawaii.gov and city ones at honolulu.gov/auditor/.
Mahalo
While enjoying my first trip to the beautiful state of Hawaii, we were enjoying one of the last places left on our list of things to do, the Ala Moana Center. While sampling the dollar beer in the Japan Village Walk, I realized that my iPad was missing! We frantically searched all of the places we had been, but to no avail. I was distraught at my loss because that iPad contained precious family pictures which could not be recovered unless it was found. We continued to try to locate the device. We spoke with a gracious cleaning employee in the restroom, the people at the information desk, and finally went to the customer relations desk, but nothing had been found. Just as the helpful customer relations representative was getting yet another “no such item found” message, in walked a woman dressed in a gray dress. She appeared to me to just sparkle. She was carrying an iPad to turn in. It was my iPad! We were all stunned. I had been devastated and had assumed the worst, that my device would never be seen again and my pictures lost forever. Although I offered my “sparkling silver angel” a modest reward, she politely declined. I cannot thank her enough for reuniting me with the iPad and more importantly for restoring my confidence in the selflessness and compassion of kind people. — Mahalo, Carol
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
