2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 217
BY SENATOR MILKOVICH
A RESOLUTION
To commend Jackie and Bruce Blaney on their work as advocates for seniors and those with
disabilities, with a focus on in-home supports for these Louisiana citizens.
WHEREAS, the Blaneys have coordinated the Louisiana Supported Living Network
for the past eighteen years and advocated for seniors and the disabled; and
WHEREAS, this network represents more than three hundred in-home support
agencies, serving fourteen thousand seniors and the disabled in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the couple's support of independent living for seniors and the disabled
has been a journey of more than thirty years; and
WHEREAS, the mission of the network is preventing placement in nursing facilities
and supporting a quality of life comparable to the life that is available to the average citizen
to both seniors and those with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, while this mission of preventing placement in nursing homes has often
brought the Blaneys into conflict with the powerful nursing home association in Louisiana,
the Blaneys have remained focused on their conviction that most people are happiest
remaining in their own homes; and
WHEREAS, many laws have been passed over the years that have safeguarded the
nursing home industry, despite studies that document that nursing homes are generally less
preferred and more expensive than in-home supports, which the Blaneys have tirelessly
endorsed; and
WHEREAS, Bruce Blaney served a six-year term as director of the Office for
Citizens with Disabilities working to shape policy and provide more satisfactory outcomes
for these Louisianians; and
WHEREAS, Jackie Blaney has worked in the private sector for thirty years as an
advocate for providing in-home services for this fragile population and has served as the
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director of Independent Living, Inc. of Baton Rouge, which is a nationally recognized
in-home support agency; and
WHEREAS, advocates for in-home supports for seniors and the disabled have
consistently stressed the gap between the cost of nursing home care and the cost of in-home
supports, which can run as high as twenty thousand dollars per recipient per year, a
considerable savings for a state struggling to balance its budget year after year; and
WHEREAS, currently, elderly and disabled Louisiana residents who cannot afford
private care are much more likely to end up in a nursing home than to receive less expensive
aid that would allow them to remain in their own homes; and
WHEREAS, as the debate between nursing home care and the preference of
recipients to remain in their homes continues, Bruce and Jackie Blaney have devoted their
lives and careers to advocating for seniors and the disabled and speaking out for this
vulnerable population; and
WHEREAS, Bruce and Jackie Blaney, through their work with the Louisiana
Supportive Living Network for the past eighteen years, have taken seriously their role as
advocates for seniors and the disabled who prefer to remain in their homes and have brought
attention to the plight of this vulnerable segment of Louisiana citizens through their ongoing
efforts of advocacy and providing services.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend Jackie and Bruce Blaney on their work as advocates, through the
Louisiana Supported Living Network, for seniors and the disabled, with a focus on in-home
supports for these Louisiana citizens.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Jackie and Bruce Blaney at the Louisiana Supported Living Network.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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