The West Monroe Senior Center is Louisiana's first nationally accredited senior center, providing safety and a community system to serve people over 60 years of age in all areas of Ouachita Parish. The Office of Community Aging (OCA) is responsible for carrying out a range of functions related to promotion, planning, coordination, inter-agency liaison, information exchange, intermediation, monitoring and evaluation. These activities are designed to lead to the development or improvement of a comprehensive and coordinated community system to care for older people (60 years of age or older) in all areas of the Ouachita Parish. The goal of this system is to help elderly individuals lead independent, meaningful, and dignified lives in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.
Once the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) receives your request, a worker will be assigned to you who will determine your eligibility. The DCFS will send you a letter within 30 days of the date they receive your enrollment form to let you know if you are eligible or not. If you are eligible, the letter will also tell you the amount of your benefits and when they will start receiving them. Every year, more than 5,000 seniors benefit from services that help them age in a healthy way at the Center for the Elderly. The Center for the Elderly provides safe and reliable transportation to destinations in Ouachita Parish with wheelchair accessible buses and vans.
The Office of Aging and Adult Services (OAAS) manages home and community-based long-term care (HCBS) services through several exemption programs and state plans for older people or people with disabilities. These HCBS programs are designed to provide services and supports that would otherwise not be available and that help a person to remain in or return to the community. It is important to note that this program does not provide 24-hour support on an individual basis or in combination with other OAAS programs. If you would like more information about the program, you can contact the Monroe Senior Center by phone at 734-241-0404 for pricing, hours, and instructions. Additionally, you can visit the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program online and view the federal requirements for food assistance in several languages.
The emphasis is on allowing older people to remain in their communities and, at the same time, improve their quality of life. The program expense ratio is determined by dividing program expenditures by total expenditures (the average for the last three nineties). This program was established by Congress in 1964 through Bill 88-55, which was replaced by the Food Stamps Act of 1977 and subsequent amendments to the Act.
