During this COVID-19
pandemic, Zoom meetings have given me freedom from commuting and crowds,
allowing me to conserve energy and practice physical distancing. Made judicious use of screen time to engage
in some successful advocacy work online (see Age-friendly developments below!)
because now is the "senior moment" given focus on older people who are at highest risk for
developing severe illness and dying from COVID-19.
Do you believe in life after
lockdown?
I can deal with being by myself…
If we get to level 2
I still don’t want to talk to you
We’ve got Zoom for that
Now there’s no turning back…
David
“The Kiffness” Scott parody of Cher’s “Believe” song
On June 1, SF
began Phase 2 reopening (SF Botanical Garden!) which coincided with curfew in
response to violence and vandalism at protests against police brutality after
Memorial Day. After curfew lifted, protestors resumed violence and vandalism,
including toppling statues of white men (associated with genocide and slavery,
like Cervantes who was a slave) and other structures in Golden Gate Park, and
then threw objects at police who did not intervene (no arrests, perhaps
providing a preview of what happens after defunding/abolition?).
According to The
Washington Post, “Americans are living in a big ‘anger incubator’” due to triple disasters—COVID-19
pandemic, economic fallout, and civil unrest; even prior to this year’s crises,
stressed out Americans were getting angrier (underlying anxiety and depression);
and unmanaged anger erupts into aggressive behavior against others as evidenced
by spike in domestic violence including elder abuse. UC Irvine Psychology Professor Raymond
Novaco suggested these “antidotes” for anger: appreciation (think
positivity), affiliation (nurturing relationships), aspiration (“striving to
accomplish things that are bigger than yourself or that serve other people”)
and basic self-care (sleep, hydration, nutritious food, exercise, avoid harmful
substances like alcohol and tobacco, limit media exposure).
When stepping
outside of home for “essential activities,” I found positivity with Muni drivers
who limited the number of passengers on board to allow for physical distancing,
everyone wore face coverings as required by SF DPH order, and buses were clean! However, I was disturbed seeing windows
of “essential” businesses boarded up, as protection from violence and
vandalism…which could erupt at any time, as tensions and sometimes
confrontations occurred over face coverings.
Health care workers/heroes have been subjected to over 400 incidents of COVID-19 related violence. Many
public health officers found themselves vulnerable to attacks and death
threats, including Dr. Fauci, and at least 24 have left their jobs after targeted harassment since COVID-19 pandemic…so
hardly see/hear from them anymore. COVID-19 updates with SF DPH Director Dr.
Grant Colfax ended last month as SF prepared for reopening.
Now I listen
to Local Coronavirus Update with his brother, emergency room Dr. Drew
Colfax, and Program Director Alicia Bales broadcasting from KZYX in Mendocino
County (110 miles north of SF; supporters get KZYX Naturescape bandana, pictured above, for face
covering!)— so impressed how well he explained all things
COVID-19, in an interview,
he seems to speak more realistically because he’s not a political appointee/politician, and good to listen to callers who
want to do right and keep everyone safe.
His sign-off: “Be safe, be kind, avoid confronting those who feel differently
about facial coverings.” Not Zoom
together, but old-fashioned talk radio community.
Some public
health experts have lost credibility due to inconsistent messaging like
backtracking advice about utility of masks in slowing spread of coronavirus, and hypocrisy in advising public to
avoid mass gatherings and then condoning mass protests that supported their
political views, though lack of physical distancing raised risks for
coronavirus transmission. (Shout out to The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald
for his reporting “The Abrupt, Radical Reversal in How Public Health Experts Now Speak About the Coronavirus and Mass Gatherings”; and optional view of his
System Update, which is long-winded. Contrast with Dr. Fauci, influenced by
his study of Classics: “Precision of
thought and economy of expression are tenets that have remained my touchstones
to this day, applied to how I think, how I write, and how I communicate with
the public.”)
After SF mandated face coverings in April, SF Police Chief explained that
officers were doing outreach to educate public about mask requirements. Yet, the lack of enforcement is disconcerting,
even after Governor Newsom finally ordered wearing masks mandatory in state on June 18.
Due to spike in COVID-19 cases, SF postponed next stage of reopening (hair salons) and canceled
polluting July 4th fireworks show. Unlike the Bay Area regional
shelter-in-place order in March, each county is making its own public health
decisions, so people need to research what’s open in neighboring
counties.
UCSF Dr. Bob Wachter believes California leadership acted responsibly, but people got
complacent: "Overall, the past 2 weeks are bleak: new cases doubled,
hospitalizations ↑43%, ICU pts ↑37%,
& test positivity rate from 4.4%→5.5%.” UCSF epidemiologist Dr. George
Rutherford gave reasons for COVID-19 surge in California: increase in community
transmission (reopening, people not complying with mask orders); institutional
outbreaks (prisons, nursing homes); increased testing; and return of Americans,
many retired, for medical care as pandemic worsens in Mexico.
COVID-19 cases have surged in California, Florida and
Texas — representing more than 13.6 million people age 65+, or a quarter of the
nation’s older adult population! Worldwide,
over 10 million COVID-19 cases and over half million COVID-19 deaths. In a show of American exceptionalism,
U.S. leads with over 2.6 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 125,000 COVID-19
deaths—U.S. represents 4% of the world’s population, 25% of world’s COVID-19
deaths. Suddenly, 61-year-old VP Mike
Pence urged Americans to wear masks, practice social distancing and “steer clear of senior citizens.” Instead of reinforcing/prolonging
isolation of “senior citizens,” why not just enforce rule of law requiring distancing/wearing masks to
protect all ages?
Physicians
talk about care for dying and old people, health equity
Mission
Hospice Community
Education Manager Susan Barber hosted back-to-back book talks via Zoom:
·
Lucy Kalanithi, Stanford internist MD and widow
of Paul
Kalanithi, neurosurgeon MD and author of When Breath Becomes Air: What Makes
Life Worth Living in the Face of Death (2016). She shared lessons: advocacy for direct
caregiver support and universal family care; Advance Care Plan=act of love (as Paul’s health care proxy,
she stressed over making decisions, so he assured her that his last day is not
the sum of his life); Paul was clear about remaining mentally lucid to continue
writing, and used his medical training to navigate systems like asking for
palliative care, understanding effects of treatments like meds, intubation,
ventilation, etc.; value of “legacy project” (writing epilogue and preparing book
for publication 9 months after Paul died at age 37 of lung cancer) to help process
death/grief which can be lonely, stigmatizing; and learning from their
4-year-old daughter to see and accept things as they are.
· Louise Aronson, UCSF geriatrician MD, author of Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming
Medicine, Reimagining Life (2019), Pulitzer Prize finalist. She discussed how ageism during COVID-19
pandemic harms older people, such as SF DPH quickly opening test site for
protestors while she worked with DPH over 2.5 months to bring testing to
nursing homes where people are dismissed as old and frail. Last year, she started new clinic to engage
younger-old with goal to forestall frailty, help age in place, optimize
aging. She avoids burnout by pushing
back on system that has doctors spending more time in front of computers for
billing than human interaction/clinical care.
She talked about owning old age, “old” is fact of life. Susan observed how
COVID-19 has allowed people to embrace natural aging appearance instead of hair coloring; participant Lillian revealed she has her own natural hair
color (brown) at age 84. (Wonder if President Trump’s brief display of silver gray hair at end of March was natural before it returned to not-seen-in-nature
orange?)
At COVID Capitalism
& the Fight for Health Care Justice & Societal Transformation, Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH,
FACP, Physicians for a National Health Program co-founder and primary
care physician discussed bureaucratic health care system over past 40 years of
neoliberalism: growth of administrators outpacing physicians. COVID-19 pandemic
has revealed the exploitation of health care workers risking their lives in
dangerous working conditions (long hours, no PPE), perpetuation of inequities based on class and racism, inadequate public health
response; this crisis presents an
opportunity to imagine a new normal that prioritizes health care equity, like
Medicare for All!
Generational differences
According to recent
Pew Research, Americans of different ages vary in their experiences of COVID-19
pandemic:
·
Older
Americans are more likely to view the pandemic as a major threat to their
health, while younger Americans view it as a major threat to their finances.
·
Younger adults are more
likely to report feeling psychological distress during the pandemic.
·
Americans
ages 50 and older are more likely to say their faith is stronger because of the
pandemic.
·
Americans
under age 50 are more likely to disapprove of the way Trump has responded to
pandemic.
“In an Era of Deepening Partisan Divide, What is the Meaning of Age or Generational Differences in Political Values?” Judith G. Gonyea and Robert B. Hudson suggested
potential for political transformation with the rising younger generation
characterized by greater racial diversity and Democratic leanings (Millennials
and Gen Zers more likely to favor government activism—maybe suggesting end of neoliberalism?), pointing out that Millennials surpassed Boomers as the largest voter-eligible
age group (32% v. 30%) in 2018, ending Boomers’ four decades of political
dominance.
Age factor and COVID-19
"This virus continues to rob old people of their futures — futures
they are as entitled to invest with hope and energy as anyone else. Because the
elderly are both a hardy and a precarious population — one that is depleted
every day even as it welcomes new members to its ranks — it has become easy for
some people to treat them as both more and less than human…“They” are us, only
with more miles, more wrinkles, more history, more joint pain, sometimes more
money, often more knowledge, almost always more perspective. If we’re very
fortunate, one day we will become them…”—Mark Harris, “Our Fragile
Gerontocracy: Old people have never been so powerful — or, now, so vulnerable,”
New York magazine, May 26, 2020
World’s
oldest COVID-19 survivor appears to be Tilahun Woldemichael, an Ethiopian Orthodox monk
believed to be 114 years old, according to his grandson in the absence of birth
documentation. After testing positive
during a random screening and two weeks of treatment in a hospital, he was
discharged to his grandson’s care at home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His
survival is exceptional: United
Nations reported that people age 80+ are dying at five times the average rate
from COVID-19; and men’s COVID-19 mortality is
significantly higher than women.
According to SF DPH’s COVID-19 data tracker based on 141,346 test results reported: 3,603 positive cases and 50 deaths (35
male=70%; 28 age 81+, 9 age 71-80, 9 age 61-70, 92% of deaths age 60+; 23
Asian, 11 White, 9 Latinx, 5 Black; 1 homeless).
During this month’s Community
Living Campaign (CLC) Zoom meeting, UCSF geriatrician Dr. Anna Chodos called
for nominations of SF residents age 80+ for 80 over 80 project (80over80sf.org), which seeks to bring more
visibility to the lives of older residents in SF during COVID-19 pandemic. CLC Executive Director Marie Jobling said project
has 30 nominations to date. Dr. Chodos
shared some interview questions:
·
Is
there anything you’ve experienced in your life that compares to COVID-19
pandemic, and how did you deal with it?
·
Is
there anything that has surprised you about how our community is responding to
COVID-19 pandemic?
·
If
you could give advice to younger people, or yourself when you were younger,
what would it be?
Many younger people are
not heeding advice and large group of millennials have not yet woke to calls
for collective caring during
COVID-19 pandemic.
“Now
to our older population and those with pre-existing medical conditions. Everyone in the household needs to focus on
protecting them… I want to speak particularly to our largest generation now –
our millennials…they are the core group that will stop this virus.”—Dr. Deborah
Birx, White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator and Boomer mother of two millennial
daughters, Mar. 16, 2020
Four months
later, younger Americans seem to make their mark by saving the economy from
coronavirus, increasingly testing positive for
coronavirus, and driving record outbreaks in
several states.
During last
week’s White House Coronavirus Task Force meeting, Dr. Birx encouraged
millennials (age 26-40) to continue getting tested for COVID-19 “because
that’s the age group most likely to have asymptomatic spread and be
spreading the virus unbeknownst to them.” Dr. Fauci noted that younger people are driving a paradigm shift where
people are getting infected in a community setting that is harder to contain—not
the classic paradigm of an outbreak setting where you know who to identify,
isolate and contact trace. He warned younger people, "If you get infected
you will infect someone else… and then ultimately you'll infect someone who's
vulnerable…The only way we're going to end it is by ending it together."
Is it possible
for people, who spread coronavirus due to their neglect of public health orders,
to be charged with elder abuse/neglect?
Elder abuse
SF commemorated 15th
annual WEAAD via Zoom meeting on Long Term Care (LTC) Abuse in the Era of COVID-19. Shawna Reeves, Director of Elder Abuse Prevention
Program at Institute on Aging, facilitated panel discussion focused on systemic
failures that have contributed to over 2,000 resident deaths from COVID-19 in California's LTC facilities—chronic understaffing, low wage, limited/no sick pay. Prior to COVID-19 pandemic, infection control deficiencies were widespread in nursing homes, with 82% cited in 2013-2017.
·
Mike
Dark, Staff Attorney, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) –
related issues of staffing and infection control in nursing homes are key to
protect against COVID-19; need to restore safety net of visitors to provide
support, advocacy, oversight and protection.
·
Benson
Nadell, Program Director, SF LTC Ombudsman Program – nursing homes reluctant to
share family contacts with him to organize Family Council meeting; handle abuse
reports using Zoom while social worker held iPad and “interpolated” for
resident; abuse reports dropped by 35-40%; focus on neglect, poor discharge
planning, psychological/mental abuse from social isolation (perceived by
residents as physical restraint)/lack of psychosocial support with residents
watching too much news about pandemic and BlackLivesMatter, evictions, families
and residents not informed of COVID-19 cases
·
Nicole
Howell, Executive Director for Ombudsman Services of Contra Costa, Solano
Counties and Alameda – partnered with Contra Costa DPH, Emergency Services and non-profit
Choice in Aging to conduct PPE drives and delivered supplies (mask, gloves,
sanitizer) to 300 facilities serving 3,000 residents; strategy to build relationship
by give little, get to find out ways to support residents; as Steering
Committee Member, California Elder Justice Coalition (CEJC) proposed
to incentivize frontline care staff to work at no more than one facility during
COVID-19 pandemic
Contra Costa
Ombudsman launched Zoom Lunch & Learn series with Collaboration and the Future of Elder Justice with Paul Greenwood, who is consulting after retiring
two years ago from heading San Diego District Attorney (DA)’s Elder Abuse
Prosecution Unit. He repeated material
that he presented at Elder Abuse conference five years ago. He encouraged us to be part of
“alternative policing” discussions e.g., psychiatric emergency response team (PERT)
with trained social worker, psychologist and medical personnel go out with
police call to bring about resolution in elder abuse cases. He also mentioned that older people prefer “elder
protection” over elder abuse…but sounds too similar to Adult Protective Services?
Gruesome physical
elder abuse reports in SF Bay Area during COVID-19 pandemic:
·
37-year-old
live-in caregiver/grandson used ice pick and knife in cannabilizing 90-year-old
grandmother Ruby Wallick
·
53-year-old man used stick to kill
94-year-old Leo Hainzl walking his dog
·
60-year-old male
roommate used baseball bat to kill 79-year-old Yuqin Sun who was videochatting
at home
Elder abuse
continues to be underreported, especially if victims do not speak English,
which may make them easy targets due to perpetrators viewing them as “silent, vulnerable and unwilling to
fight back.” For these victims who do not want DA
to press charges, SF DA Chesa Boudin offers restorative justice, which applied in the case of a
20-year-old who video recorded 68-year man being struck and robbed of recyclables while bystanders mocked him (while taking videos) and security did
nothing.
“I think the most
important thing is that we need to have structures available to support aging
well. So the more people who age in a healthy way, the less vulnerable or
susceptible they are to abuse or neglect. The other thing is the more
structures we have in place, social structures, adult daycare programs, social
services, food programs, et cetera. That's what we really need to concentrate
on. I love my colleagues in APS, but there's not one shred of evidence that APS
helps…I think a lot of it has to do with social structure and support for older
adults and for caregivers.”-- Laura Mosqueda, MD,
Dean at Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and
Director of the National Center of Elder Abuse, GeriPal, June 11, 2020
Lack of support structures makes people
vulnerable…all the more reason to advocate for community services with staff as
mandated reporters to serve as eyes and ears (video recorders) to potential
abuse/neglect. It’s unlikely Americans
would ever adopt China’s practice of legislating and enforcing filial piety, requiring
adult children to regularly visit elderly parents, as well as provide mental and
financial support or face fines, lawsuits, jail time—as shown in this month’s Dateline
documentary, China’s Grey Race.
Social
isolation
During Senate
Special Committee on Aging hearing on Combating Social Isolation and Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic, UCSF geriatrician Carla Perisonnotto emphasized
need to address ageism in treating problem as systemic.
Meals on Wheels America
hosted National Social Isolation Summit via GotoWebinar with
presentation by Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Professor of Psychology
and Neuroscience at Brigham Young University.
Younger people report
more loneliness and mental distress from COVID-19 than older people. Panelists shared resources for all ages:
·
Coalition
to End Social Isolation & Loneliness (Action Forum on September 9)
LTC
facilities
At least 54,000 residents and workers in LTC facilities have
died from COVID-19, representing 43% of COVID-19 deaths in U.S. Instead of expressing outrage in crowded street protests and
risking coronavirus transmission, Senior & Disability Action members took to
Zoom meetings where we could safely bare our unmasked faces on screen. In just under 5 minutes, we contacted elected
officials via phone, email/website, Twitter, Facebook with our demands to pass a state budget that works for
seniors and people with disabilities, fund home care and health care, and don’t
let people die in nursing homes.
·
Accountability, Not Immunity for Nursing Facilities: No provider should be granted immunity
or shielded from accountability from COVID-19 deaths that happen on their
watch. Any additional funds to state nursing
homes must come with oversight, compliance with infectious disease containment
protocols, and compliance with state-mandated staffing ratios—no more staffing waivers.
·
We demand Personal Protective Equipment, full
testing, paid sick leave, hazard pay, enhanced pay, and robust staffing for these
institutions that are under siege. The vast majority of nursing home workers are women of color. Failure to provide these endangers the lives of residents, workers, and their families and
communities.
·
Cuts to Police and Prisons, not IHSS and Critical
LTC Programs for People with Disabilities and Older Adults: We call you, Governor
Newsom, to immediately halt ill-timed cuts to IHSS, Medi-Cal, Medicaid, SSI/SSP
and other critical services. We know that these budget cuts will
disproportionately affect low-income elders, people with disabilities and families of color.
We must invest MORE in the health and human service programs that keep people
safe, enable them to live at home, and address systemic inequities. Where can
that money come from? We must CUT funding to the police and the prison systems, which devalue and endanger the lives of
Black and Brown Californians.
Political
appointees charged with aging services and elected officials often lack
background in gerontology or experience with real older people, and their speeches
are self-congratulatory pats on their backs; I prefer to hear from experts and
older people with lived experience (public comment via call-in number after
Q&A).
· June 9 California
State Assembly Committees on Health and Aging & LTC held oversight hearing
on The COVID-19 Outbreak in Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) and the State's Response: A Discussion of What Has Worked, What Has Not, and What Are Plans for
the Future? Appointee Heidi
Steinecker reported that California DPH issued 60 pieces of guidance in last 3
months, compared to usual 20 for entire year—like how constructive is that for already overworked/overwhelmed nursing home staff? As part of
her 6-point strategy, she proposed “Adopt SNF Model” with surveyors acting as
consultants to facilities—which reverts to conflict of interest model practiced
before Nursing Home Reform of 1987 enacted to strengthen enforcement! Appointee Kim McCoy
Wade of California Department of Aging reported that LTC Ombudsman, prevented
from visiting LTC facilities, has seen 43% decline in elder abuse calls. Best testimony
from CANHR Executive Director Pat McGinnis who presented 10-Point Plan to Reform California Nursing Homes.
·
June 10 California Senate Special
Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response hearing on Skilled Nursing Facilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic included
repeat appearances from CDPH and Craig Cornett of California Association of
Health Facilities (CAHF) seeking industry immunity due to resources focused on hospitals;
again, best testimony from CANHR.
·
June 25 House
Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Lloyd Doggett held hearing on Examining the COVID-19 Nursing Home Crisis. Check out testimonies by Toby S. Edelman, JD, Center for Medicare
Advocacy, and David Grabowski, PhD, Harvard Medical School. The
Quality Care for Nursing Home Residents and Workers During COVID-19 Act (H.R.
6698) seeks to boost
testing among nursing home residents and staff; promote COVID-19 training;
provide sufficient PPE; promote transparency through regular reporting of
COVID-19 cases, deaths, and needs; set up strike teams to intervene quickly
when a nursing home reports a surge in coronavirus cases, etc.
Noticed improvement in
media reporting about where older people live because nursing homes are different from memory care assisted living.
Example: LA Times reporter, who described
Silverado Beverly Place (memory care according to its website) as “posh nursing
home” in March article (“At a nursing home for L.A.’s wealthy, coronavirus
diagnoses stir anger and questions”), corrected description to “high-end memory center”
where 63 residents and staff were infected, and 9 died, in May article (“A nurse died from COVID-19. Her family says elite L.A. care home ordered her to admit a sick man”).
Some heartwarming media coverage about
LTC facilities during COVID-19:
· Diane Sawyer reported on caregivers in
Ohio who temporarily moved into assisted living facilities (their workplaces) for 65 days to
protect residents from COVID-19 (another article referred to same
assisted living but headline referred to nursing home, “Ohio nursing home staff
self-isolated for 65 days to prevent COVID-19 spread. It worked.”)
· Brazil nursing home installed hug curtain to allow loved ones to embrace
residents based on “hug me curtain,” invented by Louisiana grandmother
Kathy Alleman so she could safely hug her parents in April, and
modified by 10-year-old
who wanted to hug grandmother in Riverside, California.
When lockdown lifts,
hope to be able to resume my research on social work interventions in nursing
homes which include exploring culture change; my Institutional Review Board
approval has no expiration, so I can wait out this pandemic.
Age-friendly developments
·
California
Governor Newsom and Legislature arrived at budget agreement to close $54
billion deficit and preserve safety net programs for older adults (at least
through next fiscal year end): Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS),
such as Community-Based Adult Services (CBAS) Adult Day Health Care,
Multi-Purpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), and In-Home Supportive Services
(IHSS); Medi-Cal Coverage and Benefits; and SSI/SSP maintained at
current benefit levels.
· California
DPH released final 38-page Crisis Care Guidelines for COVID-19
pandemic, reiterating that health care providers may not discriminate based on
age or disability of patients when deciding how to allocate scarce resources.
·
California State
Senate approved Senate Bill 1257: The Health and Safety for All Workers Act,
to protect domestic workers. Next step to Assembly where it must pass the Labor and Appropriations
committees, then to full Assembly for vote, and finally Governor Newsom must
approve it.
Zoom retirement party!
Goodbye tension, hello pension! Attended my
first Zoom retirement party for Robin Meese-Cruz, Director of Social Work at
Meals on Wheels SF, who is retiring after 23 years this fiscal year end. I
followed in her footsteps in pursuing MSW, and maybe I’ll join Peace Corps
(where Robin served in Philippines) next? Party entertainment included The
Brady Bunch parody, The Social Bunch!
Since March
when SF’s COVID-19 shelter-in-place order went into effect, requests for
home-delivered meals services have nearly doubled; almost 40% of MOWSF staff have been working remotely from home.
Construction continued of new MOWSF kitchen, which is set to open later
this summer.
Robin’s party
invite requested that attendees dress in black and orange—colors of SF Giants,
Robin’s favorite team… with my video off, I appeared in black screen 😊
but didn’t see others in requested colors? At in-person parties, you can circulate and have spontaneous conversations;
with Zoom, only one person can speak at a time (box outlined in yellow), while
chat box allows for side conversations which SFSU gero classmate Lois and I used.
MOWSF
Executive Director Ashley McCumber called Robin the "heart of Meals on Wheels." So true, especially in her hiring social
workers who respect older people (many SFSU gerontology grads), and
I cannot imagine MOWSF without Robin’s kind and steadfast leadership that
involved encouraging social workers to meet our numbers (reporting completed client assessments and impacts each quarter) and lots of advocacy to speak on behalf of
homebound clients who were unable to testify at City Hall hearings. Lolita Kintanar (another SFSU MSW alum) continued working with Aging Network after she retired as Director of Canon
Kip Senior Center five years ago, and encouraged Robin to do same.
Robin, who
announced her retirement way before COVID-19 pandemic, already has another job
lined up, caring for her three grandchildren (granddaughter attended Zoom party
with Robin’s son).
When I received invite for Social Work and the Future of Policing, I thought it might be cool for Robin to join her older son for
mother-son team at SF Police, like the 58-year-old father
who joined his 28-year-old son at Honolulu Police Department earlier this year.
Robin mentioned when her son was applying to
SF Police Department, she brought him to a seminar talk by SFSU MSW alumna
Heather Fong, SF’s first female Police Chief (2004-2009), who said “police are
just social workers with guns.” Well, instead of guns, social workers might use motivational interviewing to persuade people to wear masks!
There are concerns that defunding police might mean fewer police to investigate criminal elder abuse cases.
In Daily Social Distancing Show,
host Trevor Noah asked about older black people wanting more police. Criminal justice expert Josie Duffy Rice
explained that, according to James Forman Jr. (Locking Up Our Own), black
elders in the late 1980s/early 1990s asked for more police as well as other
resources, so defunding police is one way to reallocate resources to community/social
services (and
middle-class/elite black politicians calling for more police may not represent
poor black constituents who are heavily policed and segregated). The
future of policing appears to be a continuum: 8cantwait (harm reduction police
reform), defund the police (reallocate budgets to scale back police responses
in favor of alternative community solutions like social workers to respond to
people who are homeless, experiencing mental crisis and/or substance problem, other nonviolent situations),
abolish the police (reimagine world without using violence to respond to
violence in truly transformational change), etc.
I learned from Gray
Panthers about 4-hour “Mental Health First Responder Training” hosted by
Anti-Police Terror Project (APTP) Sacramento via Zoom, and this ended up being 2-hour orientation
about volunteer crisis program operating 12-hour shifts (7 pm to 7 am) from Friday to Sunday, which they want to start up in Oakland. Orientation could have been cut down to half-hour (if used "economy of expression" like Fauci), but presenters used up time with noise, meaningless profanity—F-bombs spelled out
in Zoom transcript, instead of *expletive deleted*--reminiscent of Zoom-bombing so I tuned out, like Zoom un-together.
