“Cutting Edge Approaches: Recruitment, Retention, Retooling, Policy/Advocacy” – Sizing Up the Workforce for the Elderboom” is the title of the day-long program, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.at the Roosevelt Hotel, 45 E. 45th St., Manhattan.

The New York Southern Area Aging Network (NY-SAAN) is presenting the conference, which is open to professionals from throughout the Northeast. NY-SAAN and its members are from the southern tier of New York State, which has 2.2 million people age 60 or older, who represent 62 percent of the state’s elderly  population. The Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services and the Westchester Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services are major sponsors of NY-SAAN, whose members represent 25 community-based organizations, agencies and associations.

The keynote speaker will be Jack Mitchell, the author of  “Hug Your People: The Proven Way To Hire, Inspire and Recognize Your Employees and Achieve Remarkable Results.” Mitchell’s book is on The Wall Street Journal’s best-seller list. All conference speakers will be nationally and internationally recognized experts on workforce issues and the elderly.

There will also be speakers from AARP and the Metlife Mature Market Institute. There will be eight workshops on topics including health care and aging, long-term care, nursing, social work, research and intergenerational programs to deal with the workforce crisis.

The conference will also include discussion of the Caring for an Aging America Act of 2000, which has been introduced in Congress by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California.)  The act addresses the gap in care between the rapidly growing number of older Americans and the critical lack of providers who are trained to care for the medical, health and social support needs of that aging population.

The act would establish a Geriatric and Gerontology Loan Repayment Program for people who work with the elderly who complete specialty training in geriatrics or gerontology and agree to provide full-time clinical work and services to older adults for at least two years after they graduate. Physicians, nurses and social workers are among those who would be eligible. 

The first NY-SAAN conference on the worker shortage took place last year before an overflow crowd at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus. The NY-SAAN umbrella covers agencies for seniors in Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess, Ulster, Nassau and Suffolk counties and New York City.

“This conference will further help to educate people about this pressing issue and advocate for strategies to address it,” said Commissioner Mae Carpenter of the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services (DSPS), who founded and leads the NY-SAAN initiative. “We were heartened by the enthusiastic response to last year’s conference and expect an even better turn-out this year. The situation demands that we act now.”

Register now on-line or by mail. For more information contact Jill Adler by phone at (631) 368-2082 or by e-mail.