Its cur-rent membership consists of 37 persons who represent consumers, advocates, state agencies and providers. Since its creation more than eleven years ago, the Council has served as a forceful and successful advocate to improve long-term care in our state. In late 1994, the Council, under its chairman, then Lieutenant Governor and now Congressman Bob Weygand, issued the first ever long-term care plan for the state. Not too surprising, and right on point for today's field hearing, support for families was the very first objective set forth in the Plan. The average woman can now expect to spend as many or more years caring for elder relatives than she does caring for her children.
More recent research shows that care giving also results in added cost to business.
While I will not discuss each of these action steps, I have attached a complete list of them as excerpted from the Plan. And I am very pleased to report to you that the State has made considerable progress over the last few years in implementing the actions to support families in their care-giving role. I sponsored legislation directing the Department of Elderly Affairs to establish, in collaboration with community and aging service agencies, a family care giver resource network to provide and coordinate family care giver training and support services to include counseling and respite services. While Rhode Island has made some strides in providing support for family caregivers much more remains to be done. The National Family Caregivers Support legislation, if appropriately funded, would provide Rhode Island with a wonderful opportunity to build on the strong foundation already laid in Rhode Island.