I’m on a crash course of “catching up” now that I am back in Pennsylvania, having been away on sabbatical for the last academic year and living (mostly) in Arizona.  On May 9 I participated in a “Day on the Hill” event in Harrisburg, sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association in Pennsylvania.

To kick off the afternoon sessions, Secretary of Aging Teresa Osborne, along with Deputy Secretary of Health Corey Coleman, spoke in support  of Pennsylvania Governor Wolf’s plan to merge operations of four separate state departments, that of Aging, Health, Human Services (formerly Public Welfare) and Drug and Alcohol Programs into a single department called Department of Health and Human Services.  The timeline for this decision is looming, as the Pennsylvania Legislature’s budget session is scheduled to end on June 30. 

Secretary Osborne pointed out that overlapping programs between the different departments complicate the ability of the state to serve related interests.  For example, “protective services” are administered by separate units for children, disabled adults, and older adults.  While acknowledging cost savings from consolidation is certainly one goal — as the state is in an on-going budget crisis — Secretary Osborne expressed her strong support for a clearer organizational chart, as a way to clarify and meet the needs of Pennsylvanians on common issues.

The Alzheimer’s Association is not taking a position on the consolidation, instead focusing on the state’s accountability and continued or enhanced dedication to serving impaired Pennsylvanians and their families, especially caregiver family members.

For more on Pennsylvania Tom Wolf’s budget plan as it affects seniors, see the PA website on the Budget Documents.  And as anyone knows who follows Pennsylvania legislative sessions, the real language and details are likely to emerge in the wee hours of the session, following a lot of horse-trading.  

Photo of Katherine C. Pearson Katherine C. Pearson

Katherine C. Pearson is a Professor of Law and the Arthur L. and Sandra S. Piccone Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Her scholarship focuses on laws and policies connected to aging and she has frequently included age-related issues…

Katherine C. Pearson is a Professor of Law and the Arthur L. and Sandra S. Piccone Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Her scholarship focuses on laws and policies connected to aging and she has frequently included age-related issues in her teaching of courses on contract law, conflicts of law and nonprofit organizations law.  She is a regular speaker for continuing education programs, both for consumers and lawyers, to address cutting edge concerns in consumer protection for older adults.  She is the author of articles and chapters on access to justice, senior living options including continuing care and life plan communities, long-term care financing and filial obligations, and is the co-author of a treatise, The Law of Financial Abuse and Exploitation (Bisel 2011).

She authored chapters for the Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing, published in 2024 as part of a series on law and society handbooks offered by international publisher Edward Elgar. She is a 2024-2025 Fulbright Scholar in Canada and was in residence at the University of Ottawa in the Fall of 2024 as the Research Chair in Health Law, Policy and Ethics.  Her earlier experience as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar (based at the Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, and working in Ireland, Portugal, and the U.K. in 2009-10), resulted in publications, including an article with an international, historical perspective on ethical concerns for attorneys representing older adults, entitled “The Lesson of the Irish Family Pub,” published by Stetson Law Review.

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