New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) recently sat down with AARP Segunda Juventud Associate Editor Fresia Rodríguez Cadavid for an exclusive interview.

Q:	Your administration has focused on the plight of New Mexico’s children through initiatives such as Year of the Child and Making Schools Work. How have Latinos 50-plus fared under your governorship?

A:	I believe under my governorship they’ve fared well. I have focused primarily on various programs for seniors.

Number one, water issues. They’re very important here. There are residential areas along the Mexican border, what are called the colonias, that lack basic water and sewer systems, electricity, paved roads. I have put in funding for colonias, where a lot of the elders in southern New Mexico live.   Number two, we have had some very strong programs to find outreach efforts to show Hispanics how they can more easily enroll in, and understand, the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. Number three, in my third year as governor we gave rebates, primarily to senior citizens, for energy assistance—an average of about $400 per senior. These were from surplus funds that were mainly targeted for gasoline and home heating oil…and we gave every senior 50-plus that stipend. Number four, we have done a lot to shift from institutional care to home- and community-based care services. We’re number two in the country in the ratio of home- and community-based services to care in an institutional setting. Number five, transportation. We started what is called the United We Ride program in four New Mexico counties—a transit fund that is targeted to all seniors. You know most seniors are Hispanic here. Housing Trust Fund: we created it in 2005, we’ve put in about $20 million for it, and it expands affordable housing for seniors and enables persons with disabilities to obtain housing.

Q:

Long-term care is facing a crisis: an aging population requiring more long-term care services and a diminishing supply of workers to provide them. How can we address the critical workforce shortages in long-term care systems?

A:

What we need to do—and here in New Mexico we’ve been able to do this because we have healthy surpluses—[is] to increase the state portion of Medicaid. That’s number one—in spite of the fact that the federal government is cutting its share of Medicaid. Number two, we’ve invested close to $60 million in senior center facilities throughout the state—that’s been I think one of the highest totals of any governor. We’ve created a fund through our health department to allow grandparents raising grandchildren access to legal services to help with guardianship of kids. We’ve done an AMBER Alert for seniors.

Q:

What do older Latinos in your border state face that sets them apart from Latinos living in other regions of the country? How are you addressing their needs?

A:

In the southern part of the state, the border with Mexico brings additional challenges. Many of that area’s elders live in colonias. The population is predominantly Hispanic, limited English-speaking, and low-income. The Non-Metro Area Agency on Aging, which serves the border area of New Mexico, is dedicated to removing social and individual barriers, and ensuring continuity of care through a coordinated system of services. Furthermore, they are working to maximize federal, state, and local funding to accomplish this. Also, everything the state is doing to improve access to housing and transportation will specifically positively impact people living in substandard housing, including colonias.