Legislator Richard J. Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) recently voted to approve an ordinance for the New York State Elder Caregiver Support Program.

The $420,000 grant will provide assistance for family members who are currently taking care of an elderly loved one. The program, which is operated by Nassau County's Department of Senior Citizen Affairs helps bring temporary relief for care providers who are responsible for a senior citizen who needs extra care. "There are thousands of people in Nassau County who are currently taking care of loved ones in Nassau County. Their jobs are often very time consuming and demanding. This program will help give those people temporary relief so they can take care of things in their own lives," said Legislator Nicolello about the program.

This grant will go towards a variety of different programs within the Elder Caregivers Support Program. Day Care programs that currently operate in Nassau County will receive new funding and new day care programs will be established to allow caregivers the ability to attend to daily activities such as food shopping or doctor's appointments. Besides day care programs at senior citizen centers, respite services will also receive funding. Information and referral services will receive additional support to better give advice and information to interested family members.

For more information about the Elder Caregiver Support Program please call the Nassau County Department of Senior Citizen Affairs at 571-5814.

Legislator Richard J. Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) recently voted to appropriate a $2,500 grant to be used by the Nassau County Traffic Safety Board in relation to children's safety while in automobiles. The state funded grant will be used in the statewide "Child Passenger Safety" program.

The program, established by current New York State Governor George E. Pataki is designed to teach parents how to properly use children's car restraints. "Car seats are very important in saving the lives of children but at the same time they can become very dangerous if a child is fastened improperly," said Legislator Nicolello.

The grant will go towards setting up a fitting station where parents can go to be instructed on how to correctly install a child's seat and how to safely restrain a child in that seat. When used correctly, a child safety seat can reduce the risk of fatal injury by up to 71 percent and hospitalization by 67 percent, however misuse greatly reduced those numbers and may often lead to injuries. More than 90 percent of child safety seats used today are improperly used despite the efforts of parents. "If this program instructs one parent how to install a seat properly and ends up saving one child's life then this program will be considered a success," added Legislator Nicolello.