Same Duties, Broader Scope––

Marilyn Place Will Direct Office Of Senior Services

By Dottie Evans

To mirror the growth over the last decade in Newtown’s population of senior citizens, Senior Center Director Marilyn Place has been given broader responsibilities and a new title.

The new duties, as director of the Office of Senior Services, will be added to her already full plate, and she will be working closely with Ann Piccini, new acting director of the Social Services Department.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal announced the title change July 14 during the public introduction of the Triad program at the Senior Center. Triad is a three-way partnership between law enforcement officials, government officials, and groups that serve the senior citizens, and its purpose is to reduce the criminal victimization of senior citizens.

At the same time that Mr Rosenthal appointed Ms Place director of Senior Services, he appointed Ann Piccini acting director of the Social Services Department and municipal agent for the elderly.

In the decade since 1990, Newtown’s total population has grown from 20,779 to 25,031 residents, which is a 20 percent overall increase. But its senior population of residents between the ages of 55 and 59 has swelled 40 percent. The numbers of seniors in their 60s and 70s also show increases of between 18 and 13 percent over that decade.

The population of seniors over age 75 has increased by nearly 20 percent.

While Ms Piccini will continue to oversee the Social Services Department’s assistance programs for the general population, Ms Place will oversee those that pertain to the senior population.

“What this means is that senior services are being separated from social services,” Ms Place said recently, adding with emphasis, “that would be separate but equal to…”

“Basically, I will be doing what I was doing before, but we have had to split off the duties relating to senior services because of the town’s tremendous population growth.”

“It behooves the town to have separate services for 55- to 65-year-old residents, because they have different issues from the over-65 population,” Ms Place said.

For example, helping the older seniors deal with their health and Medicare coverage issues frequently means “updating health issues,” and wading through individual insurance policies, Ms Place said.

Beyond the paperwork, however, there is another very important area where Ms Place has already invested a major amount of her time and effort as Senior Center director.

In short, this is the job she is already doing, providing a healthy, happy place for the seniors to come.

“A lot of them are widows, and when they are home alone and the door closes after someone leaves, that’s not good. They can become depressed,” Ms Place said.

“I’m also very excited about Triad,” she added, “and it’s only beginning.”

Through Triad, the town hopes to provide more protection as well as law enforcement services for all seniors, so that when they are home alone, they will feel safe.