Personal Assistant

Includes a self-assessment, self-assessment of personal care needs, and personal care assessment tools.

Liability issues pertaining to consumer-directed personal assistant services are discussed in this report. Issues are divided into topics including consumer-worker relationships, the risk of fiscal agents, the risk of consultants, and the risk for states and government entities. The report goes onto provide options to address liability risks.

Looking for a way to gauge consumer satisfaction in self-direction programs? The state of Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) conducts an annual Consumer-Directed Recipient Satisfaction Survey, to monitor the performance of the fiscal agent and to provide DMAS with feedback to assist in the development and implementation of quality improvement strategies. The first and second year statewide survey and findings from 2007 and 2008, are available below.

Developing HCBS alternatives to institutional care has been a priority for many state Medicaid programs over the last three decades. While the majority of long-term care dollars still go toward institutional care, the national percentage of spending on HCBS has more than doubled from 19 percent in 1995 to 41 percent in 2007. This article presents a summary of the main trends to emerge from the latest (2006) expenditures and participant data for the three main Medicaid HCBS programs.

FCA launched this online community promoting professional knowledge around families in their caregiving role. The site offers resources to help policymakers, professionals and family caregivers develop caregiver-friendly legislation or initiatives, implement caregiver support programs or services, and access information to enhance the delivery of quality care. Interactive site features include an online forum and user submissions.

This biennial workshop was held in Baltimore, November 16 & 17. The conference offered two workshop tracks: a Strategic Track dedicated to big picture FMS issues facing state and program administrators and a Tactical Track dedicated to technical and operational issues. The IRS unveiled updated guidance specifically for participant direction Fiscal/Employer Agents and will even offered an informal, face-to-face question and answer booth. Review the presentations for further guidance.

In this survey, the MetLife Mature Market Institute found that private room nursing home rates rose 3.3% to $219 per day or $79,935 per year, while assisted living also rose 3.3% on average to $3,131 per month. Home health care aides now cost an average of $21 per hour; adult day services run $67 per day. The report includes average costs for each state, as well as for several individual cities, and includes other long-term care facts about provider training and available services.

Idaho’s, My Voice, My Choice training program, is an online resource for those wishing to be Support Brokers. The site’s main categories include a section for Computer Instructions, Meeting the Trainers, Readings and Activities. The course itself stresses several key concepts: Self-Determination, the Philosophical Shift that is occurring from traditional supports to a self-directed model, Person-Centered Planning, and the Ethics and Professionalism required as a successful Support Broker.

The California Community Choices (Choices) project is designed to increase consumer access to home and community-based long-term care services and to provide additional centralized sources of information and referral. The Choices project includes a study to improve the state’s understanding of the financial and structural barriers to increasing consumer access to these services, and to provide recommendations to the state to more effectively manage funding for long-term care.

States increasingly require criminal background checks for home care workers to protect vulnerable adults from harm. While 46 states mandate some type of background check for Medicaid-funded workers, there is no uniform protocol for screening and disqualifying candidates. Developing sound policies and practices is challenging due to costs, database problems & time constraints. The paper offers an up-to-date assessment of practices, policy considerations & research and guidance on moving forward.