New Jersey NFT II Summary | advancingstates.org

<HR ALIGN=\"left\" ALT=\"Horizontal rule dividing sections\"> <A NAME=\"NJNFTSP\"></A> <P ALIGN=\"RIGHT\"><EM>Nursing Facility Transitions</EM></P> <H2 ALIGN=\"CENTER\">NEW JERSEY</H2> <H3>Identified Problems with the State's Long-Term Care System</H3> <P> <UL> <LI>Once placed in a nursing facility, individuals may lose their homes and community support creating additional barriers to living in the community.</LI> <LI>There is an insufficient supply of affordable and accessible housing for people with disabilities in New Jersey.</LI> <LI>Ongoing concerns for safety and lack of sufficient service providers have played a major role in the increasingly larger number of young adults with disabilities residing in nursing facilities.</LI> <LI>Lack of knowledge among staff of the Community Choice Initiative, a program to help people move from nursing facilities, regarding resources available for people under age 65 with disabilities.</LI> </UL> </P> <H3>Perceived Strengths</H3> <P> <UL> <LI>An array of waiver programs.</LI> <LI>An assessment system which the state uses to identify individuals with the potential to live in the community.</LI> <LI>Available funds that provide assistance with transition expenses.</LI> </UL> </P> <H3>Primary Focus of Grant Activities</H3> <P> <UL> <LI>Assist individuals with disabilities under age 65 to transition from a nursing facility to a community setting.</LI> <LI>Assure that individuals obtain quality services and exercise meaningful choices.</LI> <LI>Expand the existing infrastructure.</LI> <LI>Provide accurate and easily comprehensible information about community living.</LI> <LI>Increase housing options for individuals transitioning.</LI> </UL> </P> <H3>Goals, Objectives, and Activities</H3> <P><STRONG>Overall Goal.</STRONG> To fully develop the existing nursing facility transition infrastructure to better serve individuals with disabilities under age 65.</P> <P><STRONG>Goal.</STRONG> Enhance outreach and technical assistance efforts.</P> <P><STRONG><EM>Objectives/Activities</EM></STRONG> <UL> <LI>Use Community Choice brochures, the program's Website and links to other Websites to inform residents, their families and caregivers about the grant program.</LI> <LI>All existing materials will be adapted to include individuals with disabilities and to ensure that accurate, objective and easy-to-understand information is available to them.</LI> <LI>Offer presentations in the community and in the nursing facilities.</LI> <LI>Target specialized assistance to those hospital patients at highest risk of nursing home placement.</LI> <LI>Connect a mentor presently situated in the community to each nursing facility resident interested in community living to provide peer counseling and act as a role model.</LI> <LI>Provide aside funds for training and for independent consultants. Train consumers and families to allow them to make meaningful choices and obtain quality services. (Consultant is funded by the grant and there are grant funds for training of staff.)</LI> <LI>Share expertise and knowledge with faith-based and other community organizations throughout the state.</LI> </UL> </P> <P><STRONG>Goal.</STRONG> Increase knowledge and training of Community Choice staff.</P> <P><STRONG><EM>Objectives/Activities</EM></STRONG> <UL> <LI>Hire two Community Choice counselors who will become specialists in disability issues through intensive training. They will work exclusively on transitions of children and adults with disabilities who desire more independence.</LI> <LI>A training program in disability will be created for all counselors to increase their ability to assist people with disabilities and make referrals to the disability specialists.</LI> <LI>Provide experienced nursing facility counselors in hospitals to work with the hospital staff to assure that those going to nursing facilities are prepared for a short term stay and maintain their current home.</LI> </UL> </P> <P><STRONG>Goal.</STRONG> Increase availability and financial assistance for housing.</P> <P><STRONG><EM>Objectives/Activities</EM></STRONG> <UL> <LI>Develop a workgroup to examine Section 8 housing vouchers and certificates and state resources available to individuals with disabilities.</LI> <LI>Conduct housing seminars, workshops and seminars for staff and public/private partners.</LI> <LI>Inventory the current housing available for individuals with disabilities and identify the areas where development is needed.</LI> <LI>Work with consumer groups, faith-based organizations, local governments and service providers to build housing designed for or modified to meet the needs of disability communities.</LI> <LI>Set aside money from two separate funds to assist with initial expenses such as augmentative communication devices or an apartment security deposit. Monies from the first Nursing Transition Grant established an "Assistive Technology Fund." State monies are used for apartment security deposits.</LI> </UL> </P> <H3>Key Activities and Products</H3> <P> <UL> <LI>Transition 120 individuals who have a disability or a long-term illness presently residing in a nursing facility to the community setting of their choice. An anticipated 40 individuals will be helped transition from nursing facility in each of the 3 years of the grant.</LI> <LI>Create an inventory of the current housing available for individuals with disabilities, identify the areas where development is needed and work with consumer groups, faith-based organizations, local governments and service providers to address housing needs.</LI> <LI>Train two Community Choice Counselors as disability specialists.</LI> </UL> </P> <H3>Consumer Partners</H3> <P>The Governor's Stakeholders Task Force on Olmstead includes people with disabilities as well as consumer representatives.</P> <H3>Consumer Partners and Consumer Involvement in Planning Activities</H3> <P>The Governor's Stakeholders Task Force on Olmstead has been meeting since November 2000. Members participated in teleconferences and the Nursing Facility Transition Grant subgroup reviewed this grant.</P> <H3>Consumer Partners and Consumer Involvement in Implementation Activities</H3> <P>The State will transition the existing Governor's Stakeholders Task Force on Olmstead to the New Jersey Systems Change Advisory Council. The Advisory Council will retain existing participants and add additional consumer representatives. This Advisory Council will provide direction to the state in developing and implementing the activities proposed in the Systems Change Grant applications. There will be four subcommittees of the Council: Housing, Support Services, Access, and Quality.</P> <H3>Public Partners</H3> <P> <UL> <LI>Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University.</LI> <LI>Division of Disability Services.</LI> <LI>Division of Housing and Community Resources.</LI> </UL> </P> <H3>Private Partners and Subcontractors</H3> <P> <UL> <LI>12 ILCs in New Jersey.</LI> <LI>New Jersey Protection & Advocacy's Technology Assistive Resource Program (TARP).</LI> <LI>Public Housing Authorities of Millville, Vineland, Gloucester, Morris County, and Summit.</LI> </UL> </P> <H3>Public and Private Partnership Development/Involvement in the Planning Phase</H3> <P>No partners were involved.</P> <H3>Public and Private Partnership Development/Involvement in Implementation</H3> <P><STRONG>Public Partners</STRONG> <UL> <LI>The Division of Disability Services (DDS) has established a new Medicaid home and community-based services waiver to serve people under age 65. This waiver will provide services to many people transitioning under the grant, and DDS has agreed to work with the Grant to ensure transitioning people have access to services and can obtain services quickly.</LI> <LI>Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University will be the grant program evaluator.</LI> <LI>Division of Housing and Community Resources will be a member of the grant program's Housing Workgroup which will plan, develop, and implement systems to help persons find affordable, accessible housing.</LI> </UL> </P> <P><STRONG>Private Partners</STRONG> <UL> <LI>Public Housing Authorities, specifically Millville, Vineland, Gloucester, PHA of the County of Morris, and Summit, have expressed interest in collaborating with grant program staff to assist transitioning individuals in locating affordable and accessible housing.</LI> <LI>12 ILCs in New Jersey will form partnerships with the lead agency to perform assessments of potential program participants, assign peer mentors to transitioning individuals, develop outreach materials, and create a program participant survey.</LI> <LI>New Jersey Protection & Advocacy's Technology Assistive Resource Program (TARP) will form a partnership to evaluation transitioning individuals' home modification and/or assistive technology needs.</LI> </UL> </P> <P><STRONG>Existing Partnerships That Will Be Utilized to Leverage or Support Project Activities</STRONG></P> <P>As part of the initial nursing facility transition grant, the Community Choice staff developed strong working relationships with the Office of Waiver and Program Administration and the Division of Senior Affairs in order to assure waiver services and Older American Act-funded services were available as quickly as possible for individuals leaving a nursing facility. The results of this initial interagency work will benefit people leaving nursing facilities with the help of this grant.</P> <H3>Oversight/Advisory Committee</H3> <P>The New Jersey Systems Change Advisory Council (see Consumer Partners) will provide direction to the state in developing and implementing the activities proposed in the System Change grant proposals. There will be four subcommittees of the Council: Housing, Support Services, Access, and Quality.</P> <H3>Formative Learning and Evaluation Activities</H3> <P> <UL> <LI>In cooperation with the ILCs, a client satisfaction survey will be administered to assure all issues people with disabilities faced during their transition are known to Community Choice and are addressed. If additional issues are identified, the ILCs and Community Choice will work together to determine how best to address them.</LI> <LI>The Center for State Health Policy within the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research at Rutgers University will conduct a research evaluation of the transition program as well as the other grant the state received (Real Choice Grant). The Center for State Health Policy also will continue to evaluate the Community Choice program, as it has before this grant.</LI> </UL> </P> <H3>Evidence of Enduring Change/Sustainability</H3> <P> <UL> <LI>Two additional counselors will be integrated into the program and at the conclusion of the grant will become part of the Community Choice Program.</LI> <LI>Outcome of the Housing Workgroup will be an enduring change in the housing market and Section 8 vouchers and certificates.</LI> <LI>Wherever possible, legislative and regulatory changes will be implemented to ensure an enhanced service delivery system that meets the needs of the constituents.</LI> <LI>The working relationships developed with the ILCs, TARP, faith based organizations, housing developers, consumer-directed organizations and other state agencies will be ongoing. Community Choice procedures established under this grant with these organizations will become part of the policy and procedures used by Community Choice counselors.</LI> <LI>It is anticipated that efforts to change the way developers view the housing needs of various populations will result in housing built to meet these populations' needs, both during and after the grant.</LI> </UL> </P> <H3>Geographic Focus</H3> <P>Statewide.</P>