Hundreds of Florida elders who need specialized community services to keep them out of costly nursing homes will soon be able to receive those services thanks to a federal grant of more than $575,000 awarded to the state Department of Elder Affairs.

A second grant received by the Department, for almost $240,000, will help link older Floridians who have developmental disabilities to a wide range of services traditionally available to elders but often not utilized by those with developmental disabilities.

Both programs are part of pilot projects and are being offered in limited areas of Florida. The Community Living Program grant, a continuation of a grant received last year, will benefit approximately 550 additional elders in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Ocala areas. The Aging and Disability Resource Center Expansion Grant will help potentially thousands of elders and their adult children along Florida’s lower west coast, in the areas served by the Area Agencies on Aging in St. Petersburg and Fort Myers.

“Our goal always is to help Florida seniors live fulfilling lives within their home communities, and these two grants will make a meaningful difference in the lives of a great many older Floridians,” said Elder Affairs Secretary E. Douglas Beach.

Community Living Program Grant – $575,469

This grant continues and expands on funding received last year for what was then called nursing home diversion modernization. With the grant, the Department is working to create a rapid response system to efficiently identify elders who can be diverted from nursing homes by providing them with key home- or community-based services.

The grant will provide eligible elders with choices for independence by enabling them to receive services that can prevent the need for more costly nursing home care. The grant allows local service providers to use more innovative services models than are usually authorized for Older Americans Act funds. The project will target high-risk elders who are on waiting lists for non-Medicaid services or individuals who contact Aging Resource Centers/Aging and Disability Resource Centers and are identified to be at high risk of nursing home placement. One focus of the grant will be identifying elders who have some resources to pay a share of the costs of their care, and would otherwise be at risk of having to spend down those resources in order to qualify for Medicaid.

The grant is expected to be first-year funding of a two-year, $1 million grant (pending Congressional approval). The Area Agencies on Aging involved in this project will provide a 25 percent match.

Aging and Disability Resource Center Expansion Grant – $238,842

Older Floridians who have developmental disabilities are eligible for services provided by Florida’s aging services network, but these seniors most commonly receive services only through the developmental disabilities network. This grant – anticipated to be the first year of a three-year grant – will create new linkages between the two networks to better serve the affected elders by giving them better access to services from both networks.

In addition, the grant will also help serve the elder parents of adults who have developmental disabilities by giving them access to caregiver support services, such as respite care. Caregiver supports are provided through Title III-E of the Older Americans Act.

By conducting grant activities along Florida’s southwest coast, the pilot project targets the region of the state that has the preponderance of individuals served by the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities. The grant dollars will have a 5 percent match provided by the local Area Agencies on Aging.

Source: Elder Affairs