Nursing Home Diversion Grants
Background
The Administration on Aging’s (AoA) Nursing Home Diversion (NHD) grant initiative is a competitive grants opportunity designed to assist individuals who are at risk of nursing home placement and spend down to Medicaid to enable them to continue to live in their communities. The NHD grants are administered through the State Units on Aging (SUAs), in partnership with Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and in collaboration with community service providers, and other key long-term care stakeholders.
This initiative encourages the Aging Services Network to modernize and transform the funding they receive under the Older Americans Act, or other non-Medicaid sources, into flexible, consumer-directed service dollars. This grant opportunity complements the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) “Money Follows the Person Initiative” by strengthening the capacity of states to reach older adults before they enter a nursing home and spend down to Medicaid. It also supports states’ long-term care rebalancing efforts.
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AoA Vision for NHD Grants
AoA’s long-range vision is to have a long-term care service system that is person-centered, consumer-directed and helps people at risk of institutionalization to continue to live at home for as long as possible. The system can be built through the use of consistent NHD standards.
Such standards should include system elements as well as service elements.
The system elements include:
- Using “single entry point” systems that provide access to all publicly supported long-term care to perform the functions of client screening, assessment, care planning, and targeting individuals at risk of nursing home placement and spend down to Medicaid
- Having a quality assurance program that can be used by program staff and administrators to continually improve the way the program is serving its clients
- Evaluating the program so that administrators, funders and the public will know if the program is meeting its goals and objectives
The key service elements are:
- Flexible dollars to ensure that services can be tailored to the individualized needs of consumers and their family caregivers, rather than being tied to a particular service or set of services
- Targeting criteria to ensure the program actually serves individuals who are most at risk of nursing home placement and spend down to Medicaid
- Giving clients the option of using the Cash and Counseling model
- Ensuring that the program is used to complement and support – and not to supplant – the on-going efforts of family caregivers and the use of an individual’s personal and financial resources in helping the individual to remain at home
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NHD Grantees
AoA launched the NHD initiative in the fall of 2007. In its initial year, AoA issued awards to 12 states for a combined federal and non-federal funded grant program of $8.8 million. In 2008, AoA issued awards that totaled 14 states reaching a combined federal and non-federal amount of approximately $16.2 million.
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Partnership with U.S. Veterans Administration
Starting in 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services collaborates with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The AoA is working closely with the Veterans Health Administration to provide an additional opportunity to State Units on Aging (SUAs) and Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) to serve veterans of all ages at risk of nursing home placement.
The VA will deliver the Veteran’s Directed Home and Community-Based Service Program (VDHCBS) in 10 states and will invest approximately $3 million to serve veterans at risk of institutionalization. The VA will directly purchase services through SUAs and/or AAAs for the VDHCBS program.
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Map showing which states have NHD awardees and which states have both NHD awardees and VA awardees
FY2007 State Grantees
(click state for project summary)
FY2008 State Grantees
(VA will be awarding $3 million to the states marked with an asterisk(*)
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Additional Information
For additional information on NHD activities please visit The Aging and Disability Resource Center Technical Assistance Exchange.
Here you will find specific information about the NHD initiative, including contact information for AoA project officers, summary information on each of the grantees and a variety of resources related to this initiative.
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Resources and Useful Links
| Last Modified: 4/28/2009 11:25:22 AM |
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