19 August 2005

Caring for seniors in their communities goal of new effort, Sebelius says
Governor announces grant that will help families in need of long-term care assistance

The Kansas Department on Aging (KDOA) is one of 19 recipients of a federal grant to create a single source of information and assistance for families needing long-term care assistance. Kansas will receive $800,000 over the next three years to develop Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRC) specifically tailored to minimize barriers to community living for the elderly and adults with mental health disabilities.

The grant is jointly funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Administration on Aging within the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Kansas families deserve better access to health care, and we’re working hard to create a healthy state for all Kansans,” said Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. “Health care, and particularly long-term care is best when it happens in the community, near friends and family members. These new centers will help Kansans receive care in their communities.”

KDOA Secretary Pamela Johnson-Betts said the Kansas project will provide a variety of highly visible and easily accessible web-based tools to increase access to information, streamline assessment referrals, increase mental health services for Kansas adults and simplify financial eligibility determinations for Medicaid and other state-funded programs.

“Our focus for the future must be on offering consumers choices close to their homes,” said Johnson-Betts. “This consumer-driven, community-based philosophy, combined with an expected 46 percent increase in the over-65 population during the next 20 years requires us to creatively explore the use of technology-based tools.”

KDOA will pilot the project in one rural and one urban area to serve both persons over the age of 60 and adults defined as seriously mentally ill by the Kansas Medikan program eligibility requirements. The project will focus on changing the way adult mental health and long term care services for elders are accessed.

The rural center will be developed among 17 counties in and around the Hays area. Wichita and two surrounding counties were selected as the urban pilot area. The centers will serve persons over age 60 by the end of the first year. Adults, age 18 to 64, with serious mental illness will be added beginning the second quarter of the second year of the grant.

“We plan to create ‘one-stop’ entry points to long-term care support services,” said Johnson-Betts. “These centers will be accessible and reliable sources for information on mental health and long-term care options to help seniors and adults with a mental health disability access care resources and services in their communities with reduced confusion.

The other states and territories receiving the grants are: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.