Press Releases

NEW GRANTS WILL HELP FAMILIES IN 19 STATES FIND NEEDED LONG TERM CARE SERVICES

CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., and Administration on Aging Assistant Secretary Josefina Carbonell today announced $15 million in grants to 19 states to create a single source of information and assistance for families navigating the often confusing array of long-term care services available in their communities.

The Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) grants are part of the New Freedom Initiative, an administration effort to help overcome barriers to community living for the elderly and disabled.  The ADRC grants are jointly administered by CMS and HHS’ Administration on Aging.

“Resource centers are a tremendous help to families who need to find effective long-term care for a loved one, often with little time to prepare,” said Dr. McClellan.  “These grants will help these states integrate their varied long-term support programs into a single, coordinated system that will make it easier for families to get the most effective care for their loved ones, usually right in their own communities.”

Currently, a broad range of programs and services ranging from home-and-community based care to institutional support are available to assist older adults and individuals with disabilities.   These services are sponsored and supported by numerous agencies and have diverse and sometimes complex eligibility requirements.  Individuals and their families who are seeking support services often have difficultly sorting through or even locating community-based services. The result may be unnecessary and costly institutionalization. 

The ADRC grants are designed to give states flexibility in the development and administration of their programs. Some states may utilize a single agency as the entry point to long-term support while other states will establish centers with multiple sites that may work together to ensure uniform access to long-term care support options.

“Aging and Disability Resource Center grants offer states the opportunity to create ‘one stop’ entry points to long-term support services,” said Assistant Secretary Carbonell.  “These centers can serve as visible and trusted places for information on long-term care options, to help seniors and people with disabilities get long-term care where they want it. Our goal is to make ADRCs the foundation for community-based care.”

States and territories receiving the grants referenced in today’s announcement are: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.  All together, 43 states have received the three-year grants with awards of up to $800,000.

For more information on the Aging and Disability Resource Centers Grant program, go to the AoA web site at http://www.aoa.gov, the CMS web site at www.cms.hhs.gov/newfreedom/default.asp or the Aging and Disability Resource Center Technical Assistance Exchange at www.adrc-tae.org.