GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1991 SESSION
CHAPTER 711
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 143B-181.9A reads as rewritten:
"§ 143B-181.9A. Advisory Committee on Home and Community Care.
(a) There is established
the Advisory Committee on Home and Community Care for Older Adults within
the Department of Human Resources. In order to achieve a coordinated,
county-based, full service system for older adults and their families, this This
Committee shall recommend to the Department of Human Resources and the
General Assembly the design and implementation of managed care programs for
high-risk older adults at the county level; initiatives and strategies to
address the social, income security and employment, mental health, health, and
housing needs of at-risk older adults. To the end of achieving
coordinated Programs on Aging in all North Carolina counties that both care for
and invest in older adults, methods for alleviating the service
fragmentation and client intake-duplication associated with in-home and
community based supportive services for older adults and their families.
To achieve a coordinated full service system of home and community care for
older adults, the Committee shall recommend make recommendations
regarding common service definitions, service standards, assessment
instruments, reporting requirements, eligibility criteria, and reimbursement
methods compatible with a coordinated system of care. standards and
guidelines for county-based Programs on Aging, county aging plans, and managed
care programs for high-risk older adults. These recommendations shall
build on the needs and goals developed through local input of all 100 North
Carolina counties and with the assistance and consultation of the Area Agencies
on Aging and the Division of Aging.
(b) The Committee shall be guided by the following program and policy goals:
(1) To provide high-risk
and at-risk older adults and their families elderly individuals with
options for quality home and community based care;
(1.1) To provide older adults with opportunities for continued productive aging through employment, volunteer, and self-help activities;
(2) To ensure a coordinated and efficient utilization of public and private resources; and
(3) To build on the current strengths and initiatives in North Carolina's aging and long-term care service networks.
(c) The Committee's recommendations will include consideration of the following:
(1) In-Home and
Supportive Family Caregiver Services: The identification of a core set of
in-home and supportive family services for older adults in need regardless of
their county of residence;
(2) Services in
the Least Restrictive Environment: Provision of choice to older adults of
receiving necessary services in the least restrictive environment or program
setting compatible with the individual's safety and well-being;
(1.1) Comprehensive County-Based Programs on Aging: the establishment of comprehensive, coordinated county-based programs on aging in all North Carolina counties by the year 2000;
(1.2) Managed Care for High-Risk Older Adults: The establishment of managed care programs for high-risk older adults in all North Carolina counties by the year 2000. These programs shall provide high-risk older adults with the option of remaining in the least restrictive environment of their choice with the support of a core of supportive home and community services;
(2.1) Options for At-Risk Older Adults: Strategies and initiatives for at-risk older adults that provide them with home and community care options for an improved quality of life in the areas of social functioning, employment and income security, mental health, health care, and housing;
(2.2) Investment in Well Older Adults: Strategies and initiatives for well older adults that facilitate productive aging in the areas of continued employment, volunteerism, and self-help;
(3) Coordinated Aging
Services Budget: Compilation of a State aging services budget to
coordinate existing program funding sources, to develop a common funding
stream, and to identify new funding resources to meet the needs of older adults,
including the identification of the availability of private sector resources; adults;
and
(4) Guidelines, Standards,
and Procedures: To the greatest extent possible, development of
compatible service definitions, service standards, assessment instruments,
eligibility criteria, reimbursement methods, and reporting requirements for
in-home and community based services for older adults, throughout the
Department of Human Resources; Resources.
(5) Independent
Evaluation of Information and Referral Projects: Independent evaluation
of the seven existing Information and Referral Projects funded through the
Division of Aging. Elements of the evaluation, to be completed by May 1,
1990, shall include evaluation of criteria, standards for the demonstrations,
expenditures, and a self-evaluation by the projects; and
(6) Design of
Coordinated Home and Community Care Demonstrations for At-Risk Older
Adults: Development of necessary guidelines, standards, procedures, and
cost estimates for implementing coordinated home and community care
demonstrations in no fewer than four and no more than eight pilot
counties. The establishment of demonstrations in coordinated home and
community care shall be coordinated with the Division of Aging's efforts to
facilitate the development of county plans on aging and a State plan on aging.
(d) The Committee shall
consist of the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources and 25 32
members, to be appointed as follows:
(1) One member each appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources from the Divisions of Aging, of Medical Assistance, of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services, of Social Services, and one director of an area agency on aging elected from among all the directors of the area agencies on aging. One member appointed by the Secretary of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources.
(2) One member each
appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources from the North
Carolina Institute of Medicine, the North Carolina Health Care Facilities
Association, the Center for Aging Research and Educational Services at The
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Long-Term Care Resources
Program at Duke University, the North Carolina Association of Long-Term Care
Facilities, the North Carolina Association for Home Care, the Center for
Creative Retirement, University of North Carolina at Asheville. Asheville,
the Geriatric Medicine Programs at the following institutions: (i) Bowman Gray
School of Medicine of Wake Forest University, (ii) the School of Medicine of
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, (iii) the School of Medicine
at Duke University, and (iv) the School of Medicine at East Carolina
University, the North Carolina Association of Continuity of Care, the North
Carolina Association of Hospital Social Work Directors, the North Carolina
Medical Society, and the North Carolina Hospital Association.
(3) Three members One
member appointed from the House of Representatives by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives;
(4) Three members One
member appointed from the Senate by the President Pro Tempore of the
Senate;
(5) One member who is a county commissioner appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources, upon the recommendation of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners; and
(6) Four Eight members
appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Human Resources, one upon the
recommendation of the North Carolina Association on Aging, one other upon the
recommendation of the Association of Local Health Directors, one other upon the
recommendation of the Association of the County Directors of Social Services, and
one other upon the recommendation of Hospice of North Carolina. Carolina,
one other from the Governor's Advisory Council on Aging, upon recommendation of
that organization, two others upon recommendation of the American Association
of Retired Persons, and one other from the North Carolina Senior Citizens
Association, upon recommendation of that organization.
The Secretary of the Department of Human Resources shall be Chair of the Committee. Members shall serve at the pleasure of the Secretary. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the initial appointment.
(e) The Committee shall,
in performing its charge, develop an annual work plan and convene task forces
or work groups comprised of interested State and local public and private
service providers, older adult consumer groups, university programs on aging,
distinguished gerontologists, and others, as appropriate. appropriate
for making recommendations.
(f) The Committee
shall make a written progress report each March 1, beginning in 1990. of
every odd-numbered year, beginning in 1991. The report shall be submitted
to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Legislative
Services Office, and the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging."
Sec. 2. This act shall be funded from funds currently available. No additional funds are required to be appropriated to implement this act.
Sec. 3. This act becomes effective July 1, 1991.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 16th day of July, 1991.
───────────────────
James C. Gardner
President of the Senate
───────────────────
Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives