Register Now! Webinar on Funding Sustainability for Lifespan Respite Programs, Thursday, May 30, 2012, 3:00 – 4:30 pm eastern. To register, click here.
State Long-Term Services and Supports Scorecard: What Distinguishes High- from Low-Ranking States? Overview of Three Case Studies
May 2012
by Susan Reinhard, Enid Kassner, Leslie Hendrickson, and Robert Mollica, AARP Public Policy Institute.
In June 2011, the AARP Public Policy Institute released Raising Expectations: A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities, and Family Caregivers The State Long-Term Services and Supports Scorecard (http://www.longtermscorecard.org/Report.aspx), which ranked states on 25 indicators to compare states’ performance in the provision of long-term services and supports (LTSS) for the adult and aging populations. The Scorecard examined state performance across four key dimensions of LTSS system performance: (1) affordability and access; (2) choice of setting and provider; (3) quality of life and quality of care; and (4) support for family caregivers. While the Scorecard started a discussion about state’s LTSS performance, it did not explain why states ranked high, low, or somewhere in between. A series of case studies were undertaken as a follow-up to the Scorecard to provide a context for understanding state performance. Site visits were made to the top-ranked state (Minnesota) and to a middle-ranked state (Idaho, ranked 19th) and a low-ranked state (Georgia, ranked 42nd).
The case studies can be found at http://www.longtermscorecard.org/?utm_source=5-10-12%3A+TSF+Comments+on+Duals%2C+Scorecard+AARP+docs&utm_campaign=May+Eblast&utm_medium=email
Building a National Agenda for Supporting Families with an Individual with Developmental or Intellectual Disabilities
April 2012
In March 2011, ARCH was invited along with a group of diverse national and state family support leaders and stakeholders to participate in a three-day intensive conference held at the Johnson Foundation's Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, Wisconsin. The purpose of the conference was to generate recommendations for a National Agenda on Family Support for families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Because of the role that families continue to play in the lives of their family members with intellectual and developmental disabilities, future policies and practices must reflect the family as part of the system of support. The goal of Building a National Agenda for Supporting Families with an Individual with Developmental or Intellectual Disabilities is to advance policy and strategies at the federal and state level for building an infrastructure for supporting families of people with developmental disabilities. This document outlines recommendations, including support for Lifespan Respite programs, that must occur to ensure that individuals with I/DD are fully integrated and included in our society and that recognition of their families’ role in their lives is part of the equation for success.
View, download, or print this document at www.familysupportagenda.org. You can post comments with your feelings and reactions to the document in an interactive format here: http://en.calameo.com/books/0013300559e4b141f1ad3
SAMHSA Report Highlights the Prevalence of Mental Illness in Older Adults
April 25, 2012
On April 25, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released Mental Health, United States, 2010, the latest in a series of publications issued biannually by SAMHSA since 1980. Modeled after CDC's annual report, Health, US, SAMHSA's new report includes mental health statistics at the national and State levels from 35 different data sources. In part, the report discovered that in 2009, 10.8 percent of persons aged 65 or older had any mental illness (AMI), and in 2004, nearly half, 49.2 percent, of nursing home residents had a diagnosis of some type of mental illness. Additionally, in 2009, Serious Mental Illness (SMI) was particularly prevalent among adults living in poverty (9.1 percent) and among those covered by Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (10.7 percent).
To download a copy of the report, please follow this link.
Preliminary Report: Did Expanding Eligibility for the Family Caregiver Support Program Reduce the Use of Long-Term Care?
May 2012
The Family Caregiver Support Program (FCSP) at the Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) provides resources and services to unpaid family caregivers in Washington State. In concert with the state’s 13 Area Agencies on Aging, the FCSP provides information and outreach; screening, assessment, consultation, coordination of services, and caregiver support services and resources. The program directly served 5,800 caregivers in fiscal year 2011. For fiscal year 2012, the state legislature increased funding for FCSP to expand in-depth services to more caregivers. The legislature also directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to work with DSHS to establish and review outcome measures associated with the FCSP expansion. The goal of the study is to assess whether the expansion of this program delays entry of care recipients into Medicaid-paid long-term care. This report gives a brief description of the program and outlines the approach to evaluation. A final report will be published by August 30, 2012. (February 2012) Jim Mayfield, Marna Miller. #12-02-3901.
To download a copy of the preliminary report, visit this link. http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/12-02-3901.pdf
Citation: J. Mayfield & M. Miller (2012) Preliminary Report: Did expanding eligibility for family caregiver support program reduce the use of long-term care? (Document No. 12-02-3901). Olympia: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
Report Finds Facility Care Costs Growing, Home Care Costs Remaining Stable
Genwood Financial recently released the 2012 edition of its annual Cost of Care Survey. The report found that nursing home and assisted living facility care costs continued to grow while home care costs remained flat in 2011. The report used data from more than 15,000 long-term care providers throughout the country to determine the median rates for a range of long-term care services:
- Licensed Homemaker Services - $18 median hourly rate; no change from 2011
- Licensed Home Health Aide Services - $19 median hourly rate; no change from 2011
- Adult Day Health Care - $61 median day rate; up 1.67 percent from 2011
- Assisted Living Facility, One Bedroom, Single Occupancy - $3,300 median monthly rate; up 1.2 percent from 2011
- Nursing Home, Semi-Private Room - $200 median daily rate; up 3.63 percent from 2011
- Nursing Home, Private Room - $222 median daily rate; up 4.23 percent from 2011
The report can be accessed here.
E-Journal Explores Childhood Disability
The spring 2012 issue of The Future of Children explores the prevalence, nature, treatment, and consequences of childhood disability. The issue, a collaboration between Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Brookings Institution, focuses not on individual disabilities but rather on cross-cutting themes that apply broadly to the issue of childhood disability. Topics include the definition of childhood disability, its prevalence and trends over time, and the costs it imposes both on the individual child and on the child's family. Contributors also consider disability within the context of the nation's educational, health insurance, and medical systems; the impact of emerging technologies on the experience of disability; and the definition of health care quality. The volume concludes with a discussion of the prevention of childhood disability.
The full journal, executive summary, policy brief, and article summaries are available at http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/journal_details/index.xml?journalid=77
For monthly in-depth news updates, please subscribe to The Newsletter of the Technical Assistance Centers for Caregiver Programs and Lifespan Respite, by clicking on this link. This is a joint effort between the Family Caregiver Alliance and the ARCH National Respite Network.
