GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1989 SESSION
CHAPTER 457
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. Article 3 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 143B-181.9A. Advisory Committee on Home and Community Care.
(a) There is established the Advisory Committee on Home and Community Care within the Department of Human Resources. This Committee shall recommend to the Department of Human Resources and the General Assembly 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 common service definitions, service standards, assessment instruments, reporting requirements, eligibility criteria, and reimbursement methods compatible with a coordinated system of care. 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 at-risk elderly individuals with options for quality home and community based care;
(2) To ensure a coordinated and efficient utilization of 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;
(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;
(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;
(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 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 Health Services, of Medical Assistance, of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, 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.
(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.
(3) Three members appointed from the House of Representatives by the General Assembly, upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
(4) Three members appointed from the Senate by the General Assembly, upon the recommendation of 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 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.
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.
(f) The Committee shall make a written progress report each March 1, beginning in 1990. 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. No additional appropriations are required for this act.
Sec. 3. This act shall become effective July 1, 1989.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 26th day of June, 1989.