THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

120

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE RESOLUTION

 

supporting the development of a self-determination demonstration project using consumer-directed approaches.

 

WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has more than 207,001 residents who are sixty years of age and older; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's oldest residents, aged seventy-five and older, grew by 62.5 per cent in the ten-year period between 1990 and 2000; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii's elder population is growing at a faster rate than that of any other state; and

WHEREAS, the need for long-term care services, especially home and community-based services, will continue to grow; and

WHEREAS, where the number of elders increases and service dollars remain at the same level or decrease, it is imperative that limited service dollars produce the greatest benefit to and for elders; and

WHEREAS, since 1988, the Executive Office on Aging's long-term care guidelines have stressed that programs and services be client-centered, family-supportive, assure dignity, and promote self-determination and independence to the maximum extent possible for all older persons; and

WHEREAS, consumer-directed approaches in aging services are increasingly becoming a viable option to offer more choice, control, and flexibility to older adults in need of services; and

WHEREAS, consumer direction is a philosophy and an orientation to the delivery of home and community-based services, whereby informed consumers make choices about the services they receive, assessing their own needs and determining how and by whom these needs should be met and monitoring the quality of services received; and

WHEREAS, research indicates that more dollars go into consumer pockets, administrative overhead is reduced, client satisfaction is increased, and few to no incidences of elder abuse and/or financial exploitation are reported when aging services are more consumer-directed; and

WHEREAS, such research on a national level includes:

(1) The Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation Program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and

(2) Promoting Consumer Direction in Aging Services, a national initiative to assess home and community-based services and develop consumer direction reforms that increase opportunities for elders to direct their own care, organized by the National Association of State Units on Aging and the National Council on the Aging and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and

WHEREAS, consumer-directed approaches are increasingly being used locally in the Real Choices System Changes grants and the Personal Assistant and Support Services grant, Kokua Kalihi Valley's Respite Care program, and the Hawaii Centers for Independent Living programs; and

WHEREAS, Act 133, Session Laws of Hawaii 1998, amended section 333F-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to require that consumer-directed approaches and client self-determination principles be incorporated in the Department of Health, Developmental Disabilities Division's programs, such as the Nursing Home Without Walls and Chore Services for individuals with developmental disabilities; and

WHEREAS, initial results of the 2002 Hawaii Statewide Survey on Caregiving reported that over half (57 per cent) of the 379 caregivers surveyed were in support of consumer-directed approaches and thought it was an attractive program direction to pursue; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii is one of five states selected to participate in Promoting Consumer Direction in Aging Services; and

WHEREAS, to support this effort, the Executive Office on Aging has been awarded a technical assistance grant from the National Association of State Units on Aging; and

WHEREAS, the culmination of this initiative is the Self-Determination Demonstration Project, a two-year demonstration project to evaluate consumer-directed approaches with Hawaii's elders, spearheaded by the Executive Office on Aging and the Department of Health; and

WHEREAS, in Olmstead v. L.C., the United States Supreme Court held that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires states to provide services for individuals with disabilities in community-based settings, rather than in institutions, where appropriate; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court held that a state could demonstrate compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act by developing a "comprehensive, effectively working plan for placing individuals with mental disabilities in less restrictive settings"; and

WHEREAS, the Olmstead plan developed by the State of Hawaii in response to the ruling lists as one of its objectives: "[To] change policies for existing resources to increase flexibility in how funds are used and give authorization to people with disabilities to control how they use their own funds"; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, that this body supports and encourages the efforts of the Executive Office on Aging and the Department of Health to develop the Self-Determination Demonstration Project; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Directors of

Health and Human Services, and the Director of the Executive Office on Aging.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Executive Office on Aging; Consumer Direction in Aging Services