Money Follows the Person

This past year, 31 grants were awarded 31 states, including Connecticut, that submitted proposals for federal grant money for deinstitutionalization. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), of the Department of Health & Human Services, awarded $1,435,709,479 in Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration grants to states proposing to transition 37,731 individuals out of institutional settings over the five-year demonstration period.

The Centers for Independent Living, of which DNEC is one, will partner with the Area Agencies on Aging, including Senior Resources in Norwich, to move people from nursing homes and certain other institutions into community settings. This demonstration grant was enacted by the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, in recognition of the fact that, in addition to being a much better way of life for persons with disabilities, community services and supports are in fact a less expensive way to serve people than nursing homes and other institutions.

States must also guarantee "maintenance of effort", which means that after the five-year period is over, states must continue to spend at least as much as they spent in 2005. When the grant begins (delays on the federal level have made the starting date uncertain), much of the money will be used to create the necessary changes in the community so that maintenance of community services can continue beyond the grant period. Much of this change has already occurred as a result of the Nursing Facilities Transition Project, which will be rolled over into the MFP grant.

As you know, lack of availability of homes in the community is a huge barrier to getting people out of institutions. In October of 2006, Secretary Alphonso Jackson of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sent a letter to Public Housing Authorities and State Housing Finance Agencies informing them that the MFP initiative provides an opportunity for them to collaborate with CMS and local disability organizations to expand accessible, affordable, and integrated housing options (by the use of public housing and housing vouchers) for persons with disabilities and seniors. Jackson added, "Such promotion would allow both the Department and PHAs [Public Housing Authorities], as recipients of federal financial assistance, to meet, in part, our obligations under the Supreme Court Olmstead decision, to allow services to be provided in the most integrated settings".

DNEC eagerly awaits the commencement of this program. We'll keep you posted!