1. (a)

   1. (1) Receipt of home-delivered meal service is based on a determination of need/continued need.
   2. (2) The primary target group of the home-delivered meal program is homebound eligible persons with the greatest economic or social needs, which may increase nutritional risk.

   3. (3) Special attention is given to low-income, minority elderly, and others who:

      1. (A) Do not eat adequate and nutritious meals because they are incapacitated due to:

2. (i) Accident, illness, or frailty;

   1. (ii) Inability to prepare meals due to their limited mobility, psychological impairment, or mental impairment;

      1. (iii) Inability to safely prepare meals; and/or

         1. (iv) Lack of knowledge to select and prepare nourishing and well-balanced meals; and
      2. (B) Are without adequate resources such as family, friends, or other community services to provide them with meals.

3. (b) A means test may not be used to determine eligibility for the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program, however, a means test may be applied to individuals who receive meals funded by sources which require a means test such as the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG).

   1. (c) Persons who have been determined to be eligible through assessment of need will benefit nutritionally from receiving a meal and are:
   2. (1) Sixty (60) years and older, homebound (unable to leave the home without the assistance of another person), and have no one available to prepare the meal they will receive;

   3. (2) A person who is:

      1. (A) Frail;
      2. (B) Homebound by reason of illness, incapacitation, or disability; or
      3. (C) Otherwise isolated;
   4. (3) The spouse of a sixty-plus (60+) homebound participant if, by criteria developed by the area agency on aging or subcontractor, providing a meal is in the best interest of the homebound participant;
   5. (4) A person with disabilities under age sixty (60) who resides with an eligible participant is unable to prepare nutritious meals and is in the home during the hours of meal service, with area agency on aging approval; or
   6. (5) Sixty (60) years or older and who meets SSBG income, service need, and residence requirements, if served with SSBG funds.

Codification Notes: This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules provided as follows: “1-1-96”