(a) Responsibilities of the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services:

1. (1) Prescribe, promulgate, and enforce policies, standards, rules, and procedures governing providers of and the provision of state-funded nursing home alternatives services to the elderly in order to ensure the protection of the health, safety, and well-being of the recipients;
2. (2) Establish a formula for the apportionment of nursing home alternative funds to the eight (8) area agency on aging regions;
3. (3) Review and approve nursing home alternative components of area plans;
4. (4) Issue nursing home alternative grant awards and monitor expenditures and services under those grants;
5. (5) Develop program reporting and data collection requirements;
6. (6) Promote the development of new services and programs through consultation and technical assistance to area agencies on aging and other program developers;

7. (7)

   1. (A) Establish an evaluation process and conduct routine evaluations of the nursing home alternatives to ensure compliance with program policies and procedures and to assess appropriateness and effectiveness of services.
   2. (B) Conduct follow-up inspections of programs that are out of compliance; and
8. (8) Assist agencies found to be out of compliance with program standards and rules in developing corrective action plans.

(b) Responsibilities of area agencies on aging:

1. (1) Comply with the policies, standards, rules, and procedures governing nursing home alternative services;
2. (2) Furnish all data and information requested by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services;
3. (3) Include in the area plan all nursing home alternative services to be offered, meeting all requirements of the plan;

4. (4)

   1. (A) Plan, develop, and provide services appropriate to the target population in compliance with directives of the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services.
   2. (B) Specific approval must be obtained from the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services to budget more than fifty percent (50%) of alternative funds to any single service;

5. (5)

   1. (A) Prepare and submit notices of grant awards (NGAs), new, revised, or supplements, to the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services (see Appendix).
   2. (B) All NGAs, new or revised, must include budget narrative and summary.
   3. (C) Ensure that administrative expenditures for nursing home alternatives does not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the total allocation;
6. (6) Solicit contract providers for services through the request for proposals (RFP) procedures;
7. (7) Contract only with licensed or certified providers for any service for which the state requires provider licensing or certification;
8. (8) Submit monthly requests for funds to the Division of Finance on Request for Cash Form;

9. (9)

   1. (A) Maintain program activity data on the computerized Management Information System to meet tracking and reporting requirements.
   2. (B) Program reports shall include:

(i) Unduplicated count of clients;

1. (ii) Client totals by sex;

   1. (iii) Number of clients by age group:

(b) (b) Sixty-five to seventy-four (65 – 74);

1. (c) (c) Seventy-five to eighty-four (75 – 84); and

   1. (d) (d) Eighty-five plus (85+);

      1. (iv) Client totals by race;
      2. (v) Number of clients with income below poverty level;
      3. (vi) Average monthly cost per client;
      4. (vii) Number of clients discharged to:

(b) (b) Nursing home;

1. (c) (c) Moved from service area;

   1. (d) (d) Improved, no longer need service;

(f) (f) Other;

1. (viii) Total units of services delivered;

   1. (ix) For each service provided:

(b) (b) Unduplicated count of clients;

1. (c) (c) Total number of clients of each sex;

   1. (d) (d) Average units per client; and

(e) (e) Total expenditures for services;

1. (10) Submit monthly reports of program activity to the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services on or before the tenth workday of the month;

2. (11)

   1. (A) Submit annual reports of program activity to the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services no later than thirty (30) days after the end of the program year.
   2. (B) These will report annual data for the categories of information in the monthly report;
3. (12) Review client eligibility and update active client files on an annual basis to ensure continued eligibility for services; and

4. (13)

   1. (A) Develop and implement a complaint reporting and investigation system.
   2. (B) The system shall be designed to collect required data as efficiently and effectively as possible and to identify patterns of complaints made on behalf of clients.
   3. (C) The information provided by the system shall be used in the general management, assessment, and monitoring of the program at the state, area agency on aging, and provider levels.

   4. (D) Complaint reports, including results of any investigation, shall be available for review by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services.

      1. (c) Direct service provider requirements. Requirements for all direct service providers:
5. (1) The provider shall be able to demonstrate an organizational and staffing capacity to meet their service commitment;
6. (2) The provider shall have an organizational chart clearly depicting lines of supervision and responsibility;
7. (3) The provider shall have written administrative and personnel policies;

8. (4) Hiring policies must comply with the following requirements:

   1. (A) Staff positions shall be planned and filled according to the:

      1. (i) Mission and goals of the provider;
      2. (ii) Manpower needed to carry out the mission and goals; and
      3. (iii) Requirements of the position;
   2. (B) All qualified applicants must receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (except as provided by law), marital status, political affiliation, or handicap, except where it relates to a bona fide occupational qualification; and
   3. (C) Concurrent employment is permitted to the extent that it does not interfere with agency duties and responsibilities;

9. (5) The following procedures must be incorporated into provider administrative policies:

   1. (A) For every direct care worker there shall be a written job description which specifies:

      1. (i) Qualifications of education, experience, and personal traits, e.g., ability to relate to people, patience, positive mental attitude, ability to listen, sense of responsibility, etc.;
      2. (ii) Duties and responsibilities; and
      3. (iii) To whom the employee is responsible;
   2. (B) References shall be required and must be verified for all direct care applicants prior to employment;

   3. (C) Each direct care worker must:

      1. (i) Display the physical, emotional, and mental capacity to perform required duties;
      2. (ii) Have no conviction of abuse or any crime involving physical harm to another person nor be a perpetrator of substantiated abuse; and
      3. (iii) Have no history of criminal convictions; and

   4. (D) An individual personnel file must be maintained on each alternative services employee which must include at least:

      1. (i) Position, title, and written job description;
      2. (ii) Name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, home telephone number, and emergency contact number;
      3. (iii) Documentation of education and professional qualifications, e.g., copies of license, certification, etc., as applicable;
      4. (iv) Employment history and documentation of references checked prior to employment;
      5. (v) Evaluation of work performance;
      6. (vi) Record of dates and hours worked for at least the previous calendar year;
      7. (vii) Records of orientation and in-service training attended; and
      8. (viii) Health card;

10. (6)

    1. (A) Staff training and development must meet the minimum standards applicable to the type of service provided.
    2. (B) Each direct care worker must have completed any training required by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services and must demonstrate skills at or above a minimum acceptable agency standard approved by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services.
    3. (C) There shall be established standards of satisfactory performance and a procedure to evaluate each employee.
    4. (D) Each direct care worker must receive in­service training in accordance with the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services rules governing the specific service the worker performs;
11. (7) The provider shall comply with all policies and procedures governing their specific services;
12. (8) The provider shall meet minimum insurance requirements of the state or other regulatory agency and maintain proof of such insurance available for review if requested;
13. (9) The provider and direct care workers must be bonded; and

14. (10) The provider shall have available for review copies of current facility inspection reports if applicable.

    1. (d) Requirements specific to contract providers:
15. (1) Provider applicants must apply through the RFP procedures; and
16. (2) All provider applicants that meet all of the state and federal requirements for the services they propose to provide will be eligible to contract for those services.