Montana has a great opportunity to make sure more of its citizens are able to live in their own homes and communities while still receiving the services they need to live. And the people who will receive those services, along with their friends and family members, need to act now to make sure their will is reflected so Montana will make this opportunity successful!
In April, the state was awarded a planning grant to study the Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration (MFP) program.
This planning grant for the MFP program reflects growing agreement that long-term supports must be transformed from being institutionally-based and provider driven to person-centered, consumer directed and community-based.
The MFP program will allow more people to live at home, and transition out of institutions such as nursing homes, which is the best thing for Montanans and will allow the state to follow through with the least restrictive setting mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision.
The primary goals of the MFP program are to:
Increase the use of Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) and reduce the use of institutionally-based services;
Eliminate barriers that prevent or restrict the flexible use of Medicaid funds to allow Medicaid-eligible individuals to receive long-term care in the settings of their choice;
Strengthen the ability of Medicaid programs to ensure continued provision of HCBS to those individuals who choose to transition from institutions; and
Guarantee that procedures are in place to make sure HCBS is functional and continually improving.
Although successful application of this grant will ultimately strengthen all our communities, certain populations will be the program’s primary targets to transition into the community, including:
Persons in Montana Developmental Center (MDC),
Persons with Severe Disabling Mental Illness (SDMI) in nursing homes,
Persons with physical disabilities and elders in nursing homes,
Persons with complex needs in nursing homes, including those with traumatic brain injury,
Persons who are 18-21 years old in the State Hospital, and
Youth in Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTF).
As part of this planning process, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) established an MFP Stakeholder Advisory Council. This council and the public input it receives will shape the program between now and August 8, when the grant application is due.
That’s where you come in. Your input is greatly needed to shape the programs and services that Montanans receive to make their inclusion into our homes and communities possible. Money Follows the Person and other HCBS long-term care programs are on the verge of changing and now is the time to get your thoughts and suggestions to those developing the program, before the grant application is submitted.
If you are interested in contributing to this process, please contact Mike Mayer at Summit Independent Living Center at (406) 728-1630 or mmayer@summitilc.org as soon as possible. Your voice matters!
