News Releases for September 2002
September 30, 2002
Contact: Carol K. Olson, Executive Director, Department of Human Services
(701) 328-2538
or Duane Houdek, Office of the Governor
(701) 328-2200
Hoeven Announces State To Receive $900,000 For Home-Based Care
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven today announced that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has awarded North Dakota a $900,000 Real Choices Systems Change grant.
Administered by the governor’s Olmstead Commission, the grant will help the state evaluate and implement ways of effectively delivering health and human services in urban and rural counties. Special emphasis will be placed on enhancing home and community-based services for people with disabilities.
“We are in a position now to help North Dakota clearly identify existing needs and initiate positive changes that will expand community long-term support and care options,” Hoeven said. “Ultimately, the grant enables us to improve the lives of people with disabilities in North Dakota.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services invited states to apply for the grant funding last summer. The grants come in response to the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, which encourages a consumer-focused, community-based approach to caring for people with disabilities of all ages.
Hoeven congratulated Department of Human Services Executive Director Carol K. Olson and for successfully acquiring the grant on behalf of the Governor’s Olmstead Commission. He described it as a collaborative effort also involving consumer advocacy organizations.
“We can create a win-win situation if we can more effectively pool available resources to help people live in the dignity of their own homes or other types of settings, if they choose and if such community placements are appropriate,” Olson said. “Based on research, people overwhelming want to be cared for in their own home and community. This grant will allow us to explore options for providing in-home services.”
Grant dollars will be allocated to assess existing resources and areas of unmet need, to develop strategies for enhancing services, and to implement initial changes through training, pilot projects and the development of a “wraparound” system of care, where the services go to the client.
The commission will complete its work in time to make recommendations to the Legislature during the next legislative session.
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