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bjbjD I think what you talked about most nursing homes were either corporations or limited
liability corporations so I don t think they have to have the openness. Now each nursing
home is supposed to have, if you re using Medicaid monies you re subjected to federal
rules and regulations, but also most nursing homes where there s public money has ambones
men or ambones person who can advocate for the person s in the nursing home. Now a lot
of people may not know that or be able to articulate that. I went to Berkley in 1976
and that was my biggest concern is, are there people in the bay area who are living in nursing
homes? And I remember CIL saying there are and one of the things that we do is we go
into the nursing home and we let people know about the resources available to make those
needs known. I remember there was the New Options Program, again in the seventies, in
Houston where there was some training monies available to train people in nursing homes
to know how to live independently. And then once they got all the information, they could
go and seek subsidized housing if they needed that and hopefully pool monies together to
get an attendant. So much of independent living is the resources within the community. You
could have the best independent living center in the country but if you don t have the resources
from your state government, particularly Medicaid, you re going to, again you either have to
be really rich, really, really resourceful to pool money with some other people, live
with your parents or live in a nursing home. Someone said to live independently, you have
to, there has to be the desire to live independently, you have to want to live independently. Too,
you have to have the resources. This guy, I remember, gave an example. Daniel Boone,
he lived in Kentucky and he killed deer and elk I m sure and was able to get food and
clothing and shelter. If he lived in the desert in Nevada, he wouldn t be as independent because
that state had resources: game and timber and such. So I think having resources, but
beyond that, you got to know how to use the resources. There are people in nursing homes
in Colorado who say well, there isn t money to pay for community based resources. I need
24 hour services. You say, why do you need 24 hour services? You need an aide, an attendant
in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening but you re sleeping at night and if
you have a phone next to you or a lifeline device, you can live independently. And some
people hear all these horror stories, most of which are perpetuated by the nursing homes.
Oh, you ll be alone for days at a time before the agency comes and serves you. But I think
some of it is, people have access to information, but it could be in a more structured basis.
It would be nice if the independent living centers were to go in on a more periodic basis
to teach skills like new options: how to manage an attendant, how to secure subsidized housing,
how to pick a doctor, how to pick a home health agency or another service provider, on and
on and on. So people can get the information so that when they make the leap into the community,
they re armed with information, resources and backup. But, I m not sure there s a sustained
effort. Years ago, and I m not popular for saying this, but years ago there was a nursing
home and it was a fancier nursing home. And for some reason they forged a deal with the
state and they had a lot of younger disabled people. The deal was they d get a higher rate
of reimbursement if they d transition people out. Well, they did get a higher rate of reimbursement
and they did transition people out, and the minute people got out, and there were community
based services then, not a one of them ever wanted to go back. They knew what freedom
was. And I thought it was a good deal, the nursing home provided additional services,
got more money, but the people left. So, I think if there s some creative, decent people
in that industry, and I m sure there are some, to develop a program, a real viable program,
go to the state, and I hope community leaders would in the disability community would recognize
this because I think the short run it s hard to see, you know, no one wants to see someone
in a nursing home, it s like I think, the analogy of someone being in jail and being
in jail for a crime they never committed other than they happen to be disabled but if there
was a short term program and the ultimate end is to get people in the community, and
it necessitates a higher rate. I think people should be amenable to that, that kind of program.
And I think there needs to be more outreach into nursing homes to begin to identify people
who want to live independently to provide those kinds of services. And I will say, too
that Atlantis, and some of the other, I know the Boulder Independent Living Center, have
been involved in implementing a program whereby people in nursing homes can get section 8
vouchers which is like getting a bar of gold, to move out of the nursing homes. And unfortunately
there s still vouchers available so I think the outreach has to be greater to identify
people, provide a semblance of skills, get the vouchers, provide community based services
once they get the vouchers. urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags State urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags
City urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags place It was called Heritage House Owner Normal
Owner Microsoft Office Word Microsoft, Inc It was called Heritage House Title Microsoft
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