SCR26

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	26
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING AND SUPPORTING IMPLEMENTATION OF A SINGLE ENTRY POINT SYSTEM FOR LONG-TERM CARE SERVICES.

WHEREAS, in 1995, the Eighteenth Legislature, through Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 121, H.D. 1, (SCR 121) established the Hawaii Long-Term Care Reform Task Force (Task Force); and

WHEREAS, the Task Force was organized into a two tier system: a Blue Ribbon Committee comprised one level, and a Long-Term Care Reform Steering Committee and Long-Term Care Resource Group comprised another level; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Long-Term Care Reform Task Force was requested in SCR 121 to:

(1) Study and understand what Hawaii’s long-term care needs are and what costs are associated with those needs;

(2) Study and understand what financial resources are available for long-term care for today’s elderly and those who will become the elderly in about twenty years;

(3) Study and evaluate barriers to the provision of community-based services, home health services, and the construction of new facilities;

(4) Educate the general public about the issue; and

(5) Establish the framework for implementation of a long-term care system;

and

WHEREAS, the Caring...For Life Foundation, a nonprofit organization organized in 1990, established a working relationship with the Hawaii Long-Term Care Reform Task Force and provided optimum support for the Task Force mission and objectives; and

WHEREAS, the Caring...For Life Foundation continues to develop the framework for a long-term care system; and

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to establish a single point system for persons who are in need of long-term care services, because the current delivery system for this growing population is fragmented and uncoordinated, as documented in a study conducted by the Legislative Reference Bureau in 1995 entitled "Long-Term Care: A Single Entry Point for Three Populations"; and

WHEREAS, Act 301, Session Laws of Hawaii 1996, created an ad hoc coordinating committee under the Department of Human Services made up of public and private agencies, including the area agencies on aging, and consumers representing populations which need long-term care services to plan the creation and implementation of a single entry point system; and

WHEREAS, a report to the Legislature submitted by the coordinating committee recommended the adoption of a single entry point system; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature intends to implement the single entry point system as recommended by the coordinating committee but finds that there is a need for establishing a quasi-public policy body with authority in lieu of an advisory council to address long-term care services and supports with easier and simpler access to the long-term care system; and

WHEREAS, there is a need to further refine the organization and provisions of the single entry point system as recommended by the coordinating committee; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Caring...For Life Foundation is requested to implement the basic framework of a single entry point system in the capacity of a coordinating agency, to:

(1) Establish a pilot coordinating/data center;

(2) Establish prototype intake centers at public and private facilities and in select areas provide for respite functions in adult day care and adult day health;

(3) Establish electronic linkage between coordinating/data center and intake centers, government agencies, providers, institutions, insurers, consumers with provisions for confidentiality;

(4) Establish collaborative relationship with advocacy groups;

(5) Develop community empowerment through consumer network;

(6) Establish a uniform need assessment form in electronic format for transmission through secured Internet means;

(7) Develop framework for electronic consumer data base;

(8) Establish case management resource group;

(9) Establish a caregiver training program in collaboration with the American Red Cross Hawaii Chapter and the University of Hawaii Community Colleges;

(10) In collaboration with State Office of Volunteer Services, establish resource center for volunteer caregivers utilizing time banking system;

(11) Establish a working relationship with the Office of Aging, County of Hawaii, as a prototype of an area agency providing comprehensive and coordinated system of services for the aging population;

(12) Develop a telehealth and telemedicine system in Hawaii as a major component of health care delivery and providing linkage between the consumer at home and service providers; and

(13) Develop network of provider services;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that funding for the Caring...For Life Foundation is to be provided by grants and funds from the private sector; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature strongly supports the implementation of a single entry point system for long-term care and encourages participation and financial support from the private sector; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Caring...For Life Foundation is requested to report its progress and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services, Director of Health, Director of the Executive Office on Aging, Director of Commission on Persons with Disabilities, Director of State Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities, Director of State Office of Volunteer Services, Mayor of the county of Hawaii, and the Caring...For Life Foundation.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Single Entry Point System for Long-Term Care