Authorizes the establishment of a long term care community in Columbia county known as Camphill Ghent, Inc. to provide integrated services to certain persons

Summary of provisions

Section one clarifies the legislative intent of the bill, which is to remove existing barriers preventing individuals residing in the adult home or assisted living program at Camphill Ghent from aging in place, and preventing support for the additional services necessary to serve persons with developmental disabilities in such program.

Section two describes the services to be provided by Camphill Ghent, Inc.

Section three provides that persons residing in the adult home or assisted living program at Camphill Ghent may remain in such program even where they would otherwise require discharge, provided that the program provides any additional services necessary to care for such persons.

Section four provides that the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities shall provide a supplemental payment to the assisted living program at Camphill Ghent to provide additional services necessary to serve persons with developmental disabilities residing in such program.

Section five exempts the adult home and assisted living program at Camphill Ghent from existing provisions of law requiring persons to be discharged from an adult home or assisted living program under certain circumstances, and prohibiting residents from performing volunteer work.

Section six provides that the bill would take effect immediately.

Justification

The Camphill Movement came to North America from Great Britain 50 years ago with the intention and founding ideal to build communities where the individuality and spiritual integrity of every human being ars recognized, upheld and lovingly nourished. A Camphill community was started in Copake, New York, in 1961 at the urging of a group of concerned people that included parents of young adults with

developmental disabilities who wished to live and work in a fully integrated environment offering interesting and challenging work options and a healthy outdoor lifestyle. Today, Camphill Village in Copake comprises 600 acres of hills, woods and pastures, 24 houses of different sizes, crafts workshops, farm buildings, a medical care center, a culture and arts center, and a bakery co-op, cafe and gift shop. A total of 240 people live and work there together in dedication to the founding ideals.

As members of the Camphill Village community have aged over the years and required increasingly sophisticated health care services, Camphill has found that in many cases it has no choice but to defer those persons to nursing homes or other institutional settings. This not only results in a difficult and often traumatic transition for those persons from a very integrated to a much less integrated setting. It also results in unnecessary costs, which are frequently borne by the state through the Medicaid program. Such costs could be avoided if Camphill residents had access to more integrated long term health services.

In an effort to develop such services in a setting consistent with Camphill ideals, Camphill Village is in the process of establishing a long term care community that includes unlicensed senior housing, an adult home, a licensed home care services agency and an assisted living program. Such a community will serve persons with and without developmental disabilities both from Camphill Village and from elsewhere in Columbia County. The community has received significant support from New York State through the award of a $9.6 million grant under the Healthcare Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers (HEAL-NY) and the Federal-State Health Reform Partnership (F-SHRP) and is awaiting final certification of need approval.

Unfortunately, there are barriers under current law that prevent Camphill Ghent from fully realizing its goals for the new community. First, under current law, an adult home or assisted living program must discharge individuals who need a higher level of care than the standard level offered by such programs. This bill would address that by allowing persons exceeding those discharge standards to remain at Camphill Ghent provided that the program provides the additional services necessary to adequately care for such persons. Second, there is currently no mechanism to support the additional services necessary to adequately care for individuals with developmental disabilities in an assisted living program. This bill would provide for a supplemental payment from the Office for Persons with Developmental Disability to support the additional services necessary to ensure such persons can be adequately served in such a setting.

As a result, individuals who would normally be referred to a more expensive institutional setting will be cared for in a less expensive, fully integrated community setting. Such setting would offer groundbreaking services for both persons with and persons without developmental disabilities, allowing them to age in place and maintain a high quality of life for as long as possible.

Legislative history

None.

Fiscal implications

This bill should result in a net savings to the state of approximately $900,000 per year attributable to the reduced cost of caring for individuals who would otherwise be served in more expensive institutional settings.

Effective date

Immediately.