DON Study (principal authors - HMPRG’s Phyllis Mitzen, Marianne Brennan & Rebecca Finer, HMPRG consultant, Martha Holstein)
In January, 2008, the Center was asked by the Department to assist in responding to legislative mandate, PA 95-565. Advocates for the elderly were concerned that the service package available to people age 60 and older through the Illinois Department on Aging is less robust than that offered through the Department of Human Services for people with disabilities who are under age 60. The Center collaborated with the Center for Research on Health and Aging at the University of Illinois at Chicago which provided the statistical analysis of IDoA’s Community Care Program and the Home Services Program. The Center, in addition to coordinating the project, provided an analysis of aging and disabilities services in six best-practice states: Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. The Study is the first in depth analysis of the Community Care Program since it’s inception in 1982. The Determination of Need, Service Cost Maximum Study, submitted to IDOA in June, 2009, was broadly distributed by the Department and appears on HMPRG’s web site.
