Human Services Announces Plans to Continue Helping People Transition From Institutional Care Settings to Community Living

BISMARCK, North Dakota, May 28 -- The North Dakota Department of Human Services issued the following news release:

The North Dakota Department of Human Services' Money Follows the Person (MFP) program will continue helping Medicaid-eligible older adults and people with disabilities to transition from institutional care settings to community living arrangements of their choice.

The Medicaid Extenders Act of 2019 recently passed by Congress provided additional federal funding to states that chose to extend their MFP transitions through 2019 with the intention of transitions continuing in 2020 and 2021 based on available funding. North Dakota's grant funding for MFP transitions ended Dec. 31, 2018.

"We are pleased with this opportunity to continue to focus on strengthening and promoting home and community-based services in our state and shifting Medicaid long-term services spending from institutional care to community living," said Maggie Anderson, director of the department's Medical Services Division. "Serving people where they want to be, in their own homes and communities, has been a priority of the department, and the MFP program supports those efforts."

The MFP program helps qualifying individuals who are elderly or have physical or other disabilities and who live in nursing homes, the Life Skills and Transition Center or other institutions move to their own home or apartment; a family member's home; an assisted living facility or other community housing option.

Eligible participants work with a transition coordinator from a centers for independent living to create a written transition plan, arrange for services and supports in the individual's home and ensure their needs are being met for one year following the transition.

The program also provides up to $3,000 in one-time moving costs, 24-hour backup nursing call services, rental assistance and access to state and Medicaid-funded community-based services like personal care services, home modifications, assistive technology, transportation and other services.

To qualify for the MFP program transition support, an individual must be a Medicaid recipient, live in an institutional setting for 90-consecutive days or more, and want to return to community living. Participation is voluntary.

Anderson said since MFP transitions began in North Dakota in 2008, 455 individuals have transitioned to community settings. People helped include individuals who were residing in a nursing home and people of all ages with physical or intellectual disabilities who lived in an institutional setting.

For more information on the MFP program, visit www.nd.gov/dhs/info/pubs/mfp.html. Individuals interested in learning more about MFP transitions can contact a centers for independent living. Centers are located in Bismarck, East Grand Forks, Minn., Fargo and Minot. Contact information is online at www.nd.gov/dhs/dvr/individual/independent.html.

The federal government awarded the department an $8.9 million Money Follows the Person grant in 2007. The grant was reauthorized under the Affordable Care Act in 2016, and the state received additional federal funds to continue MFP transitions through December 2018.

The new federal funding will allow North Dakota to extend transition support through 2021.