Adult Foster Care homes are small, homelike settings serving no more than 5 persons. Families may provide adult foster care services in their own homes, or organizations may provide foster care services in homes using round-the-clock staff. These corporate adult foster care homes may offer a variety of supportive and health-related services, including specialized dementia care, and are licensed by counties for the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
Assisted Living services are a coordinated package of
supportive and health related services made available to
residents living in a senior building registered as a
housing-with-services establishment. The health related
services must be provided by a licensed home care provider.
Minnesota's
Assisted Living law requires assisted living programs to offer
a minimum number of services, but most assisted living
programs provide many additional services. At minimum,
assisted living providers must offer:
- Assistance
with medication administration
- Assistance
with at least three activities of daily living (bathing,
dressing, grooming, eating, transferring, continence care,
and toileting)
- A system to
check on residents daily, and staff available to help with
unscheduled needs round the clock
- Supportive
services, which include at least two meals per day, weekly
housekeeping, weekly laundry assistance, socialization and
assistance in arranging transportation to appointments and
in accessing other services in the community.
Assisted living
providers must make available to prospective residents the
Uniform Consumer Information Guide, which includes important
information about services and costs.
Various types
and sizes of senior buildings can offer assisted living
services, including corporate adult foster care settings,
board and lodging establishments, non-certified boarding care
homes and apartment buildings. Some apartment buildings that
were originally designed to serve "independent"
seniors may offer assisted living services to those residents
who now need assistance, while other apartment buildings have
been specially designed for assisted living programs and
feature small-scale, private apartments with individual
kitchens or kitchenettes.
Because
Minnesota' regulations allow for flexibility in the design of
assisted living programs and in the size and type of buildings
where these programs are available, consumers will find that
assisted living programs do not all look alike. When looking
for assisted living, consumers should study each building's
Uniform Consumer Information Guide, which includes important
information about available services, fees and more. Consumers
should also visit several buildings and ask questions in order
to find the building and service package that best suits their
needs.
Board and
Lodging establishments may vary greatly in size, some
resembling small homes with only five residents and others
more like large apartment buildings. Residents have private or
shared rooms, but do not have individual kitchens. These
settings are licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health or
by a local health department. In addition to three meals per
day, many of these settings offer a variety of supportive
services (such as housekeeping and personal laundry) or home
care services (such as help with dressing and bathing,
medication administration, etc.) to residents.
Condominiums
offer ownership housing in an apartment-style building or
townhouse-style complex. Condo residents hold title to their
own living unit and share ownership of the common areas with
other owners in the development.
Continuing Care
Retirement Communities are campus-style developments offering
a range of housing and long-term care services to the
residents. Residents pay an entrance fee as well as a monthly
fee for a package of services specified in the residents'
contract, which includes a residence, services and nursing
care when needed.
Cooperatives
are another form of ownership housing in a multi-family
building or complex. The development is owned by a corporation
on behalf of the occupants, and the owner occupants buy shares
in the corporation in exchange for the right to occupy a
specific living unit.
Federally-Subsidized
Rental buildings serve low-income people and vary in size and
type. Some are privately-owned buildings (e.g., Section 202,
Section 236 or Section 8 and Farmer's Home 515 buildings),
while public housing buildings are owned by city or county
public housing authorities. Some subsidized buildings have
arranged home care and other services for their residents and
a few subsidized buildings offer assisted living programs. A
few developers and communities have used tax credits and local
resources, rather than federal subsidies, to provide housing
for low-income people.
Housing-with-Services
settings include a variety of types of rental buildings (e.g.,
market rate rental apartments, subsidized apartments, board
and lodging establishments, corporate adult foster care homes,
non-certified boarding care homes) that offer or provide for a
fee either:
- two or more
supportive services (help with personal laundry, handling
or assisting with personal funds of residents, or
arranging for medical/health-related services, social
services or transportation to such appointments); or
- one or more
health-related service (e.g., home care service).
Buildings offering assisted living services must be
registered housing-with-services establishments.
All
housing-with-services settings must provide advance
information to prospective residents about available services,
fees and other important information and must enter into a
written contract with those who decide to move in. They must
also register annually with the Minnesota Department of
Health. Health-related services arranged for residents by a
housing-with-services establishment must be provided by a
licensed home care agency.
Market Rate
Rental housing has no government rental subsidy; thus, the
rent levels are determined by the real estate market. Although
some of these buildings may offer few services, others offer a
broad range of services such as meals, housekeeping,
transportation, activities, service coordination and home care
services. Some offer full assisted living programs.
Non-Certified
Boarding Care Homes are licensed as health care facilities by
the Minnesota Department of Health, but they are often quite
homelike and may seem more like an assisted living setting.
They offer personal care and supportive services, but not
skilled nursing care. Unlike other boarding care homes, these
homes are not certified to participate in the Medicaid
program, although qualifying residents may receive Medicaid
waiver services provided under a home care license.
Other Names for
Senior Buildings and Service Packages. In advertisements, some
of the buildings in the categories listed above may use other
terms to describe their setting. Many smaller buildings
licensed as corporate adult foster care or board and lodging
are now calling themselves "residential care homes."
Consumers will also hear different names used for service
programs, such as "catered living," but consumers
should know that state law prohibits providers from calling
their services "assisted living" unless they meet
all of the requirements in Minnesota's assisted living law.
No matter what
name is used, senior housing will either be (1) rental or (2)
ownership housing (e.g., condo or coop-type). And no matter
what name is used to describe the building's services,
consumers should do their homework and learn exactly what
services are available and the cost of the services.
Source: Aging
Services of Minnesota, July 2010 |
