Public Act 095-0298
 
SB0390 Enrolled LRB095 10548 CMK 30766 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by
changing Sections 4.01 and 4.02 as follows:
 
    (20 ILCS 105/4.01)  (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.01)
    Sec. 4.01. Additional powers and duties of the Department.
In addition to powers and duties otherwise provided by law, the
Department shall have the following powers and duties:
    (1) To evaluate all programs, services, and facilities for
the aged and for minority senior citizens within the State and
determine the extent to which present public or private
programs, services and facilities meet the needs of the aged.
    (2) To coordinate and evaluate all programs, services, and
facilities for the Aging and for minority senior citizens
presently furnished by State agencies and make appropriate
recommendations regarding such services, programs and
facilities to the Governor and/or the General Assembly.
    (3) To function as the sole State agency to develop a
comprehensive plan to meet the needs of the State's senior
citizens and the State's minority senior citizens.
    (4) To receive and disburse State and federal funds made
available directly to the Department including those funds made
available under the Older Americans Act and the Senior
Community Service Employment Program for providing services
for senior citizens and minority senior citizens or for
purposes related thereto, and shall develop and administer any
State Plan for the Aging required by federal law.
    (5) To solicit, accept, hold, and administer in behalf of
the State any grants or legacies of money, securities, or
property to the State of Illinois for services to senior
citizens and minority senior citizens or purposes related
thereto.
    (6) To provide consultation and assistance to communities,
area agencies on aging, and groups developing local services
for senior citizens and minority senior citizens.
    (7) To promote community education regarding the problems
of senior citizens and minority senior citizens through
institutes, publications, radio, television and the local
press.
    (8) To cooperate with agencies of the federal government in
studies and conferences designed to examine the needs of senior
citizens and minority senior citizens and to prepare programs
and facilities to meet those needs.
    (9) To establish and maintain information and referral
sources throughout the State when not provided by other
agencies.
    (10) To provide the staff support as may reasonably be
required by the Council and the Coordinating Committee of State
Agencies Serving Older Persons.
    (11) To make and enforce rules and regulations necessary
and proper to the performance of its duties.
    (12) To establish and fund programs or projects or
experimental facilities that are specially designed as
alternatives to institutional care.
    (13) To develop a training program to train the counselors
presently employed by the Department's aging network to provide
Medicare beneficiaries with counseling and advocacy in
Medicare, private health insurance, and related health care
coverage plans. The Department shall report to the General
Assembly on the implementation of the training program on or
before December 1, 1986.
    (14) To make a grant to an institution of higher learning
to study the feasibility of establishing and implementing an
affirmative action employment plan for the recruitment,
hiring, training and retraining of persons 60 or more years old
for jobs for which their employment would not be precluded by
law.
    (15) To present one award annually in each of the
categories of community service, education, the performance
and graphic arts, and the labor force to outstanding Illinois
senior citizens and minority senior citizens in recognition of
their individual contributions to either community service,
education, the performance and graphic arts, or the labor
force. The awards shall be presented to four senior citizens
and minority senior citizens selected from a list of 44
nominees compiled annually by the Department. Nominations
shall be solicited from senior citizens' service providers,
area agencies on aging, senior citizens' centers, and senior
citizens' organizations. The Department shall consult with the
Coordinating Committee of State Agencies Serving Older Persons
to determine which of the nominees shall be the recipient in
each category of community service. The Department shall
establish a central location within the State to be designated
as the Senior Illinoisans Hall of Fame for the public display
of all the annual awards, or replicas thereof.
    (16) To establish multipurpose senior centers through area
agencies on aging and to fund those new and existing
multipurpose senior centers through area agencies on aging, the
establishment and funding to begin in such areas of the State
as the Department shall designate by rule and as specifically
appropriated funds become available.
    (17) To develop the content and format of the
acknowledgment regarding non-recourse reverse mortgage loans
under Section 6.1 of the Illinois Banking Act; to provide
independent consumer information on reverse mortgages and
alternatives; and to refer consumers to independent counseling
services with expertise in reverse mortgages.
    (18) To develop a pamphlet in English and Spanish which may
be used by physicians licensed to practice medicine in all of
its branches pursuant to the Medical Practice Act of 1987,
pharmacists licensed pursuant to the Pharmacy Practice Act of
1987, and Illinois residents 65 years of age or older for the
purpose of assisting physicians, pharmacists, and patients in
monitoring prescriptions provided by various physicians and to
aid persons 65 years of age or older in complying with
directions for proper use of pharmaceutical prescriptions. The
pamphlet may provide space for recording information including
but not limited to the following:
        (a) name and telephone number of the patient;
        (b) name and telephone number of the prescribing
    physician;
        (c) date of prescription;
        (d) name of drug prescribed;
        (e) directions for patient compliance; and
        (f) name and telephone number of dispensing pharmacy.
    In developing the pamphlet, the Department shall consult
with the Illinois State Medical Society, the Center for
Minority Health Services, the Illinois Pharmacists Association
and senior citizens organizations. The Department shall
distribute the pamphlets to physicians, pharmacists and
persons 65 years of age or older or various senior citizen
organizations throughout the State.
    (19) To conduct a study by April 1, 1994 of the feasibility
of implementing the Senior Companion Program throughout the
State for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1994.
    (20) With respect to contracts in effect on July 1, 1994,
the Department shall increase the grant amounts so that the
reimbursement rates paid through the community care program for
chore housekeeping services and home care aides homemakers are
at the same rate, which shall be the higher of the 2 rates
currently paid. With respect to all contracts entered into,
renewed, or extended on or after July 1, 1994, the
reimbursement rates paid through the community care program for
chore housekeeping services and home care aides homemakers
shall be the same.
    (21) From funds appropriated to the Department from the
Meals on Wheels Fund, a special fund in the State treasury that
is hereby created, and in accordance with State and federal
guidelines and the intrastate funding formula, to make grants
to area agencies on aging, designated by the Department, for
the sole purpose of delivering meals to homebound persons 60
years of age and older.
    (22) To distribute, through its area agencies on aging,
information alerting seniors on safety issues regarding
emergency weather conditions, including extreme heat and cold,
flooding, tornadoes, electrical storms, and other severe storm
weather. The information shall include all necessary
instructions for safety and all emergency telephone numbers of
organizations that will provide additional information and
assistance.
    (23) To develop guidelines for the organization and
implementation of Volunteer Services Credit Programs to be
administered by Area Agencies on Aging or community based
senior service organizations. The Department shall hold public
hearings on the proposed guidelines for public comment,
suggestion, and determination of public interest. The
guidelines shall be based on the findings of other states and
of community organizations in Illinois that are currently
operating volunteer services credit programs or demonstration
volunteer services credit programs. The Department shall offer
guidelines for all aspects of the programs including, but not
limited to, the following:
        (a) types of services to be offered by volunteers;
        (b) types of services to be received upon the
    redemption of service credits;
        (c) issues of liability for the volunteers and the
    administering organizations;
        (d) methods of tracking service credits earned and
    service credits redeemed;
        (e) issues of time limits for redemption of service
    credits;
        (f) methods of recruitment of volunteers;
        (g) utilization of community volunteers, community
    service groups, and other resources for delivering
    services to be received by service credit program clients;
        (h) accountability and assurance that services will be
    available to individuals who have earned service credits;
    and
        (i) volunteer screening and qualifications.
The Department shall submit a written copy of the guidelines to
the General Assembly by July 1, 1998.
(Source: P.A. 92-651, eff. 7-11-02.)
 
    (20 ILCS 105/4.02)  (from Ch. 23, par. 6104.02)
    Sec. 4.02. The Department shall establish a program of
services to prevent unnecessary institutionalization of
persons age 60 and older in need of long term care or who are
established as persons who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or a
related disorder under the Alzheimer's Disease Assistance Act,
thereby enabling them to remain in their own homes or in other
living arrangements. Such preventive services, which may be
coordinated with other programs for the aged and monitored by
area agencies on aging in cooperation with the Department, may
include, but are not limited to, any or all of the following:
        (a) home health services;
        (b) home nursing services;
        (c) home care aide homemaker services;
        (d) chore and housekeeping services;
        (e) adult day services;
        (f) home-delivered meals;
        (g) education in self-care;
        (h) personal care services;
        (i) adult day health services;
        (j) habilitation services;
        (k) respite care;
        (k-5) community reintegration services;
        (l) other nonmedical social services that may enable
    the person to become self-supporting; or
        (m) clearinghouse for information provided by senior
    citizen home owners who want to rent rooms to or share
    living space with other senior citizens.
    The Department shall establish eligibility standards for
such services taking into consideration the unique economic and
social needs of the target population for whom they are to be
provided. Such eligibility standards shall be based on the
recipient's ability to pay for services; provided, however,
that in determining the amount and nature of services for which
a person may qualify, consideration shall not be given to the
value of cash, property or other assets held in the name of the
person's spouse pursuant to a written agreement dividing
marital property into equal but separate shares or pursuant to
a transfer of the person's interest in a home to his spouse,
provided that the spouse's share of the marital property is not
made available to the person seeking such services.
    Beginning July 1, 2002, the Department shall require as a
condition of eligibility that all financially eligible
applicants and recipients apply for medical assistance under
Article V of the Illinois Public Aid Code in accordance with
rules promulgated by the Department.
    The Department shall, in conjunction with the Department of
Public Aid (now Department of Healthcare and Family Services),
seek appropriate amendments under Sections 1915 and 1924 of the
Social Security Act. The purpose of the amendments shall be to
extend eligibility for home and community based services under
Sections 1915 and 1924 of the Social Security Act to persons
who transfer to or for the benefit of a spouse those amounts of
income and resources allowed under Section 1924 of the Social
Security Act. Subject to the approval of such amendments, the
Department shall extend the provisions of Section 5-4 of the
Illinois Public Aid Code to persons who, but for the provision
of home or community-based services, would require the level of
care provided in an institution, as is provided for in federal
law. Those persons no longer found to be eligible for receiving
noninstitutional services due to changes in the eligibility
criteria shall be given 60 days notice prior to actual
termination. Those persons receiving notice of termination may
contact the Department and request the determination be
appealed at any time during the 60 day notice period. With the
exception of the lengthened notice and time frame for the
appeal request, the appeal process shall follow the normal
procedure. In addition, each person affected regardless of the
circumstances for discontinued eligibility shall be given
notice and the opportunity to purchase the necessary services
through the Community Care Program. If the individual does not
elect to purchase services, the Department shall advise the
individual of alternative services. The target population
identified for the purposes of this Section are persons age 60
and older with an identified service need. Priority shall be
given to those who are at imminent risk of
institutionalization. The services shall be provided to
eligible persons age 60 and older to the extent that the cost
of the services together with the other personal maintenance
expenses of the persons are reasonably related to the standards
established for care in a group facility appropriate to the
person's condition. These non-institutional services, pilot
projects or experimental facilities may be provided as part of
or in addition to those authorized by federal law or those
funded and administered by the Department of Human Services.
The Departments of Human Services, Healthcare and Family
Services, Public Health, Veterans' Affairs, and Commerce and
Economic Opportunity and other appropriate agencies of State,
federal and local governments shall cooperate with the
Department on Aging in the establishment and development of the
non-institutional services. The Department shall require an
annual audit from all chore/housekeeping and home care aide
homemaker vendors contracting with the Department under this
Section. The annual audit shall assure that each audited
vendor's procedures are in compliance with Department's
financial reporting guidelines requiring an administrative and
employee wage and benefits cost split as defined in
administrative rules. The audit is a public record under the
Freedom of Information Act. The Department shall execute,
relative to the nursing home prescreening project, written
inter-agency agreements with the Department of Human Services
and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, to effect
the following: (1) intake procedures and common eligibility
criteria for those persons who are receiving non-institutional
services; and (2) the establishment and development of
non-institutional services in areas of the State where they are
not currently available or are undeveloped. On and after July
1, 1996, all nursing home prescreenings for individuals 60
years of age or older shall be conducted by the Department.
    As part of the Department on Aging's routine training of
case managers and case manager supervisors, the Department may
include information on family futures planning for persons who
are age 60 or older and who are caregivers of their adult
children with developmental disabilities. The content of the
training shall be at the Department's discretion.
    The Department is authorized to establish a system of
recipient copayment for services provided under this Section,
such copayment to be based upon the recipient's ability to pay
but in no case to exceed the actual cost of the services
provided. Additionally, any portion of a person's income which
is equal to or less than the federal poverty standard shall not
be considered by the Department in determining the copayment.
The level of such copayment shall be adjusted whenever
necessary to reflect any change in the officially designated
federal poverty standard.
    The Department, or the Department's authorized
representative, shall recover the amount of moneys expended for
services provided to or in behalf of a person under this
Section by a claim against the person's estate or against the
estate of the person's surviving spouse, but no recovery may be
had until after the death of the surviving spouse, if any, and
then only at such time when there is no surviving child who is
under age 21, blind, or permanently and totally disabled. This
paragraph, however, shall not bar recovery, at the death of the
person, of moneys for services provided to the person or in
behalf of the person under this Section to which the person was
not entitled; provided that such recovery shall not be enforced
against any real estate while it is occupied as a homestead by
the surviving spouse or other dependent, if no claims by other
creditors have been filed against the estate, or, if such
claims have been filed, they remain dormant for failure of
prosecution or failure of the claimant to compel administration
of the estate for the purpose of payment. This paragraph shall
not bar recovery from the estate of a spouse, under Sections
1915 and 1924 of the Social Security Act and Section 5-4 of the
Illinois Public Aid Code, who precedes a person receiving
services under this Section in death. All moneys for services
paid to or in behalf of the person under this Section shall be
claimed for recovery from the deceased spouse's estate.
"Homestead", as used in this paragraph, means the dwelling
house and contiguous real estate occupied by a surviving spouse
or relative, as defined by the rules and regulations of the
Department of Healthcare and Family Services, regardless of the
value of the property.
    The Department shall develop procedures to enhance
availability of services on evenings, weekends, and on an
emergency basis to meet the respite needs of caregivers.
Procedures shall be developed to permit the utilization of
services in successive blocks of 24 hours up to the monthly
maximum established by the Department. Workers providing these
services shall be appropriately trained.
    Beginning on the effective date of this Amendatory Act of
1991, no person may perform chore/housekeeping and home care
aide homemaker services under a program authorized by this
Section unless that person has been issued a certificate of
pre-service to do so by his or her employing agency.
Information gathered to effect such certification shall
include (i) the person's name, (ii) the date the person was
hired by his or her current employer, and (iii) the training,
including dates and levels. Persons engaged in the program
authorized by this Section before the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1991 shall be issued a certificate of all
pre- and in-service training from his or her employer upon
submitting the necessary information. The employing agency
shall be required to retain records of all staff pre- and
in-service training, and shall provide such records to the
Department upon request and upon termination of the employer's
contract with the Department. In addition, the employing agency
is responsible for the issuance of certifications of in-service
training completed to their employees.
    The Department is required to develop a system to ensure
that persons working as home care aides homemakers and chore
housekeepers receive increases in their wages when the federal
minimum wage is increased by requiring vendors to certify that
they are meeting the federal minimum wage statute for home care
aides homemakers and chore housekeepers. An employer that
cannot ensure that the minimum wage increase is being given to
home care aides homemakers and chore housekeepers shall be
denied any increase in reimbursement costs.
    The Community Care Program Advisory Committee is created in
the Department on Aging. The Director shall appoint individuals
to serve in the Committee, who shall serve at their own
expense. Members of the Committee must abide by all applicable
ethics laws. The Committee shall advise the Department on
issues related to the Department's program of services to
prevent unnecessary institutionalization. The Committee shall
meet on a bi-monthly basis and shall serve to identify and
advise the Department on present and potential issues affecting
the service delivery network, the program's clients, and the
Department and to recommend solution strategies. Persons
appointed to the Committee shall be appointed on, but not
limited to, their own and their agency's experience with the
program, geographic representation, and willingness to serve.
The Committee shall include, but not be limited to,
representatives from the following agencies and organizations:
        (a) at least 4 adult day service representatives;
        (b) at least 4 case coordination unit representatives;
        (c) at least 4 representatives from in-home direct care
    service agencies;
        (d) at least 2 representatives of statewide trade or
    labor unions that represent in-home direct care service
    staff;
        (e) at least 2 representatives of Area Agencies on
    Aging;
        (f) at least 2 non-provider representatives from a
    policy, advocacy, research, or other service organization;
        (g) at least 2 representatives from a statewide
    membership organization for senior citizens; and
        (h) at least 2 citizen members 60 years of age or
    older.
    Nominations may be presented from any agency or State
association with interest in the program. The Director, or his
or her designee, shall serve as the permanent co-chair of the
advisory committee. One other co-chair shall be nominated and
approved by the members of the committee on an annual basis.
Committee members' terms of appointment shall be for 4 years
with one-quarter of the appointees' terms expiring each year.
At no time may a member serve more than one consecutive term in
any capacity on the committee. The Department shall fill
vacancies that have a remaining term of over one year, and this
replacement shall occur through the annual replacement of
expiring terms. The Director shall designate Department staff
to provide technical assistance and staff support to the
committee. Department representation shall not constitute
membership of the committee. All Committee papers, issues,
recommendations, reports, and meeting memoranda are advisory
only. The Director, or his or her designee, shall make a
written report, as requested by the Committee, regarding issues
before the Committee.
    The Department on Aging and the Department of Human
Services shall cooperate in the development and submission of
an annual report on programs and services provided under this
Section. Such joint report shall be filed with the Governor and
the General Assembly on or before September 30 each year.
    The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly shall
be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the Speaker,
the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of
Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and the
Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research Unit, as
required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization
Act and filing such additional copies with the State Government
Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as is
required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library
Act.
    Those persons previously found eligible for receiving
non-institutional services whose services were discontinued
under the Emergency Budget Act of Fiscal Year 1992, and who do
not meet the eligibility standards in effect on or after July
1, 1992, shall remain ineligible on and after July 1, 1992.
Those persons previously not required to cost-share and who
were required to cost-share effective March 1, 1992, shall
continue to meet cost-share requirements on and after July 1,
1992. Beginning July 1, 1992, all clients will be required to
meet eligibility, cost-share, and other requirements and will
have services discontinued or altered when they fail to meet
these requirements.
(Source: P.A. 93-85, eff. 1-1-04; 93-902, eff. 8-10-04; 94-48,
eff. 7-1-05; 94-269, eff. 7-19-05; 94-336, eff. 7-26-05;
94-954, eff. 6-27-06.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.