Sections 68-1111 to 68-1120 shall be known and may be cited as the Aging and Disability Resource Center Act.

The Legislature finds that:

(1) The state should anticipate and prepare for significant growth in the number of older Nebraskans and the future needs of persons with disabilities, both of which will require costly long-term care services;

(2) The state should improve access to existing services and support for persons with disabilities;

(3) The state should provide a streamlined approach to identify the needs of older Nebraskans and persons with disabilities through uniform assessments and a single point of contact; and

(4) Nebraskans would benefit from statewide public information campaigns to educate older Nebraskans, persons with disabilities, and their caregivers on the availability of services and support.

The purpose of the Aging and Disability Resource Center Act is to provide information about long-term care services and support available in the home and community for older Nebraskans or persons with disabilities, family caregivers, and persons who request information or assistance on behalf of others and to assist eligible individuals to access the most appropriate public and private resources to meet their long-term care needs.

It is the intent of the Legislature that aging and disability resource centers serve as an ongoing component of Nebraska's long-term care continuum and that aging and disability resource center sites coordinate and establish partnerships as necessary with organizations specializing in serving aging persons and persons with disabilities to provide the services described in the act.

For purposes of the Aging and Disability Resource Center Act:

(1) Aging and disability resource center means a community-based entity established to provide information about long-term care services and support and to facilitate access to options counseling to assist eligible individuals and their representatives in identifying the most appropriate services to meet their long-term care needs;

(2) Area agency on aging has the meaning found in section 81-2208;

(3) Center for independent living has the definition found in 29 U.S.C. 796a, as such section existed on January 1, 2018;

(4) Department means the State Unit on Aging of the Division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care of the Department of Health and Human Services or any successor agency designated by the state to fulfill the responsibilities of section 305(a)(1) of the federal Older Americans Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. 3025(a)(1), as such section existed on January 1, 2018;

(5) Eligible individual means a person who has lost, never acquired, or has one or more conditions that affect his or her ability to perform basic activities of daily living that are necessary to live independently;

(6) Options counseling means a service that assists an eligible individual in need of long-term care and his or her representatives to make informed choices about the services and settings which best meet his or her long-term care needs and that uses uniform data and information collection and encourages the widest possible use of community-based options to allow an eligible individual to live as independently as possible in the setting of his or her choice;

(7) Partnering organization means an organization specializing in serving aging persons or persons with disabilities that has agreed to provide the services described in the Aging and Disability Resource Center Act;

(8) Representative means a person designated as a legal guardian, designated by a power of attorney or a health care power of attorney, or chosen by law, by a court, or by an eligible individual seeking services, but use of the term representative shall not be construed to disqualify an individual who retains all legal and personal autonomy;

(9) Uniform assessment means a single standardized tool used to assess a defined population at a specific time; and

(10) University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disability Education, Research and Service means the federally designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disability Education, Research and Service of the Munroe-Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The department shall award funding for aging and disability resource centers. The department shall pursue federal matching funds as applicable and allocate such funds to the aging and disability resource centers.

(1) The aging and disability resource centers shall be a means of promoting appropriate, effective, and efficient use of long-term care resources.

(2) Each aging and disability resource center shall provide one or more of the following services:

(a) Comprehensive information on the full range of available public and private long-term care programs, options, financing, service providers, and resources within a community, including information on the availability of integrated long-term care;

(b) Options counseling;

(c) Assistance in accessing and applying for public benefits programs;

(d) A convenient point of entry to the range of publicly supported long-term care programs for an eligible individual;

(e) A process for identifying unmet service needs in communities and developing recommendations to respond to those unmet needs;

(f) Facilitation of person-centered transition support to assure that an eligible individual is able to find the services and support that are most appropriate to his or her need;

(g) Mobility management to promote the appropriate use of public transportation services by a person who does not own or is unable to operate an automobile; and

(h) A home care provider registry that will provide a person who needs home care with the names of home care providers and information about his or her rights and responsibilities as a home care consumer.

(1) An area agency on aging or partnering organization receiving funding pursuant to section 68-1115, may work in partnership with one or more partnering organizations that specialize in serving persons with congenital and acquired disabilities to provide services as described in subsection (2) of section 68-1116, including, but not limited to, centers for independent living and the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disability Education, Research and Service, for the purpose of developing an aging and disability resource center plan. After consultation with a collaboration of organizations providing advocacy, protection, and safety for aging persons and persons with congenital and acquired disabilities, the partnership may submit to the department an aging and disability resource center plan. The plan shall specify how organizations currently serving eligible individuals will be engaged in the process of delivery of services through the aging and disability resource center. The plan shall indicate how resources will be utilized by the collaborating organizations to fulfill the responsibilities of an aging and disability resource center.

(2) Two or more area agencies on aging or partnering organizations may develop a joint aging and disability resource center plan to serve all or a portion of their planning-and-service areas. A joint plan shall provide information on how the services described in section 68-1116 will be provided in the counties to be served by the aging and disability resource center.

(3) A partnering organization may: (a) Contract with an area agency on aging for the purpose of providing services pursuant to this section; or (b) contract with the department for the purpose of providing services pursuant to this section.

The department shall provide a report regarding the aging and disability resource centers to the Clerk of the Legislature prior to December 1, 2018, and each December 1 thereafter.

The department shall reimburse each area agency on aging operating an aging and disability resource center on a schedule agreed to by the department and the area agency on aging. If a partnering organization has contracted with the department for the purpose of providing services described in the Aging and Disability Resource Center Act, the department shall reimburse the partnering organization on a schedule agreed to by the department and the partnering organization. Such reimbursement shall be made from (1) state funds appropriated by the Legislature, (2) federal funds allocated to the department for the purpose of establishing and operating aging and disability resource centers, and (3) other funds as available.