HB0818ham001 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Human Services Committee

Filed: 3/9/2005

09400HB0818ham001 LRB094 07531 RSP 40124 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 818

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 818 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Illinois Act on the Aging is amended by changing Section 4.01 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 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 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.

(24) To establish and maintain a publicly accessible online registry of all homemakers who are currently employed through a Community Care Program homemaker provider. The registry shall include the name of the homemaker, the name of the homemaker's provider or company, the homemaker's current address and phone number, the date and location of the pre-service training completed by the homemaker, the date of the homemaker's last criminal background check, and the date and location of all in-service training completed by the homemaker. The Department shall update this registry quarterly.

(Source: P.A. 92-651, eff. 7-11-02.)".