Nearly 1,600 Medicaid members with dementia will have the opportunity to live in newly expanding settings that offer the services and safety they need, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services announced today (Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019).

They will be part of 40 sites throughout Illinois, including Kane County.

“With these settings, those facing a truly difficult challenge can get the right kind of care and protection to help them lead safe and healthy lives,” said Theresa Eagleson, director of HFS. “These settings also help to bring vital peace of mind to their loved ones.”

Units will start becoming available over the next three years. Many will be ready in 2020, with some being phased in sooner or later.

They are part of the Supportive Living Program, an HFS Medicaid alternative to nursing home care designed for older persons and persons with physical disabilities. The goals of SLP include encouraging independence and community involvement, along with promoting privacy and dignity.

SLP residents have their own apartment, decide which program services they will receive and determine their own schedule. Services include meals, housekeeping, laundry, medication management, assistance with activities of daily living, social and health promotion activities, emergency call systems, wellbeing checks and routine nursing assessments.

Residents in a dementia care setting receive increased oversight by staff and additional nursing assessments and are provided opportunities for more activities, all in a community setting.

The Supportive Living Program began in 1996 and currently has 152 providers with more than 12,700 apartments. Five sites are certified as dementia care settings.

SLP operates through a Home and Community Based Services waiver approved by federal CMS. This allows Medicaid funds to pay for assisted living services for eligible Medicaid participants who might otherwise live in a nursing home.

“The dementia settings have seen longer than expected lengths of stay by individual residents and waiting lists for new admissions, which demonstrates their success to us,” Eagleson said. “They also offer a more cost-effective alternative, which means potentially more resources for Medicaid to offer our members.”

Without the program’s dementia care settings, many residents with moderate dementia would have to transfer to a more costly and institutional higher level of care to receive the services and safety interventions they require.

The apartments will be located in the following counties: Adams, Christian, Coles, Cook, Franklin, Grundy, Hancock, Henry, Iroquois, Jackson, Jefferson, Jersey, Kane, Kankakee, Knox, LaSalle, Livingston, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, McLean, Morgan, Randolph, Rock Island, St. Clair, Tazewell, Vermilion County, Whiteside, Will and Winnebago.

More information about SLP and details about the 40 new dementia care settings can be found at: https://www.illinois.gov/hfs/MedicalPrograms/slf/Pages/default.aspx. (Details about the settings are under the link titled “Supportive Living Program Approved Dementia Care Settings.”)

The department can also be contacted for more information about SLP at (217) 782-0545 or (844) 528-8444 toll free, or by emailing HFS.SLF@illinois.gov