As funding flows, home care waitlist ends
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Governor Charlie Baker signed a spending bill that signed Thursday increased home care funding by $3.8 million to $106,357,313, and bumped up the portion of the total allocation that comes from federal Community First Trust Fund money from 1.5 percent to 5 percent.
With a supplemental budget now steering more federal funds into the state's account for elder home care, a waitlist for certain applicants seeking the services came to an end on Friday.
The waiting list, which went into effect on Sept. 1 for elders with a "critical unmet need" of meal preparation, was in place for 37 days and was the shortest since the home care program began in 1974, according to Mass Home Care executive director Al Norman.
A spending bill Gov. Charlie Baker signed Thursday increased home care funding by $3.8 million to $106,357,313, and bumped up the portion of the total allocation that comes from federal Community First Trust Fund money from 1.5 percent to 5 percent.
Norman said that without the extra funding, the waiting list could have reached 2,000 elders by next June.
"Even with this funding, the home care programs are just about level to our appropriation level in FY 16 -- so there are still some challenges ahead this fiscal year," Norman wrote in a message to advocates.
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