JCAAA Services -

Attendant Care Services

Attendant Care consists of a range of services and activities that are provided to the physically disabled in a way which recognizes and enhances the highest level of independence possible. Essentially, Attendant Care is in-home personal care that is flexible to the individual's needs and capabilities. The services delivered by the attendant focus on personal care needs even though they may also include other in-home services.

Attendant Care service shall include primarily "hands-on" personal care assistance with more than one of the following basic activities provided daily in order to maintain the personal care to one's self, regardless of who provides the assistance:

  • Getting in and out of bed, wheelchair, or motor vehicle
  • Ambulating, with or without mechanical aids, inside the home
  • Routing bodily functions, including eating (including meal preparation and cleanup) and toileting
  • Bathing, dressing, personal hygiene and grooming
  • Health maintenance activities

In addition, attendant care services may include any of the following activities, if any of these activities are ancillary to the above "hands-on" activities which establish the primary need for attendant care service:

  • Household services including, but not limited to: shopping, laundry, cleaning and seasonal chores
  • Companion-type services included to, but not limited to: assistance with transportation, letter writing, reading mail, and escort
  • At the direction of the consumer, assist with household management tasks

Attendant Care is different from Personal Care and home health services in the following respects:

  • It is used to provide services only to those individuals who turn age 60 and where previously served by DPW's Under 60 Attendant Care Program
  • It commonly requires at least daily personal care service (whether provided by formal or informal sources)
  • It may provide through one attendant a range of services usually covered by different, more specialized, workers whose responsibilities are more limited and are controlled by their Agencies
  • It is more personally oriented towards the needs of the consumer in the following senses:
    • It generally requires the provision of some services at odd hours in order to meet specific personal needs of the consumer
    • The consumer's needs and capabilities to do for himself/herself with the help of an attendant generally carries a higher priority than the agency's need to structure and control

Please note that only those individuals who were previously served by DPW's Under 60 Attendant Care Program and turn age 60 will receive AAA attendant care services. AAA's are required to contact the DPW Under 60 Attendant Care Program provider to continue to fund the consumer's attendant care service in accordance with the DPW care plan.

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