La. Admin. Code tit. 67 § V-717

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section V-717 - Allocation of Hurricane Relief Funds SSBG Supplemental Appropriation

A. Purpose, Need, and Eligibility

1. Under the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 2863), $220,901,534 has been allocated to Louisiana in a supplemental appropriation to Social Service Block Grant (SSBG) funds for necessary expenses related to the consequences of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in calendar year 2005. In addition to other uses permitted by Title XX of the Social Security Act, funds appropriated under this heading may be used for health services, including mental health services, and for repair, renovation and construction of facilities, including mental health facilities. The Administration for Children and Families, (ACF) approved a waiver of the provisions under Section 2005(a) of the Social Security Act on June 2, 2006 to allow the use of SSBG Supplemental funds for the rebuilding and construction of childcare facilities in Louisiana.

2. The Office of Community Services (OCS) proposes to enter into contracts, memoranda of understanding, or other agreements with the entities listed in this Rule including but not limited to such services as health services, including mental health services, for repair, renovation, and construction of facilities, including Class A child care facilities and mental health facilities, intensive benefits, and case management for the citizens of this state effected by the hurricanes. This Rule is effective for the SSBG allotment of federal fiscal year 2006.

3. It recognizes that the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in calendar year 2005 have imposed extreme demands for social and health care services in affected states. States may use SSBG funds for a wide array of human services.

4. Because of the nature of the natural disaster, many affected individuals and families will not have in their possession customary documentation of their economic status to substantiate eligibility for SSBG supported services. Also, many individuals or families who may not have been eligible for assistance prior to the hurricanes may be, because of the devastation, eligible now. Therefore, "presumptive eligibility" determinations may be made based on applicant residence in known areas of devastation at the time of hurricane Katrina (H Katrina) or hurricane Rita (H Rita) or post-hurricane experience of affected individuals or families. Each entity that receives the SSBG funding can have additional or different eligibility requirements.

5. The following areas to be addressed include:

a. The health care needs of people affected by the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico in calendar year 2005 and who lack health insurance or other adequate access to care and to help health care create a "safety net." This would include intended uses of these funds in areas of mental health service provision and provision for substance and addictive disorder interventions and services.

b. Expanding services to meet the needs of families in the child welfare system in the areas of foster care, adoption, prevention, intervention, and protective services in child welfare.

c. Institutions serving these populations in order to build community health centers, rural hospitals and clinics, community mental health centers, public hospitals, and other providers with substantial percentages of uninsured patients. Funds may be made available for repairs and reconstruction needed to allow health centers and similar providers to resume or expand operations, or to help key providers meet salary and other costs associated with resuming or restoring health services.

d. Providing social service delivery and case management services to families in order to assist with identification of housing needs, development of individualized recovery plans and referral of families to available disaster relief services, provide for case management and follow-up with families, and to provide for direct emergency assistance in human services.

e. Restoring critical child care services will support families as they return to work in hurricane affected parishes. Child care supports are vital to reestablishing a workforce and strengthening our state's economy. Child care is a critical need to promote independence and safety of families and children. Restoring the child care infrastructure is a current need in Louisiana. Funds will be available to rebuild the child care infrastructure by repairing and/or building Class A child care centers and providing training and technical assistance necessary in attracting and retaining a child care workforce.

B. Department of Social Services

1. Child Welfare Services-Foster Care, Adoption, Prevention, Intervention and Protective Services. Services will include anger management, parenting skills, counseling, etc. Visitation expenses include travel for the foster child and foster parent/caretaker from their displaced location to the birthparent's location, lodging, and meals during the travel. This includes travel both within and outside of Louisiana. It is estimated that 2/3 of impacted children lost at least a significant portion or all of their personal belongings that have yet to be replaced. These were possessions lost or damaged during the time during and after H Katrina or H Rita. These funds will be used in this arena. These funds will be used to provide for the youth effected by H Katrina or H Rita in OCS independence programs. These are programs used to assist children aging out of foster care custody and who have greater needs for transitional assistance than is typically provided, especially in the aftermath of the upheaval and displacement brought on by the storms of 2005. These funds will be used for foster care reunification services, as additional demands for such services are felt as a result and impact on the child welfare system of services due to H Katrina and H Rita. After most disasters, there is an evidenced increase in abuse and/or neglect as well as disruptions in foster care. Such funds will be used to obtain trauma-related services to help stabilize placements and prevent disruptions by providing increased service access for family services, respite care, counseling, parenting classes, etc.

2. Child Care Services. Louisiana must rebuild the child care infrastructure in the hurricane affected parishes to assist families in returning to work while ensuring their children receive quality child care. To meet the critical need for child care in Louisiana, DSS/OFS will implement a child care support system to rebuild the child care sector. This will be done by three initiatives.

a. Training and Technical Assistance for Child Care Providers. The objective of this program is to provide intensive training and technical assistance for current and prospective child care providers to increase the supply of child care businesses opening and reopening in the hurricane affected areas. Training and technical assistance will also be provided to current and prospective child care providers and other professionals engaged in the system. The services will be available in Calcasieu, Cameron, Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Washington Parishes.

b. Furnishing Child Care Centers Program. This component will offer a program for equipping, furnishing, and supplying Class A Child Care centers whose licenses were suspended due to hurricane-related damage and have reopened, Class A centers in the process of opening or reopening, or Class A centers being constructed. An assessment of each center will be conducted and a priority for equipping Class A child care centers will be established. Furnishings, equipment and supplies include but are not limited to curriculum, books, furniture, appliances, office equipment, developmentally and age appropriate play equipment for both indoor and outdoor space and other items appropriate to the operation of a Class A licensed day care center.

i. Eligibility will be limited to the Class A child care centers that are currently participating in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) funding; those reopening, that participated in the CCAP within a year prior to August 2005; or for those new Class A child care centers that have opened since August 29, 2005, and are committing to serve CCAP eligible children within 60 days of opening for business.

ii. The program will be offered in Calcasieu, Cameron, Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Washington parishes.

iii. Eligible expenses dated October 1, 2005 or after will be reimbursable. Eligible reimbursable expenses are those not covered by other reimbursements, such as insurance and other state or federal funds.

iv. Class A child care centers participating in this program must agree to accept all requirements as defined by SSBG and the state, including federal and state interest.

c. Child Care Facilities Restoration Fund: This program will provide funds for repair and/or construction of Class A child care centers in hurricane devastated parishes Calcasieu, Cameron, Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Washington. The state must apply its appropriate administrative standards when issuing sub awards to guarantee the protection and disposition of real estate rebuilt, constructed or purchased with grant funds and the state is also required to file a Notice of Federal Interest document to officially recognize the Federal Government's continuing financial interest in the property. The minimum eligibility criteria for the Child Care Facilities will include the following:

i. previously held Class A license or agree to become a Class A licensed facility and agree to maintain a Class A license;

ii. for Class A centers that previously held a Class A license, have served children subsidized with CCAP funds within 12 months prior to August 2005 and commit to doing so moving forward, and provide assurance that SSBG funding along with any other identified funding will allow the center to reopen and serve children;

iii. for an entity wishing to open a new Class A child care center, must declare intention to serve children subsidized with CCAP funding and provide assurance that SSBG funding along with any other identified funding will allow the center to reopen and serve children;

iv. must provide evidence of current demand for services;

v. must provide evidence of capacity to provide quality child care services;

vi. must agree to accept all requirements as defined by SSBG and the state including federal and state interest;

vii. eligible expenses dated October 1, 2005 or after will be reimbursable. Eligible reimbursable expenses are those not covered by other reimbursements, such as insurance and other state or federal funds.

C. Department of Health and Hospitals

1. Behavioral Health Services

a. Funds shall be used to restore and expand mental health services, substance abuse treatment and prevention services and developmental disability services as follows:

i. immediate intervention-crisis response system;

ii. substance abuse treatment and prevention;

iii. behavioral health services for children and adolescents;

iv. preventing or reducing inappropriate institutional care;

v. behavioral health program restoration and resumption;

vii. health care work force; and

vii. operational tools.

2. Preventive and Primary Care. Funds shall be used to issue grant awards to parishes as bridge funding to restore and develop comprehensive and integrated primary, preventive and behavioral health care services, with an emphasis on restoring safety net services for the uninsured and underinsured.

D. Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSU-HSC)

1. Funds Allocated to LSU. HSC would be used as follows.

a. Keep the healthcare workforce intact by retaining faculty and residents.

b. Set up primary care clinics across the city with funding for salaries for dentists, physicians, nurses and allied health personnel.

c. Expand capabilities to address psychiatric needs in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

d. Support the general dentistry residency, oral and maxillofacial surgery residency, and oral medicine programs that provide preventive and primary care to the uninsured at multiple sites in the state.

e. Prepare an adequate number of allied health professionals who can function in primary, secondary, and tertiary care through the School of Allied Health Professions. The LSUHSC-New Orleans is a primary source of graduate level practitioners in the areas of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, audiology, medical technology, cardiopulmonary technology, and rehabilitation counseling for New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.

f. Resume Early Intervention Institute and the Human Development Center direct service, consultative, and advocacy programs for individuals with disabilities. Reestablishing these services will ensure maintenance of high-quality health care educational experiences for individuals who work with these citizens who represent a portion of our population that is typically uninsured, underserved, and at the greatest risk for developing physical and mental problems.

E. LSU Health Care Services Division (HCSD)

1. Funding to the HCSD in the current fiscal year will enable the Division to continue providing the following services:

a. the enhancement of primary care services at the regional hospitals to accommodate the population shifts which have occurred;

b. the patient pharmaceutical procurement program which matches needy patients with low cost medications that are essential to proper management of such conditions as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, HIV and asthma which have the effect of preventing further and or rapid development of the disease;

c. provide needed financing for eight neighborhood health units currently under development for placement in New Orleans;

d. continued funding of the EMED currently at the New Orleans Convention Center;

e. funding for the Level I Trauma Service operational costs anticipated at the Elmwood Hospital location;

f. provide the HCSD hospitals with the ability to continue its current level of support for Mental and Behavioral Health Programs.

F. Louisiana Family Recovery Corps

1. The Department of Social Services, Office of Community Services (DSS/OCS) will contract with the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps (LFRC) to provide (SSBG) approved services to individuals and families displaced by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita through programs developed by LFRC. The LFRC, an independent non-profit organization, was created to mobilize and coordinate humanitarian services to displaced Louisiana families in the wake of these disasters.

2. Eligibility for SSBG approved services is limited to individuals and families that were displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita. LFRC, in coordination with the department, is authorized to develop programs with more restrictive eligibility requirements than those provided above, including but not limited to financial eligibility, pre-storm residence, current or prospective residence, age, and disability.

3. Eligible services are those directed at the goals of:

a. achieving or maintaining economic self-support to prevent, reduce, or eliminate dependency;

b. achieving or maintaining self-sufficiency, including reduction or prevention of dependency;

c. preventing or remedying neglect, abuse, or exploitation of children and adults unable to protect their own interests, or preserving, rehabilitating, or reuniting families;

d. preventing or reducing inappropriate institutional care by providing for community-based care, home-based care, or other forms of less intensive care; and

e. securing referral or admission for institutional care when other forms of care are not appropriate, or providing services to individuals in institutions.

4. LFRC, in coordination with the department, is authorized to develop programs that provide services that are necessary to address the consequences of the hurricanes for the eligible population and are directed at the goals of SSBG.

G. Tulane University Health Sciences Center

1. Tulane University will help sustain the health care safety net in New Orleans, as well as assist in responding to the new health care crisis in this community. These funds may be utilized in the following areas:

a. sustain, and when needed, enhance capacity to provide primary care, emergency care, public health preparedness and training, adult and child psychiatry, women's health, children's health, health equality, environmental health, infectious diseases to the to under and uninsured;

b. maintain a high-quality biomedical workforce in the greater New Orleans region through retention of existing healthcare faculty and residents;

c. support for the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine;

d. retention and establishment of primary care clinics;

e. support for Cancer Center and Gene Therapy Center;

f. support for clinical research and supporting faculty and staff.

H. Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs. The Department of Social Services will enter into an agreement with the governor's Office of Elderly Affairs to provide necessary services to seniors as a result of hurricanes Rita or Katrina of 2005. Eligibility for SSBG approved services is as follows:

a. age 60 or over, and

b. individuals with an adult onset disability who have a need for living assistance;

c. clients must have resided in one of the 37 federally declared disaster parishes at the time of hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005. Those parishes are Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Calcasieu, Cameron, Beauregard, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana Parish.

3. Services to be provided include the following.

a. Material Aid: Assistance includes but is not limited to assistance with prescription drugs not covered by another program, adult diapers or other personal hygiene items, basic furniture items (beds or bedding), assistance devices, such as walkers, canes, wheelchairs, and other goods such medical supplies.

b. Minor Home Repairs needed in order to make homes safe and livable, such as replacement of windows, doors, door locks, minor roof repairs, flooring replacement, replacement of insulation, repairs to heating and cooling systems, and other minor repairs.

c. Safety and access installations includes the installation of access ramps, safety grab bars in bathrooms.

d. Chore Services. Necessary services could include, but are not limited to heavy indoor and outdoor housework such as mold removal, drapery removal/cleaning/re-installation, carpet sanitization, floor stripping and re-conditioning, debris removal, tree-trimming, or other lawn clean-up. (Routine lawn care or housework is not an allowable expense.)

e. Information and Assistance (Information and Referral). This service assesses the client and determines what type of assistance is needed or makes provisions to provide this service. Most clients will only receive one unit of this service not to exceed $25, which includes the agency placing this information into SAMS the existing client tracking system for GOEA.

f. Transportation. This service will provide door-to-door assistance for clients when there is no other comparable service available. The client would make a call to reserve transport for medical appointments, to merchants who provide basic needs and any location where an applicant has an appointment for services (example: food stamp office, Road Home Center, local Council on Aging, etc.).

g. Home Care. This service will provide supervision and companionship in a home setting, not an institution, to ensure the health and safety of a senior or an individual with onset disabilities who cannot be left alone.

h. Home Delivered Meals. Home-delivered meals are those services or activities designed to prepare and deliver one or more meals a day to an individual's residence in order to prevent institutionalization, malnutrition, and feelings of isolation.

i. Other Needs. This category will serve clients with a service not being provided by any other source.

I. Orleans Metro Housing

1. The Department of Social Services will contract with the Orleans Metro Housing (local non-profit) to assist hurricane-affected clients in Orleans Parish, in locating suitable affordable housing in Orleans Parish.

2. To be eligible for services, clients must have lived in Orleans Parish prior to the storms of 2005. There are no age or income or other requirements.

3. Services provided by Orleans Metro Housing, include: community outreach (through local churches, door-to-door in neighborhoods, etc.) to those in need of housing assistance in Orleans Parish, assisting clients in determining the types of housing that will best suit their needs and budget, matching up clients with available housing, maintaining an up-to-date inventory of sale and rental properties in the parish, referring clients to other non-profit home-buying programs if determined client has sufficient income, referring clients to agencies that provide financial assistance for housing and household expenses, negotiating with leasers or landlords on behalf of clients, and other related services.

La. Admin. Code tit. 67, § V-717

Promulgated by the Department of Social Services, Office of Community Services, LR 33:2464 (November 2007).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with Title XX of the Social Security Act and Department of Defense Appropriations Act (H.R. 2863).