320 Telephone Reassurance | HCBS-5300-MANUAL

This chapter establishes policies, guidelines, and standards for Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) who contract or provide telephone reassurance to older adults, their caregivers if present, and adults with disabilities.

These guidelines apply to telephone reassurance provided under contract, funded in part or in whole with funds provided by the Division of Aging Services (DAS). These rules provide suggested guidelines for services paid for entirely by local funds and for volunteer based telephone reassurance programs.

The AAA operates the Telephone Reassurance program directly or subcontracts with a service provider for program service delivery.

Telephone reassurance can be provided through a variety of different models these include, but are not limited to:

The AAA must identify and describe implementation of its model in its Area Plan.

Eligibility for Telephone Reassurance is based on the fund source that each AAA or provider agency is using. For those programs funded through a caregiver fund source, requirements outlined for caregiver services must be met.

If funded by the Older American’s Act, eligibility for services is limited to the following:

If funding is not sufficient to serve all consumers requesting services, refer to MAN 5300, Section 118 for Client Prioritization.

AAAs can further determine eligibility for individuals, such as, but not limited to, giving greater preference to those individuals who are isolated, do not receive any services in the home, individuals who are homebound and/or have very little to no caregiver support.

AAAs may develop fee-for-service programs for persons who may not otherwise meet these eligibility requirements.

The outcome of this program is to:

These outcomes will be measured through evaluation and satisfaction surveys distributed by the program and completed by program participants on an annual basis. Surveys will also be completed by volunteers, in programs where a volunteer model is utilized.

In the Non-Volunteer Model, paid staff members of the service provider or AAA provide telephone reassurance to clients.

Volunteers complete calls to clients. A staff member from the AAA or provider will be designated as the Program Coordinator. The Program Coordinator will create administrative forms, complete record keeping, and will be responsible for recruiting volunteers and program participants and provide oversight of the program. The AAA is encouraged to draft guidelines for a volunteer model.

Examples of specific program guides are included in Appendix 320-A and 320-B:

AAAs, at a minimum, must comply with all volunteer management procedures found in MAN 5600, 4020 Volunteer Management Procedures.

Program volunteers can be recruited from the community as well as from HCBS waiting lists. For volunteers recruited from wait lists, the volunteer must have a low DON-R score, usually ten (10) or below. If the volunteer is operating from any location other than the provider’s location, he/she must have a phone that is in service.

Volunteers shall receive an orientation and training and any additional training at intervals to be determined by AAA policy and in compliance with MAN 5600, 4020 Volunteer Management Procedures. Orientation should include an introduction to HIPAA privacy standards, safety precautions, and standards of conduct required of employees, interns, and volunteers.

The training shall include but is not limited to:

Each AAA/provider is encouraged to offer telephone reassurance as a fee-for-service enterprise to enhance the sustainability of the Aging network. In doing so, the AAA must follow all requirements of the Older Americans Act and MAN 5600 2025 Fee for Service System Overview.

Services provided to consumers as a fee-for-service should not differ in quality from service provided to consumers funded through public funds.

The provider agency will discontinue services:

Discharge must be conducted in compliance with MAN 5300, Section 202.20.

The providers must establish and implement written policies and procedures that define the scope of telephone reassurance services it offers and the type of clients it serves.

Provider agencies must maintain accurate administrative, fiscal, personnel, and client case records that will be accessible and available to authorized representatives of the AAA, DAS, the Department of Human Services, and others, as required by law and in compliance with MAN 5600.

Providers will also practice effective fiscal planning and management, financial and administrative reporting, and complying with generally accepted accounting principles as described in MAN 5600, Section 3025 and 3050.

Providers must maintain separate files containing all written or electronic records pertaining to the services provided for each client served including report logs of when telephone reassurance was provided in the data system approved by DAS.

All staff will be familiar with and be able to recognize situations of possible abuse, neglect, or exploitation or likelihood of serious physical harm to persons receiving services. Providers must develop procedures for reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

Suspected cases of abuse, neglect and/or exploitation of community-dwelling older adults or adults over the age 18 with a disability, are to be referred to the Division’s Adult Protective Services Centralized Intake during the business hours of 7am to 7pm and a voicemail may be left after hours (1-866-552-4464). Alternatively, a fax referral form and instructions as well as a web reporting form are available on DAS’s web page.

Any situations in which abuse of minor child/children is suspected are to be reported to the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) at 1-855-GACHILD.

Providers of telephone reassurance must develop and implement an annual plan to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the program to ensure continuous improvement in service delivery. The provider will include any direct workers, volunteers, and/or supervisory staff in the evaluation process and development of improvement goals.

The process must include, but not be limited to:

The AAA must conduct at least one annual on-site fiscal and program monitoring of provider agencies, if one is used. The AAA must conduct desk reviews of fiscal and programmatic performance and monitor for compliance with any requirements. The AAA must provide formal, written feedback of program status and any required corrective action as well as any technical assistance necessary for continuous quality improvement, at least quarterly, or more often as indicated, and at year-end in compliance with MAN 5300, Section 202.18.

Information and guidelines for monitoring and evaluation of service providers can be found in MAN 5600, 3015 Area Agency on Aging Monitoring and Evaluation of Service Providers.

A Time To Talk Program Guide (Alzheimer’s Association)

Heart to Heart, A Telephone Reassurance Program Guide (River Valley AAA)

DAS Manual 5300, Section 118

DAS Manual 5300, Section 202

DAS Manual 5600, Section 2025

DAS Manual 5600, Section 3015

DAS Manual 5600, Section 3035

DAS Manual 5600, Section 3050

DAS Manual 5600, Section 4020