What if we offered families the option of taking care of their ailing or aging loved ones at home and helped them with the cost of caregiving? Now, what if we also added that the cost to taxpayers would be a fraction of what it would cost for a nursing home? That’s what we call a no-brainer, and one such program is already available in Maryland. It’s called Project Home.
To schedule a free case review with a nursing home abuse & neglect lawyer serving Baltimore, call Brown & Barron at (410) 698-1717 or contact us online today!
What is Project Home?
Project Home is a supportive housing program, also called adult foster care. Essentially, it’s like paying the family to turn their house into a little, high-quality assisted living facility. The home provider must go through background checks and training. They likely will also have to make some improvements to the home to meet the safety requirements and care needs of a physically or mentally disabled person. There are other considerations as well (e.g., a backup person to cover any absences or emergencies). The home providers who apply for Project Home must also must demonstrate that they can afford to manage the household expenses without Project Home funding to ensure that the all funding for care is spent on care. This is in contrast to nursing homes, which are notorious for squeeze Medicaid dollars into huge profits by skimping on staffing, services, and safety.
The client (i.e., the person who needs care) must be 18 or older and must have a qualifying mental or physical disability. These conditions include most of the same ailments that send us to the nursing home (e.g., lack of mobility, dementia, etc.), but the program is not limited to the elderly. It applies to any adult with disabilities that require intensive assistance. The government will cover the cost for those who demonstrate financial need (as is the case with nursing homes).
A Win/Win Situation
Nursing home care in the United States is not only rife with abuse and negligence—it’s also extremely expensive. In Maryland, the average cost of a nursing home stay is more than $8,000 per month. Federal and state government agencies, which pay for most nursing home care in the United States, are looking to programs that provide better quality care at a drastically lower cost to taxpayers, and the answer is to compensate family members who care for their loved ones in their homes. Many Americans are doing this already, and making enormous personal financial sacrifices to empower their loved ones to age at home. Many more would volunteer to provide at-home care, if they could, and programs like Project Home, are a step in the right direction.
No one dreams of living their golden years in a nursing home. According to data cited by AARP, 77 percent of adults 50 and older want to age at home. For many families, placing a loved one in a nursing home is a last resort. In many cases, the loved one’s infirmities require so much around-the-clock attention, that a family member would have to quit their job, which most of us cannot afford to.
Click on the links for more information on Project Home in Maryland and Baltimore County. For a brochure, including information phone numbers by Maryland county, click here.
Solutions for Nursing Home Negligence
Progressive programs, like Project Home, provide a beacon of hope for thousands of Maryland families who want a family care alternative to the nursing home. Nursing homes have earned a reputation for abuse, negligence, and poor quality of life for the elderly. The trend of private equity groups buying independent nursing homes as investments has made a bad situation worse. If you know of or suspect nursing home abuse, call the nursing home negligence attorneys of Brown & Barron to get to the truth and to get justice.
Call Brown & Barron today at 410-346-0206 or contact us online schedule a free consultation with our experienced nursing home abuse attorneys.
To schedule a free case review with a nursing home abuse & neglect lawyer serving Baltimore, call Brown & Barron at (410) 698-1717 or contact us online today!
