§ 6104 - Specific powers and duties - Vermont Statutes

§ 6104. Specific powers and duties

(a) The board shall plan, implement and encourage innovative programs which promote independent living of potentially dependent persons, shall plan, promote and implement incentives which encourage families to care for dependent relatives at home, and shall plan, implement and encourage innovative programs which promote the return of individuals from institutions to community living.

(b) Such plans and programs shall be designed to include a variety of community-based services such as, but not restricted to, the following:

(1) respite care for families of elderly and disabled persons which provide live-in or part-time assistance on an occasional basis to relieve families providing care for such persons in their homes;

(2) organization and assistance in the funding of adult day care programs at existing senior and other community centers, nursing homes and other suitable facilities, for the purpose of assisting families who care for dependent relatives at home;

(3) encouragement and assistance to small groups of elderly and disabled to develop interdependent living arrangements, such as congregate housing, where such mutual help housing arrangements will keep persons out of full-time institutional care;

(4) self-help services which assist elderly and disabled people to identify and assess their independent living options which best enable them to live independently in the community; and

(5) grants to test innovative programs designed to assist families in caring for their dependent relatives at home provided, however, that innovative program grants shall not exceed 10 percent of the expenditures from the fund in any fiscal year.

(c) The secretary of human services and the board shall solicit proposals for grant awards from public and private persons and agencies. The board shall evaluate the proposals and submit to the secretary its priorities for awarding and funding of grants. The secretary shall award grants from the proposals recommended by the board and administer grants from the fund. The board and secretary shall monitor expenditures by grantees, and evaluate the effectiveness of the programs, assistance or services provided.

(d) The secretary of human services in conjunction with the board shall develop guidelines for the coordination of programs, the application for and distribution of assistance from the independence fund. (Added 1981, No. 234 (Adj. Sess.), § 4.)