The tough choice often faced by caregivers is not only when to place but where? Assisted Living (ALF) or Nursing Home? Sometime the choice is clear but with ALF's providing more care then they used to they are often able to care for someone who could also be in a nursing home. There is a great National Public Radio program located at Assisted Living vs. Nursing Homesthat everyone should listen to. I encourage everyone reading this to go have a listen by clicking the link.

NEW NEWS!

There may now be help from Medicaid to pay the cost of Assited Living. It is called the Nursing Home Diversion Program. It is a pilot state program designed to divert people from nursing homes to alfs. It is a great opportunity for many of my clients that are not quite ready for the nursing home but cant be in their own homes any longer. This is GREAT news, but the program is going to be limited to 1800 participants and is filling up fast.

Sean.

How can I find out whether my father might be eligible for this program and reserve him a spot?

The state of Florida currently has a couple of programs that help people pay for care in assisted living facilities. It's better for the person, and ultimately cheaper for the state, for the state to help people stay as independent as possible for as long as possible.

The programs are the Assisted Living Waiver and the Long-Term Care Diversion program. The rules for the two programs are different; the programs are not offered uniformly throughout the state; and funding for the programs is limited so there are a limited number of slots available at any given time.

The bottome line is that SOME help is SOMETIMES available. Please let me know if you'ld like to know more. If I don't know the answer, I know who does.