MANSFIELD — The Veteran-Directed Care program allows veterans to hire home health aides.
Diane Ramey, assistant director of the Area Agency on Aging Ohio District 5, told Richland County commissioners on Tuesday about a partnership with the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center that began about a year ago to administer VDC on behalf of the Veterans Health Administration.
Ramey said the agency works closely with administrations in Cleveland and Columbus.
“We do the assessments to discern their eligibility and then we also case manage those individuals,” Ramey said. “We help them hire their worker and deal with the fiscal components of that.”
Veterans services offices at Richland, Ashland and Knox County levels are instructed to make referrals directly to Cleveland or Columbus, she said.
Veterans create a care plan with staff from the agency, as well as their hired home health aide. This is when everything the veteran may need support with — and how often — is discussed and planned, including activities like bathing, getting dressed, making meals and more.
The program’s importance has become even more visible as a shortage in available home health aides has continued to rise, Ramey said.
“When a veteran can find a family member or a good neighbor that wants to help support them, they can hire them to do this work,” she said. “These are folks that would otherwise be in a nursing home.
“That’s not necessarily where everybody would want to be and choose to age in place. To be able to do that at home is a major benefit,” the assistant director said.
Administrative offices in Cleveland and Columbus help deploy the program and pay the agency for conducting assessments and/or case management, Ramey said. There are currently about 20 veterans enrolled.
She said the agency’s goal is to boost that number to 56 by the end of 2025.
Who’s eligible for VDC?
Ramey and Trae Turner, chief of community living, brief commissioners about the program’s progress.
Commissioner Darrell Banks asked the duo how eligibility for the program is determined. Ramey said eligibility is largely determined based on a veteran’s limitations.
According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, all enrolled veterans are eligible for VDC if they’re eligible for community care, meet the clinical criteria for the service and availability of the program. Services may vary by location.
“It’s really more about what we would call a level of care, where we determine how they’re managing their independent activities of daily living,” Ramey said.
The program also creates opportunities to save money. She said having the ability to hire someone from within the community costs — on average — about a third of what a veteran would pay in a nursing home.
“These folks can remain at home, their loved ones get to have them at home and often it’s a family member that’s providing the care and able to then be employed,” the assistant director said.
Serving Richland, Ashland and Knox counties, among others
The Area Agency on Aging Ohio District 5 serves residents in Ashland, Crawford, Huron, Knox, Marion, Morrow, Richland, Seneca and Wyandot counties.
Ramey said veteran administration offices in Cleveland and Columbus supply referrals to the agency and often designate individuals who they know are most likely to be eligible for VDC.
“I’m glad anytime to hear that there’s more services being provided for our veterans, because that’s such a deserving portion of our population,” said Commissioner Cliff Mears.
Duana Patton, CEO of the Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging, said the agency’s mission is to serve and diversify all of its funding and programs.
Ramey, who works frequently with individuals who are nursing home-eligible, recognized the opportunity to further help veterans, she said.
“It’s (VDC) not a program we have to operate as an Area Agency, but the need is out there and we just want to do the best that we can for the community and certainly for our veterans and their families,” Patton said.