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FPCMC Completes Launch of Family Care Thousands of frail elderly and adults with disabilities are now receiving long-term care and health services through the public Family Care program, started in southern Wisconsin during 2008. Many individuals have transitioned to Family Care from a variety of previous public programs. Hundreds have access to services for the first time, coming from waiting lists where they spent five, 10, even 15 years. Also, many new members have relocated from nursing homes back into the community. Family Care is the result of planning and implementation efforts by the Family Partnership Care Management Coalition (FPCMC). Composed of 12 counties in southern Wisconsin and two community nonprofit organizations, FPCPC worked closely with a range of stakeholders including consumers, families, advocates, providers, social and human services agencies, the State and many others to develop a coordinated, integrated approach to long-term care services. The counties include Columbia, Dodge, Green Lake, Jefferson, Marquette, Ozaukee, Sauk, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha and Waushara [Link to FPCMC Map]. The community-based agencies are Care Wisconsin, Community Care and Lutheran Social Services. Our Goal Our goal is to ensure that all eligible consumers in the region have access to high quality services. We want to eliminate waiting lists totaling over 2,600 for our 12-county region and support frail elderly and adults with disabilities in their choice to remain independent at home and in the community. Our planning efforts to redesign our local long-term care system are rooted in the values of choice, quality, access, cost-efficiency and integration. Were moving toward a fully-integrated approach to care planning and management, where we coordinate long-term care with primary and acute health care.
History of LTC Reform
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services launched a Long Term Care Reform Initiative in late 2005. FPCMC received a planning grant of $100,000 in January 2006 to address the concerns of three adult populations: the frail elderly, adults with developmental disabilities and adults with physical disabilities. FPCMC completed its planning phase in mid-2007 and notified the Department it was ready to move into the implementation phase of long-term care reform. During the remainder of 2007, the FPCMC counties prepared to start Aging and Disability Resource Centers (if not already in existence), which provide information and assistance as well as enroll individuals in Family Care and other public programs. Also during 2007, Care Wisconsin and Community Care were approved and certified by the Department as Care Management Organizations (CMOs), which provide the Family Care and Partnership programs in the FPCMC counties. Then in early 2008, FPCMC began to launch Family Care on a State-approved timeline. Please see the implementation schedule  [Link to PDF document]. FPCMC Concludes Planning and Implementation Phases FPCMC completed the planning and roll-out phases of long-term care reform by Sept. 1, 2008 for all counties except Walworth County, which is scheduled to start Family Care in mid-2009. All counties have now opened Aging & Disability Resource Centers except Walworth County, to provide information and assistance to all citizens and enrollment for eligible individuals in Family Care. The Family Care programs Family Care and, in several FPCMC counties, Family Care Partnership are now provided by the care management organizations, Care Wisconsin and Community Care. Within the first six months of operation, all current waiver clients in each county transitioned to Family Care. After the six months, the waiver programs have closed in each county. In addition, starting at the same time, eligible individuals on the waiting lists began enrolling in Family Care, a process scheduled over a 24-month period. At the end of two years, the goal is to eliminate waiting lists. Also, at the end of August 2008, FPCMC transitioned from a regional planning and implementation group to a coalition composed of counties and care management organizations, with a focus on operational matters.
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