State Profile: Indiana
Welcome to the Indiana State Profile Page! This page features a sample of survey and research results from a comprehensive review of state and local home modification activities across the country. It has a special focus on the aging population and the efforts of State Units on Aging, Area Agencies on Aging, and Native American aging service programs that are funded by the Older Americans Act Title VI Grants for Indian Tribal Organizations.
Check back as new updates will be posted periodically! Have any changes or additions? Please contact homemods@usc.edu
SPOTLIGHT ON STATE LEVEL HOME MODIFICATION ACTIVITIES
This section shares information that demonstrates the need for home modification in this state and highlights some of the state's important home modification efforts, policies, and funding sources.
This report by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence and ADvancing States reports on a national survey
FAMILY AND SOCIAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION – DIVISION OF AGING (State Unit on Aging)
State Units on Aging (SUAs) are designated state-level agencies that develop and administer state plans that advocate for and provide assistance, including home modifications or repairs, to older residents, their families, and adults with physical disabilities. SUAs administer funds, including Older Americans Act funds, which may be used to support home modification or repair services through local Area Agencies on Aging and other state and local entities.
1
Community and Home Options to Institutional Care for the Elderly and Disabled (CHOICE) Program
The CHOICE program is administered by the Indiana Division of Aging through the state’s 16 Area Agencies on Aging. It provides home and community-based services, including environmental modification, to assist individuals in maintaining their independence in their own homes or communities for as long as is safely possible.
2
IN Aged and Disabled Waiver
Home and community based care services provided via Medicaid Waivers for individuals who would otherwise require a nursing facility level of care. Services include environmental modifications and sometimes environmental modification assessments.
3
IN Community Integration and Habilitation (CIH) and Community Based Services Waiver
The Community Integration and Habilitation (CIH) waiver provides services that enable individuals to remain in their homes or community-based settings. The CIH waiver also assists individuals who are transitioning from state-operated facilities or other institutions into community settings. Home and community-based services (HCBS) through the CIH waiver allow flexibility in providing the supports necessary to help individuals gain and maintain optimum levels of self-determination and community integration.
4
IN Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver
The Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) waiver provides home- and community-based services (HCBS) to individuals who would require institutional care without such services. Through the use of the TBI waiver, the Indiana Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP) and the Bureau of Better Aging (BBA), formerly known as the Division of Aging, seek to increase availability and access to cost-effective TBI services to people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. Indiana defines a traumatic brain injury as a trauma that has occurred as a closed or open head injury by an external event that results in damage to brain tissue, with or without injury to other body organs. Examples of external events are: mechanical; or events that interfere with vital functions. Traumatic brain injury means a sudden insult or damage to brain function, not of a degenerative or congenital nature. The insult of damage may produce an altered state of consciousness and may result in a decrease in cognitive, behavioral, emotional or physical functioning. This could cause partial or total disability not including a birth trauma-related injury.
SPOTLIGHT ON LOCAL HOME MODIFICATION EFFORTS
This section shares information that demonstrates the need for home modification in this state and highlights some of the state's important home modification efforts, policies, and funding sources.
This Data Brief highlights key findings from the 2019 National Survey of Area Agencies on Aging on how Area Agencies on Aging are providing and funding home modification and repair activities. It was developed by the USC Fall Prevention Center of Excellence in partnership with the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging as part of the Administration for Community Living project, “Promoting Aging in Place by Enhancing Access to Home Modifications.”
1
Environmental Modifications and Handy Chore Services
The Southwestern Indiana Regional Council on Aging has two home modification related services: 1) environmental modifications that are necessary to ensure the health, welfare and safety of the individual and enable functioning with greater independence in the home, and without which the individual would require institutionalization; and 2) “Handy Chore” services are minor home maintenance activities that help to ensure an individual’s health and safety in their home. These activities include installation of health and safety equipment such as handrails, ramps, deadbolts, smoke detectors, and locks.
2
REPAIRS (Reliable Experts Providing Accessibility, Independence, Rehabilitation, and Safety) Program
A volunteer team provides no cost labor and information on the cost of materials. The resident pays with their own private funds, grants, or loans. REPAIRS also provides an annual Safe at Home Fair as part of Fall Prevention Awareness Week.
3
Home Accessibility Modification program
This extensive home modification program of the CICOA Aging and In-Home Solutions Area Agency on Aging focuses on safety and fall prevention for low-income older adults and people with disabilities in Central Indiana. It includes a home assessment process and creative funding sources to address residents’ needs. CICOA case managers refer clients who need home modifications to the Safe at Home Program. Evaluations are conducted before and after the finished modifications. CICOA’s Safe at Home service targets the following housing features: non-slip floor surfaces, egress for access to the home with personal mobility products, wider doorways, lever-handle door knobs and faucets, higher or lower electrical outlets, and improved interior and exterior lighting. Additional home improvements provided by Safe at Home that promote accessibility and prevent falls include: adding grab bars, adding or repairing handrails in stairwells, leveling uneven floors, repairing faulty steps, installing wheelchair ramps, replacing bathtubs with roll-in showers or tub cut outs for easier access, and raising toilets. CICOA also hosts a Safe at Home event, which is an annual, high-impact, half-day of service to homeowners over the age of 60 or to persons of any age with a disability. The event coincides with Fall Prevention Awareness Week in September each year. The Safe at Home program relies on philanthropic funding for 100 percent of its revenue. CICOA continues to seek additional support from foundations which share a common interest in supporting this target population.