Providing home support services to family members, through the Choice in Supports for Independent Living (CSIL) option or family care home services, is now more flexible, announced Health Minister George Abbott.
Amendments to the Payment to Family Members policy in the Home and Community Care Policy Manual expand the criteria for making exceptions for immediate family members to be paid to provide home support or family care home services to relatives.
?We are working to ensure policy meets the needs of families,? said Abbott. ?Flexible options allow relatives other than immediate family members to be paid without having to go through an exception approval process.?
The policy has allowed payment of some relatives since 2002 and now recent changes allow even greater flexibility to those requiring support. Specifically, the new exception criteria allow health authorities to take into account the nature and degree of care required by the client including any extraordinary or unique needs that make it difficult for clients to find caregivers. It also allows relatives living in the same home as the client, other than immediate family members (spouses, parents and children), to be paid without going through an exception approval process.
CSIL is an alternative option for eligible home support clients. It was developed to give British Columbians with daily personal care needs more flexibility in managing their home support services.
CSIL is a self-managed model of care. Clients receive funds directly for the purchase of home support services. They assume full responsibility for the management, co-ordination and financial accountability of these services, including recruiting, hiring, training, scheduling and supervising home support workers.
The changes were implemented in order to meet the recommendations made by the BC Human Rights Tribunal in the Hutchinson decision.