PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor                             S.B. 624

6-702.

(a)     (1) The Secretary shall establish a program of financial assistance for
attendant care services for eligible disabled individuals.

(2)     The Department shall adopt rules and regulations for the operation of
the Program.

(3)     The Secretary shall designate an individual from the Department to
serve as Director of the Program, and shall provide appropriate support services to the
Program from existing budgets.

(4)     Financial assistance shall be given in accordance with a sliding payment
scale established by the Department.

(5)     The Department shall review on an annual basis the eligibility of
individuals receiving financial assistance.

(b)     (1) The Department shall ensure that at any given time at least 50 percent
of the individuals receiving financial assistance under the Program are:

(i) Gainfully employed; [or]

(ii) Actively seeking employment; OR

(III) ATTENDING AN INSTITUTION OF POSTSECONDARY OR HIGHER
EDUCATION, AS DEFINED IN § 10-101 OF THE EDUCATION ARTICLE.

(2) The remainder of the eligible disabled individuals assisted under this
Program shall be individuals who currently:

(i) Reside in a nursing home or similar institution licensed to provide
chronic or intermediate care and who will be deinstitutionalized as a result of this
Program; or

(ii) Are on an approved waiting list of an institution.

(c)     Financial assistance provided under this Program may not duplicate any other
State or federal assistance for attendant care that the eligible disabled individual is
receiving.

(d)     The Department shall limit participation in this Program to the number of
eligible disabled individuals who can be served using the total amount of funds provided
for the Program in the State budget.

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect
October 1, 1995.

May 24, 1995

The Honorable Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.

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