AN ACT EXPANDING AGING IN PLACE INITIATIVES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 17b-607 of the general statutes is amended by adding subsection (d) as follows (Effective July 1, 2015):

(NEW) (d) On and after July 1, 2015, the Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services is authorized to establish and administer a grant program for the purpose of providing assistance to eligible persons to undertake home modifications and acquire assistive technology devices, as defined in section 42-330, necessary to allow such persons to age in place in a home setting of their choice. The commissioner shall assign staff to administer the program. For purposes of this section, "eligible persons" means persons sixty-five years of age or older or persons of any age with physical disabilities who (1) have an annual income that does not exceed four hundred per cent of the federal poverty level, and (2) provide to the Department of Rehabilitation Services a written statement signed by a health care provider licensed pursuant to chapter 370 that such person is in need of a home modification or assistive technology device to live independently.

Sec. 2. (Effective July 1, 2015) The sum of five million dollars is appropriated to the Department of Rehabilitation Services, from the General Fund, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, to establish and administer a grant program for home modifications and assistive technology devices pursuant to section 17b-607 of the general statutes, as amended by this act.

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

In section 1(d), "grand fund" was changed to "grant program", for internal consistency, and "department" was changed to "Department of Rehabilitation Services", for clarity and, in section 2, "grant fund" was changed to "grant program", for consistency with other provisions of the bill.