Section 43-63-7 - Mississippi Dementia Care Program; purpose; funding; assessment for assistance; report to Legislature(1) Subject to the appropriation of federal funds for that purpose, there is established within the Department of Human Services a pilot program known as the "Mississippi Dementia Care Program" for the purpose of providing respite care services to informal caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia. The pilot program shall use existing respite care services infrastructure and selected fiscal agent to carry out the operations of the program. The State Department of Mental Health, the State Department of Health and the University of Mississippi Medical Center shall cooperate with and provide assistance to the Department of Human Services in the establishment and operation of the program and in seeking to obtain federal funds for the program.(2) The Mississippi Dementia Care Program shall:(a) Be operated for a period of three (3) consecutive years beginning on July 1, 2022, and continuing through July 1, 2025;(b) Begin enrolling participating individuals immediately upon beginning of the program; and(c) Actively serve not more than sixty (60) enrollees for the first year of operation, and maintain this number of enrollees for the second and third year of operation.(3) To receive assistance from the Mississippi Dementia Care program, the family unit must be assessed according to the guidelines developed by the department to determine the need for respite care services. This assessment must determine, at a minimum, that: (a) The family unit is unable to pay for respite care without jeopardizing other basic needs, including, but not limited to, food, shelter and medications; and(b) The homebound person with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia for whom the family unit is caring is sixty (60) years of age or older, requires assistance to remain in the home, and, without this assistance, would need to move to an assisted living facility or a nursing facility.(4) The Department of Human Services shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.(5) The executive director of the department shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2023, and on or before January 1st of each year thereafter until the end of the pilot program period. The report shall include, but is not limited to, the following information:(a) Total spent on program funding;(b) The amount of administrative costs to operate the program;(c) The number of individuals and informal caregivers served by the program;(d) The income ranges of the individuals and informal caregivers participating in this program; and(e) The efficacy of the assistance program.(6) This section does not create an entitlement to respite care services through the provisions of this program, and the services provided and the number of individuals served are subject to appropriations of federal funds for that purpose.Added by Laws, 2021, ch. 307, SB 2221,§ 4, eff. 7/1/2021.