§ 6203. Definitions

As used in this subchapter:

(1) “Area agency on aging” means an organization designated by the State to develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated system of services, supports, and protections for older Vermonters, family caregivers, and kinship caregivers within a defined planning and service area of the State.

(2) “Choices for Care program” means the Choices for Care program contained within Vermont’s Global Commitment to Health Section 1115 demonstration or a successor program.

(3) “Department” means the Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living.

(4) “Family caregiver” means an adult family member or other individual who is an informal provider of in-home and community care to an older Vermonter or to an individual with Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder.

(5) “Greatest economic need” means the need resulting from an income level that is too low to meet basic needs for housing, food, transportation, and health care.

(6) “Greatest social need” means the need caused by noneconomic factors, including:

(A) physical and mental disabilities;

(B) language barriers; and

(C) cultural, social, or geographic isolation, including isolation caused by racial or ethnic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status, that:

(i) restricts an individual’s ability to perform normal daily tasks; or

(ii) threatens the capacity of the individual to live independently.

(7) “Home- and community-based services” means long-term services and supports received in a home or community setting other than a nursing home pursuant to the Choices for Care component of Vermont’s Global Commitment to Health Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration or a successor program and includes home health and hospice services, assistive community care services, and enhanced residential care services.

(8) “Kinship caregiver” means an adult individual who has significant ties to a child or family, or both, and takes permanent or temporary care of a child because the current parent is unwilling or unable to do so.

(9) “Older Americans Act” means the federal law originally enacted in 1965 to facilitate a comprehensive and coordinated system of supports and services for older Americans and their caregivers.

(10) “Older Vermonters” means all individuals residing in this State who are 60 years of age or older.

(11)(A) “Self-neglect” means an adult’s inability, due to physical or mental impairment or diminished capacity, to perform essential self-care tasks, including:

(i) obtaining essential food, clothing, shelter, and medical care;

(ii) obtaining goods and services necessary to maintain physical health, mental health, or general safety; or

(iii) managing one’s own financial affairs.

(B) The term “self-neglect” excludes individuals who make a conscious and voluntary choice not to provide for certain basic needs as a matter of lifestyle, personal preference, or religious belief and who understand the consequences of their decision.

(12) “Senior center” means a community facility that organizes, provides, or arranges for a broad spectrum of services for older Vermonters, including physical and mental health-related, social, nutritional, and educational services, and that provides facilities for use by older Vermonters to engage in recreational activities.

(13) “State Plan on Aging” means the plan required by the Older Americans Act that outlines the roles and responsibilities of the State and the area agencies on aging in administering and carrying out the Older Americans Act.

(14) “State Unit on Aging” means an agency within a state’s government that is directed to administer the Older Americans Act programs and to develop the State Plan on Aging in that state. (Added 2019, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 5, 2020; amended 2021, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. July 1, 2022.)