Raising Expectations

The publications below are based on the findings of Raising Expectations: A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities, and Family Caregivers, which was released in September 2011. These publications were produced by the AARP Public Policy Institute with support from The SCAN Foundation and The Commonwealth Fund.

A New Way of Looking at Private Pay Affordability of Long-Term Services and Supports The affordability of private pay services is an important component of long-term services and supports system performance. This Insight on the Issues presents data on private pay affordability for every state and more than 400 markets in the United States.

Protecting Family Caregivers from Employment Discrimination This Insight on the Issues explores eldercare and the workplace. It highlights the realities of changing demographics and issues affecting working caregivers of older adults. It defines family responsibilities discrimination (FRD), explains why FRD is a policy matter, and describes the types of workplace discrimination encountered by working caregivers.

Fact Sheet: Protecting Family Caregivers from Employment Discrimination This Fact Sheet highlights issues affecting working caregivers of older adults.

Assessing Family Caregiver Needs: Policy and Practice Considerations This Fact Sheet defines caregiver assessment, which is a systematic process of gathering information about a caregiving situation to identify problems and resources. Effectively assessing and addressing caregiver needs can maintain the health and well-being of caregivers, sustain their ability to provide care, prevent or postpone nursing home placement, and produce better outcomes for the care recipient. (July 2012)

Assisted Living and Residential Care in the States in 2010 This Insight on the Issues discusses the availability of assisted living and residential care, which represent a critical component of the long-term services and supports (LTSS) system for older adults who cannot live alone, but do not require the skilled care provided by nursing homes. In 2010, states reported a total of 51,367 licensed residential care settings with a total capacity of 1,233,690 beds—a dramatic increase from an estimated 1,046,631 beds in 2007. (July 2012)

The State of Measurement of Respite Care This Insight on the Issues examines respite care, or temporary relief for caregivers from caregiving tasks. It is the service strategy most commonly offered to support family caregivers and is available in all 50 states. However, definitions of respite vary among programs and states, and quality and completeness of reported data are often lacking, making rigorous comparison among states impossible. This report describes the main sources of publicly funded respite care and presents data for the year 2007. (July 2012)

Case Study Overview While the Scorecard started a discussion about state long-term services and supports (LTSS) performance, it did not explain why states ranked high, low, or somewhere in between. Therefore, the AARP Public Policy Institute, with support from The Commonwealth Fund and The SCAN Foundation, undertook a series of case studies to provide a deeper context for understanding state performance for the baseline Scorecard. This paper presents an overview of the findings from the case studies. (May 2012)

Case Study: Minnesota This case study looks at Minnesota, which ranked first overall in the nation for long-term services and supports. (May 2012)

Case Study: Georgia This case study looks at Georgia, which—like most southern states—ranked in the lowest quartile of state LTSS performance . (May 2012)

Case Study: Idaho This case study looks at Idaho, which scored in the upper-middle range of overall LTSS performance. (May 2012)