AG 1996 12 16 - Laserfiche WebLink

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6. Special Assistance Eligibility Support legislation to require that a person be a North Carolina resident for at least 90 days in order to receive State-County special assistance for adults. (Legislative Goals Committee) Under current statutes governing the Special Assistance for Adults program, a resident is defined as a person who is living in North Carolina at the time of application with the intent to remain permanently or for an indefinite period. This means that a new resident of the state who applies for Special Assistance simply has to state his intent to remain here and he then .meets the state residency requirement. The statute does not set a minimum period of time the applicant must have lived in North Carolina in order to receive Special Assistance. An elderly or disabled adult who has lived in the state for one day is treated the same as one who has lived here for ten or twenty years or for all of his life. State residency has become a significant issue with the growth in the aging population in North Carolina and surrounding states and an accompanying growth in the need for domiciliary care. There is strong concern that with a lenient state residency requirement, some facility owners and out-of-state residents will misuse and exploit the Special Assistance Program which is funded entirely with state and county resources. Some cases of exploitation have already occurred. A safeguard is needed so that North Carolina citizens who need the program are able to use it and the taxpayers are not saddled with the unfair burden of paying for domiciliary care for citizens from other states, particularly citizens in the border states who have easy access to facilities in North Carolina due to their close proximity. Under the proposed legislation, a new resident will have to reside in North Carolina for at least 90 days in order to receive Special Assistance. Revised 11/25/96