Home and Community Services

Most ill or disabled older Missourians can remain in their own homes and avoid or delay institutionalization with the help of support services. The Division of Senior and Disability Services administers a coordinated, integrated home and community service delivery system to assure that the needs of Missouri's elderly and persons with disabilities are met.

Through professional staff serving each of the state's 114 counties and the city of St. Louis, services such as personal care, homemaker, chore, nursing, respite, adult day health care, counseling, and consumer-directed services are made available to the elderly and persons with disabilities in their homes.

These home and community based services are provided to eligible persons 60 years of age or older and to adults with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 59. Generally, the service recipient must meet specific guidelines concerning economic, social, and care needs in order to be eligible for home and community based services. Through an assessment process, the division determines the services necessary to meet the needs of each eligible person. The primary funding sources for home and community based services are General Revenue, Medicaid, Social Services Block Grant, and the Older Americans Act. Through these programs, approximately 66,000 elderly and persons with disabilities are served each year.