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HomeMy WebLinkAbout961588.tiff RESOLUTION RE: APPROVE FAMILY RESOURCE SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR ELDER CARE IN 1996-97 BETWEEN AREA AGENCY ON AGING AND THE PARTNERSHIP GROUP, INC., AND AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, pursuant to Colorado statute and the Weld County Home Rule Charter, is vested with the authority of administering the affairs of Weld County, Colorado, and WHEREAS, the Board has been presented with a Family Resource Service Agreement for Elder Care in 1996-97 between the County of Weld, State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, on behalf of the Weld County Area Agency on Aging, Carelink Program, and The Partnership Group, Inc., commencing September 15, 1996, and ending September 14, 1997, with further terms and conditions being as stated in said agreement, and WHEREAS, after review, the Board deems it advisable to approve said agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, that the Family Resource Service Agreement for Elder Care in 1996-97 between the County of Weld, State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, on behalf of the Weld County Area Agency on Aging, Carelink Program, and The Partnership Group, Inc., be, and hereby is, approved. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Board that the Chair be, and hereby is, authorized to sign said agreement. The above and foregoing Resolution was, on motion duly made and seconded, adopted by the following vote on the 11th day of September, A.D., 1996. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 4 E ' WELD R�I COUNTY, COLODO 4/i/i p • � 1u 1861 p' Barbara . Kirkmeyer, Chair f/ ` rk to the Board ® -L-) George . Baxter, Pr -T • Deputy Cle' o the Board - Dal Hall OV AS TO M: CA Constanc2Tho Hrt ounty Attor r 961588 Ca ,' ,9s TPG HR0067 THE PARTNERSHIP GROUP, INC. FAMILY RESOURCE SERVICE AGREEMENT ELDER CARE 1996-97 THIS AGREEMENT is made by and between The Partnership Group, Inc., located at 1400 Union Meeting Road, Suite 102, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, 19422- 1920, hereinafter known as "TPG", Weld County Area Agency on Aging, Carelink Program, 1551 N. 17th Avenue, Greeley, CO 80632 an Elder Care Referral Agency, hereinafter known as "ECRA" or "Subcontractor." WHEREAS, TPG contracts with employers to provide a comprehensive elder care consultation and referral service to employee-caregivers and spouses of such employees, and WHEREAS, a part of the service involves personalized elder care referral assistance by elder care counselors familiar with the communities where elder care is needed, and the administration of on-going resource development programs to stimulate the creation of additional elder care resources in such communities, and THEREFORE the parties HEREBY AGREE as follows: 1) SCOPE OF SERVICE: The ECRA is responsible for providing resources/referrals for two levels of service. The "Basic" level of service consists of a data base search and verification of the resource/referral information. The "Enhanced" level of service includes in addition to verification of the resource/referral information, one or more services such as: extensive research to identify resources, vacancy checks, an identified need for a response within an emergency time frame, or a location in which the resources requested are outside the agency's service area and database. Delivery of these services is described in (Exhibit 1). 2) NOTICE OF EMPLOYEES TO BE SERVED: Exhibit 2 of this agreement lists all current TPG clients. Both parties recognize that new clients will be added from time to time. TPG will use its best efforts to provide a minimum of 60 days notice prior to the effective date of service for any new client. However, the ECRA recognizes that such notice will not always be possible and agrees to use its best efforts to provide referral assistance to families even if less than 60 days advance notice is provided. 3) PAYMENT FOR ECRA SERVICES: For the "Basic" service, payment will be $65.00 per case. For the "Enhanced" service, payment will be $100.00 per case. This fee will apply to cases referred by TPG as well as to cases in which the caller contacts the ECRA directly, if the case is serviced by information from the ECRA. TPG reserves the right to decide whether to refer the case back to the ECRA, in keeping with the procedure for handling direct calls specified in Exhibit 1. The 961588 ECRA will note the level of service at the time referrals are transmitted to TPG. If the caller requests additional information to satisfy the same need described in the original service plan within 30 days of the intake date, the ECRA will furnish additional provider information at no additional cost. The exception will be an increased payment if the ECRA indicates that additional searches change the level of service from "Basic" to "Enhanced." A request for additional referrals based on new needs (defined as changes which require an entirely new search involving new criteria, such as a different set of care issues or a different location), will trigger a new payment at the stated rate. Payment will be made by the 10th business day of each month for cases closed in the previous month. 4) PERIOD: This Agreement shall be in effect from September 15, 1996, through September 14, 1997, unless canceled by either party with a minimum of 30 days notice. If terminated by the ECRA, written notice shall be sent via registered mail to: Manager, Network Services The Partnership Group, Inc. 1400 Union Meeting Road, Suite 102 Blue Bell, Pennsylvania 19422-1920 If terminated by TPG, written notice shall be sent via registered mail to: Linda Piper, Director Weld County Area Agency on Aging 1551 N. 17th Avenue Greeley, CO 80632 5) TARGETED RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT: The parties recognize that a portion of the total payment is to be used to support the ECRAs ongoing resource development. 6) MATERIAL SENT TO FAMILIES: As per the Scope of Service outlined in Exhibit 1, TPG will format and mail referrals to the family. No additional educational materials are to be sent to the family by the ECRA without TPG's prior knowledge and written approval. 7) PROPRIETARY INFORMATION: TPG will provide the ECRA with samples of educational materials which TPG mails to families, and with samples of employer communications materials which TPG provides to employers to assist in notifying employees about TPG's service. The ECRA agrees to treat such materials as confidential and proprietary and will not disclose the content or existence of such materials to anyone other than the ECRA's employees unless prior written permission is obtained from TPG. 2 861588 8) QUALITY MEASUREMENTS: TPG conducts Quality Assurance reviews with all families utilizing its subcontracted ECRAs. The ECRA will receive periodic reports of these Quality Assurance measures. (At the time of this agreement the appropriate measurement for the service delivery model described herein is under review. When a decision is made by mutual consent about the appropriate measurement, specifications will be forwarded by TPG to the ECRA as an addendum to this agreement.) 9) FAMILY COMPLAINT PROCEDURES: The ECRA shall maintain a written set of procedures for handling family complaints or concerns regarding elder care providers. TPG will notify the ECRA immediately if a caller or elder reports a potential licensing or registration violation and will advise the complainant to make a report to the appropriate local authorities. The ECRA shall follow its written complaint procedures for reporting the complaint to the appropriate state or local agencies and for temporarily removing the provider from active referral listings. The ECRA shall notify TPG immediately by telephone, and subsequently in writing, when a complaint is made by a family previously referred by TPG or employed by a TPG client company. 10) INSURANCE: The ECRA agrees to use its best efforts to obtain and maintain comprehensive general and professional liability insurance to cover all of its operations and activities including those covered by this Agreement. Nevertheless, TPG shall provide, at no cost to the ECRA, insurance coverage for those activities undertaken by the ECRA under this agreement and in conformance with the Scope of Service outlined in Exhibit 1 . The ECRA recognizes that TPG's coverage is presently $1,000,000 and is on an occurrence basis with an exclusion for "AIDS related" claims. TPG also provides additional coverage through an umbrella policy of up to $4,000,000. TPG agrees to inform the ECRA about changes in coverage within 30 days of notification of change. 11) EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: The ECRA hereby certifies that it does and will continue to abide by all federal, local and state laws, especially those dealing with equal opportunity, and certifies that it does not and shall not discriminate according to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual preference, veteran status, or handicap. 3 961. 513 12) USE OF EMPLOYER NAMES: The ECRA may list the names of TPG clients served by the ECRA, provided that the ECRA clearly indicates that the employer is served by the ECRA through the ECRA's subcontracted relationship with TPG. TPG's full name must appear and its relationship to the listed client(s) noted. 13) SOLICITATION OF FUNDS: The ECRA agrees not to solicit funds for the same enhanced elder care resource and referral services funded under this contract from any of the employers noted in Exhibit 2 without prior written permission from TPG. 14) INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR: For the purposes of this Agreement, the ECRA shall be considered an independent contractor and hereby covenants and agrees to act in accordance with that status, and the ECRA, employees and agent of the ECRA shall neither hold themselves out as nor claim to be officers or employees of TPG, and shall make no claim for, nor shall be entitled to, worker's compensation coverage, medical and unemployment benefits, social security or retirement membership benefits from TPG. 15) CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT: We agree that information disclosed to The Partnership Group, Inc. ("TPG"), or representatives of TPG, by a Subcontractor or its employees, and other authorized representatives in connection with the Subcontractor's agreement to disclose care provider information to TPG, (the "Information") shall be treated as strictly private and confidential, and shall not be disclosed to any third party, by TPG or TPG's employees, and authorized representatives except as set forth herein. TPG acknowledges that the Information is and shall remain the property of the Subcontractor. TPG agrees not to use, without the Subcontractor's written consent, the Information for any purpose other than to enable TPG to resolve the care needs of the specific TPG client-employee case for whom the Subcontractor identified potential caregivers. TPG further agrees that only those of TPG's employees, and authorized representatives who TPG determines need to receive the Information in order to provide service to the TPG client-employee, shall have access to the Information and such access shall be limited to only so much of the Information as is necessary for the particular individual to perform his or her function; and TPG represents and warrants that all of TPG's employees who shall have access to the Information are under obligation to TPG: (a) to hold in confidence all information made available to them in the course of their employment; and 4 961.588 (b) to use such Information only for the purpose of providing service to the TPG client-employee for whom the Information was identified. Notwithstanding the above, Information shall not include information that is or becomes publicly available or that is required by law to be disclosed by TPG. Information shall be deemed "publicly available" if it is or becomes a matter of public knowledge or is contained in materials available to the public, or is obtained by TPG from a source which, to TPG's knowledge, is not subject to any prohibition against disclosing the Information to TPG. 16) DISPUTES: If any legal action is hereby brought about by either party against the other party, the prevailing party will be entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and court costs. 17) ARBITRATION: In the event of a dispute between parties, by mutual agreement, the dispute may be settled in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. 18) CHOICE OF LAWS/JURISDICTION: This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Colorado. The parties hereunder consent to the personal jurisdiction of the State of Colorado. 19) SEVERABILITY: If any provision of this agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, the other portions of the Agreement shall nevertheless continue in full force and effect. 20) MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS: One or more copies of the Agreement may be signed by the parties hereto, each of which copies shall be deemed an original and all of which shall be deemed to constitute but one and the same instrument. 21) INTEGRATION: This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties and supersedes all prior oral and written agreements, understandings, commitments, and practices between the parties, including all prior agreements whether or not fully performed by the parties before the date of this Agreement. No amendments to this Agreement may be made except by a writing signed by both parties. 5 961.88 22) EXHIBITS: The following Exhibits are hereby incorporated into this Agreement by reference: Exhibit 1 Scope of Service Exhibit 2 Client List 23) AGREEMENT: This Agreement is solely between TPG, its successors, assignees, parent subsidiaries, affiliated and related entities, and ECRA. No other agency, organization, business entity or person is a party to this agreement. AUTHORIZED SIGNATURES: For TPG For ECRA: e q(26.1q(0 , ev. iC : 9/8/96 Michelle J. Irvin Daly Linda Piper, Dir. Date Manager, Network Services Weld County Area Agency on Aging air, Boar f Coun C•, mis oners /�� ��� L.i1861 rff 1 j, EST: LD C NTY C R OT • )/aRD' j J N- ., BY: La DEP CLE TO THE BOARD 6 961588 Exhibit 1 Scope of Service for Elder Care Referrals Overview of case management At TPG we are dedicated to providing a comprehensive and customer focused benefit to our corporate clients and client families. We work in partnership with Subcontractor organizations to provide a seamless service in which the client employee has contact with only one individual, the TPG Case Manager. Case management involves a three-phase process in which the TPG Case Manager assesses the needs of the client employee, works with the Subcontractor to provide resources/referrals to the client employee, and follows up to assure that the highest quality of service and resources were provided. The following step-by-step process describes the information flow from the client employee, to the TPG Case Manager, to the Subcontractor, and back to the client employee through the TPG Case Manager. Case management procedures Assessment phase A. The client employee (herein referred to as "Caller") contacts TPG. The TPG Case Manager engages in a counseling dialogue with the Caller with several goals in mind: 1 . Assess the Caller's needs 2. Obtain intake data to create a Case Description 3. Develop a customized Service Plan II Referral phase A. The TPG Case Manager contacts the Subcontractor in order to obtain resources/referrals. Communication of the Case Description and the Service Plan generally involves a fax from the TPG Case Manager, followed by a phone call from us to verify receipt of the fax. The Subcontractor will contact TPG as needed, to clarify information. 1 . The Case Description includes the following information which will enable the Subcontractor to identify appropriate referrals for the Caller. a. Clear explanation of the issues/needs b. Statement of urgency of need c. Reason service is needed 961583 d. Desired geographic location for referral search e. Any personalized criteria 2. The Service Plan includes the following information: a. Type of service needed b. Date care needed (if any) c. Date and time by which TPG Case Manager needs the referral information 3. The TPG Case Manager is responsible for providing support and guidance to the Subcontractor in order for both to work in partnership to help the Caller. B. The Subcontractor will provide a minimum of 3-7 referrals for each service need. 1 . The Subcontractor will complete a search of the database and make verification phone calls to the resources (including vacancy checks if requested), for the purpose of confirming the accuracy of the information about services offered by the resource. 2. The Subcontractor is responsible for communicating any problems relating to the Service Plan. These problems may include a scarcity or lack of resources or meeting the required response time. 3. The Subcontractor will provide a list of resources/referrals and send them by fax to the TPG Case Manager within twelve (12) business hours. If the case has been designated as an emergency, then it is expected that the Subcontractor will have referrals within six (6) business hours. When working on a challenging case, response time will be adjusted as determined by the TPG Case Manager and the ECRA Consultant. 4. TPG will format, print, and mail provider profiles to the family. 5. The Subcontractor will provide other options or alternatives for the caller when it is not possible to provide the required minimum of three referrals. 6. The Subcontractor will note the level of service (basic or enhanced) at the time referrals are transmitted to TPG. 7. In the event that the Subcontractor is a provider of a particular service requested, every effort should be made to provide additional alternatives to avoid the appearance of any conflict of interest. 2 96159s C. Direct calls to the Subcontractor by the Caller should be handled as follows: 1 . In case of an emergency need, resources/referrals should be provided verbally to the Caller by the Subcontractor as soon as possible, within six (6) business hours. The Subcontractor should set the expectation that a TPG Case Manager will call the family, and will identify a convenient time for TPG to contact the family. The Subcontractor should call TPG to advise that an emergency referral is in process, within one (1) hour of receipt of the call, allowing for extenuating circumstances. The Subcontractor should provide identifying information about the Caller and describe the nature of the emergency. The Subcontractor should fax referral and case information to TPG as soon as referrals are provided verbally to the Caller. 2. If the direct call is not an emergency, the Subcontractor should set the expectation that a TPG Case Manager will call the family, and will identify a convenient time for TPG to contact them. The Subcontractor will then contact TPG by phone or fax to provide contact information about the caller. The Subcontractor also will give the family the option to call TPG by giving them our toll free number. In all cases, the Subcontractor will notify TPG within four business (41 business hours of the call. III Case close-out phase A. The TPG Case Manager will make a follow-up call to the Caller to assure that he/she was provided with the highest quality of service and resources/referrals. B. In the event that the Caller was not satisfied with the referrals/resources or they did not meet the criteria agreed to in the Service Plan, the TPG Case Manager will notify the Subcontractor so that a further search of resources can be conducted. C. The case will be closed by TPG when the caller indicates that his/her need has been resolved. The TPG Case Manager will inform the Subcontractor that the Caller was satisfied with the requested information and will indicate the date the case was closed. TPG will make every attempt to close cases thirty (30) days from intake. 3 961593 Database Information on Elder Care Service Providers and Programs The following information, as applicable, should be kept as a minimum on each elder care service provider and should be updated as often as necessary to provide accurate up-to-date referrals to Callers. 1 . Provider's name, address, contact person, and telephone number 2. License or registration status 3. Days and hours open; holidays closed 4. If transportation is provided, or location of nearest public transportation 5. Information about fees, subsidies, and other financial aid 6. Eligibility information 7. Application procedure and whether there is a current waiting list 8. Information regarding capability to manage Alzheimer's cases 9. Brief program description, including auxiliary services or special facilities The ECRA is expected to maintain a resource file that includes all providers of elder care services in its service area. This resource file should include both public and private agencies, programs, and services. Available services and information about specific programs should include but not be limited to the following: In-home services Transportation Housekeeping Medical Home repairs Handicapped Laundry Recreational Meal preparation Public transportation Medication check Nutritional needs Companionship Shopping assistance Socialization/recreation Emergency response systems Senior centers Geriatric assessment Adult day care Personal care needs Chore service Nursing homes Telephone reassurance Information Weatherization Placement information Skilled Care Facilities Nutritional services Intermediate Care Facilities Home delivered meals Custodial Care Facilities Grocery delivery Congregate meals Health Insurance Special diets Medicare Medicaid Caregiver issues Supplemental insurance Support groups Private insurance Information HMO Education Long term care insurance Respite care 4 w 96� i38 Financial Social Security Pensions Veterans benefits Estate planning Supplemental Security Income Mental Health Alzheimer support group Widow's support group Bereavement Counseling Respite Services In home In the community Case Management Services Hospice Care In home In the community Legal issues Power of attorney Durable power of attorney Living will Will Legal aid Conservatorship/guardianship Advocacy Abuse/neglect issues Living Arrangements Shared housing Personal care facilities Congregate care facilities Retirement communities Continuing care communities Subsidized housing At home care 5 961.F2S 44101(tati MEMORAnDU W�`,O� Barbara S. unty eyer, Chair 7o Board of County Commissioners Date September 6, 1996 COLORADO From Walter J. Speckman, Executive Director, Human Services O,t Subject: Service Agreement between the Weld County Area Agency on Aging and The Partnership Group, Inc. Enclosed for Board approval is an agreement between the Weld County Area Agency on Aging and The Partnership Group, Inc. This is a family resource service agreement. The Partnership Group contracts with employers nationwide to provide comprehensive elder care consultation and referral to employee caregivers and their spouses. Under the terms of this agreement the Weld County Area Agency on Aging Carelink Program will provide resources and referrals to Partnership Group clients within the local catchment area which includes Larimer, Weld, Morgan, Logan, Washington, Yuma, Phillips, and Segwick counties. The Weld County Area Agency on Aging Carelink Program will be reimbursed $65.00 for each basic referral service and $100.00 for each enhanced referral service. The terms of this agreement begin September 15, 1996 and end September 14, 1997. Please contact Linda Piper at extension 3320 if you have further questions. 961588 Hello