Open Doors Program 

The Open Doors Program helps people move from institutions, like nursing homes and intermediate care facilities, to homes in the community.  A Transition Specialist is a person who is familiar with local resources and can meet with the individual and/or their family members to identify what services they will need and to help the individual access those services.

 

Those services may include:

• Community Preparedness Education, to make sure that the individual has the information and skills needed when they return to the community.

• Identifying specific services to meet the individual’s needs and assistance with getting those services put in place such as personal care aides or assistive technology.

• Finding affordable, accessible housing that meets the individual’s needs through the Olmstead Subsidy Housing Program.

• Introducing the individual to a Peer Mentor through the Open Doors Peer Program.

• Applying for the Medicaid Waiver Program (Nursing Home Transition and Diversion and Traumatic Brain Injury)

• Navigating the Managed Long Term Care + New York Independent Assessor Assessment

• Applying for the Good Neighbor Program

• Applying for the Open Doors Phone Program, which allows you free cellphone service for a year while in a nursing home.

• Applying for an Open Doors Food Card

• Making a Health Homes Referral

 

The Transition Specialist is here to create a discharge plan alongside family and nursing home staff that will meet the individual’s needs and to help them successfully return into the community. RCAL‘s Transition Specialists work with individuals who are currently in institutions within the Lower Hudson Valley or that wish to return here.

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For more information about the Open Doors Program, please call (845) 331-0541 and ask for a transition specialist.

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