A. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall be known and may be cited as the “Oklahoma Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance and Support Services (Oklahoma CD-PASS) Act”.

B. The purposes of the Oklahoma Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance and Support Services Act are to:

1. Provide assistance, on a voluntary basis, to families with a Medicaid-eligible member who requires long-term support services, or to provide assistance to Medicaid-eligible individuals who require long-term support services, so that such persons may remain in their family residence or in their own home; and

2. Afford, on a voluntary basis, frail elderly individuals and adults with disabilities who are Medicaid-eligible and who need basic assistance with mobility, self-care and health maintenance, the ability to have maximum control over the selection of persons working on their behalf and over the manner in which personal assistance services are to be provided to them.

C. The Oklahoma Legislature finds that:

1. Providing services to individuals needing in-home and community-based care, as well as providing assistance to their family members, should be supported;

2. Giving recipients of in-home and community-based services and their family members a choice in the selection of services needed and providers to be utilized enhances a sense of dignity and autonomy for those individuals receiving care; and

3. Providing consumers and their families with choice and control over their lives is a goal that should be supported.

D. The Oklahoma Legislature further recognizes the importance of providing options and alternatives to persons receiving in-home and community-based services, and as such, supports demonstration programs that result in positive outcomes.

Added by Laws 2004, c. 285, § 1, eff. July 1, 2004.