ASHEVILLE, NC – Vaya Health, a leader in North Carolina health care, has been awarded a statewide contract to administer Money Follows the Person (MFP) Transition Coordination Services by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS or Department) serving older adults and adults with physical disabilities. MFP is a federally funded demonstration project that helps eligible NC Medicaid beneficiaries living in long-term care facilities move into their own homes and communities with supports.
About Money Follows the Person
As the Department’s statewide partner in the project, starting this fall Vaya will provide Transition Coordination services, helping eligible older adults as well as adults with physical disabilities transition from qualified care facilities into community-based living arrangements. In addition, Vaya will engage in outreach and education efforts with potential MFP participants, family members, individuals, and organizations connected to the transition process, as well as stakeholders throughout the state.
“We are pleased to partner with Vaya on the MFP transition services contract for older adults and adults with physical disabilities,” said Steve Strom, NC DHHS MFP Project Director.
“This partnership gives Vaya an exciting opportunity to build on our experience and expand our outreach and transition efforts statewide for older adults and adults with physical disabilities,” said Tracy Hayes, Area Director and Chief Executive Officer at Vaya. “We appreciate the Department’s confidence in our ability to implement this program and look forward to changing lives by listening to North Carolina’s Medicaid beneficiaries and connecting them with long-term services and supports to benefit them and their communities.”
Vaya established the groundwork for a more inclusive and community-oriented approach to caring for individuals with disabilities through its stellar implementation of programs such as Transitions to Community Living (TCL). Vaya has been a statewide leader for the TCL program and was recognized by the Fiscal Year 2023 annual report of the Independent Reviewer.
“Here at Vaya, our guiding philosophy is to help people live the life of their choosing. We believe and have demonstrated our support for individuals’ rights to live in the least restrictive home and community they choose, with appropriate services and supports,” said Celeste Ordiway, Vice President of Transition and Housing at Vaya.
Vaya has deep experience helping people with intellectual/developmental disabilities and adults with serious mental illness transition from institutional settings to the community. Through the state’s TCL initiative, Vaya staff have supported more than 1,150 adults with serious mental illness transition out of adult care homes (or helped divert them from going into institutional settings) into living independently in the community with services and supports.
Over the last 12 years, Vaya has also helped more than 129 children and adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities in 32 North Carolina counties transition from institutional settings into community-based settings with services and supports through the MFP program via the Innovations Waiver. Vaya consistently utilizes all its allocated MFP transition slots and has had a success record of assisting members through the 365-day follow along period in the home and community of their choice.
