They do not provide these services because . . . This legislation needs to allow states to move money from the nursing home line item to the CASA line item for those individuals living in nursing homes and other institutions so they can, if they want, choose to live in the community. In Mike Oxford's state, Kansas, consumer control is required by state law, thanks to changes in the state's nurse practices act and in licensing regulations that the Kansas disability community pushed through the state legislature several years ago. Oxford describes the procedure they followed and says others can do the same thing in their states. First, Oxford looked up the Kansas laws and rules governing licensing and certification for nurses, home health aides and other providers of such services.
All states have such laws.
There are also regulations for licensing and certifying practical nurses and home health aides. It's important for advocates to look for this vagueness, says Oxford. Oxford researched other states' laws and talked to disabled people who used home health services to try to find out what people wanted in terms of controlling their own attendant services. They convened a meeting of everybody they could think of who would conceivably be interested in the legislation they were going to propose. Some of these groups, naturally, were opposed to what they were doing.