CARE stands for Client Assessment, Referral and Evaluation. Everyone seeking a permanent move to a Kansas Medicaid certified nursing facility must be assessed by the CARE program. A CARE assessment is a personal interview with the individual and family members or caregivers conducted by hospital personnel or staff from the Area Agency on Aging.

The interview includes questions about the need for assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, toileting, meal preparation, housekeeping and laundry.

Each person assessed receives a long-term care threshold score and a CARE certificate that shows the assessment was completed. People who apply for Medicaid/KanCare and qualify financially to get help with the cost of nursing home care, must also qualify functionally. 

The CARE assessment can qualify a person functionally for nursing home care. Most people assessed qualify functionally based on their long-term care threshold score. They are also provided with information about community-based alternatives to living in a nursing facility. 

The KanCare Ombudsman program is an advocacy program to help people having problems with Medicaid/KanCare.

Contact Information

Aging Information Line: 913-715-8857
Fax: 913-715-8826
Email: AHS-Care@jocogov.org