A new report examines New Jersey’s Assisted Living Program (ALP), which is designed for seniors living in subsidized public housing. The program allows older adults to stay in their communities by offering personal care, medication management, nursing, and social services aimed at delaying or preventing the need for nursing home placement.
Unlike traditional assisted living facilities, ALPs separate housing from service provision. The report uses a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to evaluate how effective and sustainable this model is within the state’s aging policy framework.
The report highlights that ALP care centers on patient needs. The approach focuses on supporting seniors to age at home with plans tailored to each person’s requirements. This method does not require standard care packages and aims to promote autonomy and self-worth among clients.
Services are delivered through partnerships with subsidized housing administrators. Each property has an on-site ALP office that provides support between 12 and 24 hours per day depending on residents’ needs. Access to a nurse is available around the clock. ALPs receive payment through New Jersey Medicaid’s Managed Long Term Services and Supports program based on a per-person-per-day rate.
According to the authors: “Our key findings indicate that the model faces significant regulatory, labor market, and financial challenges. These challenges prevented the ALPs from growing in the past decade, resulting in many older low-income New Jerseyans remaining underserved. There are currently less than 25 properties with income and age restrictions served by ALPs. Based on the opportunities we identified, over 300 additional properties in New Jersey could be served by a financially sustainable ALP. Despite all the challenges, ALPs have many strengths that make them a worthwhile investment.”
The authors of the report are Ayse Akincigil, Uri Amir Koren, Jasmine Akman, Dima Bischoff-Hashem, and Karen Zurlo—an associate professor at Rutgers School of Social Work.
