What is OPTIONS for Community Living?
OPTIONS for Community Living is a state-funded Tennessee program that provides homemaker services, personal care and home-delivered meals to adults 18 and older who have limitations in activities of daily living, delivered through the local Area Agency on Aging and Disability.
The Department of Disability and Aging describes OPTIONS as a way to give older adults and adults with disabilities home and community-based choices. People with an intellectual disability are served by other programs instead. Services are provided based on availability and level of need, which in practice can mean a waiting period when funding is committed.
Is there an income limit for OPTIONS?
No. OPTIONS has no income eligibility requirement, but participants pay on a sliding fee scale based on income, which makes it one of the few public home care programs available to middle-income Memphis families.
That sets it apart from TennCare CHOICES, which requires both nursing-home-level (or at-risk) care needs and Medicaid financial eligibility. A parent who owns a paid-off house in Bartlett and has modest savings may not qualify for CHOICES but could qualify for OPTIONS homemaker or personal care hours, paying part of the cost.
What other in-home help does the Aging Commission of the Mid-South offer?
The Aging Commission of the Mid-South, the Area Agency on Aging and Disability for Shelby, Fayette, Tipton and Lauderdale counties, lists homemaker assistance, home-delivered meals, personal care assistance, caregiver services and senior centers, and screens callers for TennCare CHOICES.
Federally funded Title III-B in-home services under the Older Americans Act serve people 60 and older who meet activity-of-daily-living limitation requirements. The Aging Commission also manages the District Conservator and Public Guardianship Program for people who need a decision-maker and have no one else, and publishes an annual Senior Information Handbook. Call its Information and Assistance line at (901) 222-4111.
How do I apply for OPTIONS in Memphis?
Call the Aging Commission of the Mid-South's Information and Assistance line at (901) 222-4111, or the statewide line at 1-866-836-6678, which routes callers to their local Area Agency on Aging and Disability.
Be ready to describe which daily activities your parent needs help with (bathing, dressing, meals, housework, medications), who helps now, and roughly what the household's income is for the sliding fee. Ask whether there is a waiting list and whether home-delivered meals can start sooner than personal care.
At a glance
| OPTIONS is | OPTIONS is not | |
|---|---|---|
| Funding | State-funded, through the Area Agencies on Aging and Disability | Medicaid |
| Income | Open to any income, with a sliding fee | Free to everyone |
| Services | Homemaker, personal care, home-delivered meals | Nursing, assisted living or 24-hour care |
| Availability | Based on funding and level of need | Guaranteed on request |
Sources include Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. chapters 0720-26, 0720-21 and 0720-18, Health Facilities Commission and TennCare pages, CareScout and VA rate tables as cited above; see our editorial standards.
