P.R. Laws tit. 8, § 762
The Office of the General Coordinator for Socio-Economic Financing and Self Management, in coordination with the Department of Housing, the Department of Health, the Department of the Family and the Office for the Affairs of the Elderly, is hereby authorized to establish a pilot project in those special communities in which a greater need for these services is identified.
The Office of the General Coordinator for Socio-Economic Financing and Self Management, as part of the study conducted on the needs of special communities, shall identify which of these has a need for establishments for the elderly. With the collaboration of the Office for the Affairs of the Elderly, the Gerontology Program of the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus and the Department of Health, the Office of the General Coordinator for Socio-Economic Financing and Self Management shall identify the appropriate modality of establishments for the elderly for each specific community, according to the needs identified therein.
When the study on the needs shows that a certain special community has no need for establishments for the elderly and it is determined that there is a need for adequate housing for the elderly persons residing therein, the Office of the General Coordinator for Socio-Economic Financing and Self Management shall give orientations to the elderly residents about the different programs available, among them, the Housing Rental and Improvement Subsidy Program for the Elderly (§§ 1491–1495 of Title 17), the Rental Housing Program for Low Income Elderly Persons (§§ 1471–1475 of Title 17) and shall refer each case for the further attention of the Department of Housing.
The Department of Housing, through the Community Revitalization Administration (ARCO, Spanish acronym), shall establish the mechanisms to foster the development of these establishments for the elderly in the Special Communities of Puerto Rico and to strive towards making it possible to organize these services under a micro-entrepreneurial organization, which shall be in charge of the residents themselves. For such purposes, the Office of the General Coordinator for Socio-Economic Financing and Self Management shall identify and refer to the residents’ associations, which shall be trained by the Community Revitalization Administration.
The Department of the Family, pursuant to the “Establishments for the Elderly Act”, §§ 351–365 of this title, and the regulations that may apply, shall oversee compliance with such provisions in the establishments for the elderly to be established in the Special Communities of Puerto Rico.
In addition to the provisions in the preceding paragraph of this section, when the establishment for the elderly is a long-term care establishment, the Office for the Affairs of the Elderly shall also oversee compliance with the laws and regulations that may apply to these establishments that are also under its jurisdiction.
In the establishments for the elderly established in the Special Communities of Puerto Rico by virtue of this chapter, the Department of the Family, specifically the Families’ and Children’s Administration (ADFAN, Spanish acronym), shall offer protection, orientation and counseling services through the Social Services for Elderly Persons and Disabled Adults Program to the elderly in the Special Communities of Puerto Rico. Furthermore, the Department of the Family, through its Socio-Economic Development Administration, shall offer the training provided in §§ 8300–8303 of Title 3, known as the “Special Training in Basic Care Program for Beneficiaries of Social Assistance”, to eligible residents of special communities in which the establishments for the elderly provided by this chapter shall be established.
The Gerontology Program of the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, utilizing as resources the members of the student community of said Program, shall develop an educational workshop in the establishments for the elderly to provide services.
History —Sept. 23, 2004, No. 475, § 4, eff. Jan. 1, 2005.