For recipients of Personal Assistance Services, a program of the Butler County Area Agency on Aging, home is where the heart is.

The PAS program helps individuals 60 years old and older live safely in their homes. It includes assistance in activities from getting up in the morning and bathing to meal preparation and running errands.

The agency does not provide the services, but it provides funding for people to use them and it coordinates the caregivers, said Diane Stevens, information and referral supervisor for the agency.

“It’s the same thing as getting in-home services like light housekeeping or personal care,” she said. “The difference is, PAS is more consumer directed.”

The consumer-driven model for PAS means clients are technically the employers of the care provider.

In these cases, however, a third party handles payroll on behalf of the client, keeping everyone legal in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service.

In some situations, a family member — though never a spouse — may be designated as the caregiver and be paid as a personal assistance worker.

However, in most cases, services are provided by a registered, licensed home health agency.

“We have over 200 consumers across the state. We do anything from assisting with activities like personal care to cleaning and shopping. Sometimes (we do) transportation, such as to and from doctors,” said Krista Geer, executive director of Guardian Home and Community Services.

The Brockway-based home care provider has an office in East Brady, Clarion County, to serve Butler County residents.

“We look at who the consumer is and what their needs are. Do they have a high acuity level (medical needs), or are their needs more on the transportation and cleaning side?” Geer said.

The answers to those questions determine which of the provider’s 130 employees is best suited for the job.

“Some (employees) have worked in nursing homes where they have had people who are completely dependent. Some are housewives who have spent their lives taking care of families and want to continue doing something like that,” Geer said.

“It’s really about fitting the right person; You have to take personalities into account.”

The transition to home care is equally challenging for the families of those involved, Geer said.

“When we ask what a client may need, the first response is often ‘I don’t know.’ They know (their family member) needs help, but not what kind,” she said.

But the Guardian staff adapts to each new situation and the learning curve it presents.

“A lot of times, the care plans we get tell us the consumer may need someone for a few hours in the morning, around lunch and bed time. It’s certainly not an 8-to-4, Monday-through-Friday job.”

“Typically, once the staff get to know the consumer, they feel a larger responsibility. They are there, they are concerned and they are making sure that person is taken care of.”

Services also can provide programs for more independent individuals.

The Community Care Connections’ Golden Opportunities program operates in a facility on Whitestown Road in Butler Township, providing care and activities from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The service not only caters to elderly individuals, but to adults with mental or physical disabilities.

“Some of our participants live in care homes, with their families or in apartments of their own,” said Cindy Harbison, public relations director for Community Care Connections.

“Because it’s a dual-licensed center, we have a different dynamic than a typical senior adult center. We have people in their 20s here, as well as people in their 60s, 70s and 80s. The younger people enjoy the stories of the older people, and the older people enjoy the liveliness of the younger ones.”

The program provides personal care to those who need it as well as recreational and day-to-day activities.

“Participants in the program are free to choose what activities they want to participate in. There also is structured programming, such as lunch time and a discussion time, but it’s done in a way that everybody has a job, just like at home,” Harbison said.

“What we’re trying to do is reinforce skills that people have learned throughout their lifetimes and enable them to keep using those skills. Everybody functions according to their own ability level.”

Since mobility can be an issue for some program participants, the program brings entertainment and activities to them, including stylists from a beauty school, therapeutic pets, Bible study, and service projects.

One such project involves program participants stuffing gift bags for a manufacturer’s Christmas party, which are then handed out to children.

“It gives our participants a chance to do something useful in the community to give back,” Harbison said.

“We try to touch on every aspect of a person’s personality.”

Personal Assistance Services eligibility requires clients to be eligible for Medical Assistance and clinically eligible for nursing home-level care. Under this option, the program may be provided for free.

For clients with income or assets above the medical assistance guidelines and not clinically eligible for nursing home-level care, a cost-share fee may be assessed, ranging from 0 to 100 percent of the client’s income.