FAQs

- What is The Senior Alliance?
- What services are available through The Senior Alliance?
- What is the Service Area for The Senior Alliance?
- Who is eligible for services from The Senior Alliance?
- Is there an income test for eligibility?
- How much will I have to pay for services?
- How is The Senior Alliance funded?
- How do I arrange for services?
- How can I find out about services in other regions?

Do you have other questions? Contact us by e-mail, phone (734) 722-2830, (800) 815-1112, or write to us at The Senior Alliance, 3850 Second Street, Suite 100, Wayne, Michigan 48184

What is The Senior Alliance?

The Senior Alliance (TSA) is a private non-profit agency that has been designated as both an Area Agency on Aging and an Organized Health Care Delivery System to serve Western and Southern Wayne County, Michigan. TSA serves as the focal point for older adults in the region, by funding and administering a network of services. It also arranges for services to qualified older and adults with disabilities as part of the MI Choice Waiver program in Michigan.

What services are available through The Senior Alliance?

The service network includes in-home and community services such as home care, meals, information, advocacy, and support services. For more information about specific services, go to the TSA Service Network page.

What is the Service Area for The Senior Alliance?

The Senior Alliance's primary service area is comprised of the 34 communities of Southern and Western Wayne County, Michigan. These communities are: Allen Park, Belleville, Brownstown Township, Canton Township, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Ecorse, Flat Rock, Garden City, Gibraltar, Grosse Ile Township, Huron Township, Inkster, Lincoln Park, Livonia, Melvindale, Northville, Northville Township, Plymouth, Plymouth Township, Redford Township, River Rouge, Riverview, Romulus, Southgate, Sumpter Township, Taylor, Trenton, Van Buren Township, Wayne, Westland, Woodhaven, and Wyandotte. See larger Map of Service Area.

Who is eligible for services from The Senior Alliance?

Any person age 60 and over who resides in southern and western Wayne County is potentially eligible for agency services funded by either the Older Americans Act or the Older Michiganians Act. For some services, an in-home assessment will be conducted to determine that the individual is in need of assistance.

Low-income persons, age 55 and over, may qualify for the agency's limited part-time employment program under Title V of the Older Americans Act.

The MI Choice Waiver program has more restrictive eligibility requirements. To qualify, persons must be age 65 and over and/or disabled (age 18 and older), have income and assets below the specified limits (see below), and be determined to be medically in need of nursing home placement.

Is there an income test for eligibility?

There is no income test for Older Americans Act and Older Michiganian Act services. Service priority, however, will be given to older persons who appear to be in the greatest social or economic need. The part-time senior employment program does have income requirements.

The MI Choice Waiver program has a current income limit of $2,022 a month (2010 figures). If the client has a spouse, the spouse's income is not computed in the qualifying amount. Allowable assets for an individual client are limited to $2,000. If the client has a community spouse, the federal spousal impoverishment guidelines are utilized.

How much will I have to pay for services?

Under the Older Americans Act, no fees may be charged for these services. In place of a fee, service recipients will be asked to make a donation towards the cost of the service for some services or share in the cost. Under a cost sharing arrangement, recipients are expected to share in the actual cost of service provision. A sliding scale based on the recipient's income is utilized to determine the suggested cost sharing amount. Any funds donated by recipients will be used to further expand services.

The Chore Referral program, which links independent workers with seniors, is not funded by OAA or State funds, and seniors are expected to make their own payment arrangements with workers.

How is The Senior Alliance funded?

Much of the current funding for services comes through appropriations authorized under the federal Older Americans Act and the state's Older Michiganians Act. Funding for services is passed through the Michigan Office of Services to the Aging (OSA) to the Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) including The Senior Alliance. The Medicaid Waiver program is funded by a mix of federal and state funds. Funds are provided by the Medical Services Administration, a division of the Michigan Department of Community Health.

How do I arrange for services?

Call The Senior Alliance at (734) 722-2830 or (800) 815-1112 for information about specific services that we provide.

For many services, callers can directly contact the provider to arrange for assistance. For home care services through The Senior Alliance's Care Management, Case Coordination & Support, and MI Choice Waiver programs, the process starts with a telephone screening system. Based on responses to the questions, a follow-up in-home assessment will be conducted by agency staff. Services will then be put in place when funding is available. There may be waiting lists for some programs.

In this directory, there is contact information listed after each program, so you will know whether to call TSA, one of the TSA Contracted Service Providers, or another community agency. Potential service recipients may also receive a variety of services by making their own private pay arrangements.

The TSA Information Services specialists are available to discuss your specific circumstances and explain TSA services, housing alternatives, and other eldercare resource options.

How can I find out about services in other regions?

Information about Area Agency on Aging services nationwide can be obtained by calling the toll-free Eldercare Locator number at 1-800-677-1116. The Information Specialist has access to a database of more than 4,800 entries. The toll-free Eldercare Locator service operates Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern time. For more information on the Eldercare Locator, please click on the link www.eldercare.gov.

For phone calls, have the following information ready when you call:

The name and address of the older person you are assisting. Most importantly, the Zip code will help in identifying the nearest information and assistance sources.
A brief and general description of the problem or type of assistance that is being sought.

The federal Administration on Aging (AoA) web site lists Internet resources in each state with links to Area Agencies on Aging that have web sites.