As a community of caring people and persons of faith, TNT calls upon state & local leaders to make changes to benefit the many families who need and depend upon home and community based care. By improving and adding more services and programs, persons needing care can choose home care thus permitting them to live in their home and neighborhood among family and friends. We who sign this petition and support this action call upon state & local leaders to join us in caring for those who need and who could benefit from home and community based care: 1. We support increasing state funds from the present budgeted $5 million to fund the Options Program which will permit more people to receive care without having to sign away their property and estate as a condition of receiving care. 2. We call upon leaders to expand the range of choices people have when they face choosing between a nursing home and home care. We call for an improved, independent evaluation to determine the eligibility of persons in need, thus permitting more people to choose home care. 3. We call for a freedom of choice document and counseling which would inform and communicate to those who are eligible that they have the option of selecting home based health care rather than nursing home care. This would permit more persons to choose home care, thus making use of the unused openings for care that now go unfilled. 4. We call upon TNT to do research, provide education and enter into negotiations with insurance companies to provide families lower cost long term care insurance coverage.