Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 120.djvu/139

 120 STAT. 108

PUBLIC LAW 109–171—FEB. 8, 2006 (B) the State will participate in and cooperate with the evaluation of the MFP demonstration project. (d) SECRETARY’S AWARD OF COMPETITIVE GRANTS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants under this section on a competitive basis to States selected from among those with applications meeting the requirements of subsection (c), in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. (2) SELECTION AND MODIFICATION OF STATE APPLICATIONS.— In selecting State applications for the awarding of such a grant, the Secretary— (A) shall take into consideration the manner in which, and extent to which, the State proposes to achieve the objectives specified in subsection (a); (B) shall seek to achieve an appropriate national balance in the numbers of eligible individuals, within different target groups of eligible individuals, who are assisted to transition to qualified residences under MFP demonstration projects, and in the geographic distribution of States operating MFP demonstration projects; (C) shall give preference to State applications proposing— (i) to provide transition assistance to eligible individuals within multiple target groups; and (ii) to provide eligible individuals with the opportunity to receive home and community-based long-term care services as self-directed services, as defined in subsection (b)(8); and (D) shall take such objectives into consideration in setting the annual amounts of State grant awards under this section. (3) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary is authorized to waive the following provisions of title XIX of the Social Security Act, to the extent necessary to enable a State initiative to meet the requirements and accomplish the purposes of this section: (A) STATEWIDENESS.—Section 1902(a)(1), in order to permit implementation of a State initiative in a selected area or areas of the State. (B) COMPARABILITY.—Section 1902(a)(10)(B), in order to permit a State initiative to assist a selected category or categories of individuals described in subsection (b)(2)(A). (C) INCOME AND RESOURCES ELIGIBILITY.—Section 1902(a)(10)(C)(i)(III), in order to permit a State to apply institutional eligibility rules to individuals transitioning to community-based care. (D) PROVIDER AGREEMENTS.—Section 1902(a)(27), in order to permit a State to implement self-directed services in a cost-effective manner. (4) CONDITIONAL APPROVAL OF OUTYEAR GRANT.—In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall condition the grant for the second and any subsequent fiscal years of the grant period on the following: (A) NUMERICAL BENCHMARKS.—The State must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary that it is meeting numerical benchmarks specified in the grant agreement for—

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