Mission

Our mission at VOYCE is to educate and empower individuals and their families for quality living across the continuum of long-term care.

VOYCE helps to ensure a quality life for people living on the long-term care continuum. Our goal is to become the principal source of information and advocacy for these individuals and their families.

We’re doing this by:

  • Illuminating choices for long-term care
  • Providing a voice to residents
  • Giving compassionate and comforting support
  • Building relationships with caregivers and the community

History

As Medicare and Medicaid expanded through the 1960s and 1970s, so did the role of long-term care communities or nursing homes in the United States. As they grew, so did public concern about the care residents were receiving. Reports of residents dying as shoddy carpets carried uncontrollable fires through facilities and others dying because they did not receive care after having food poisoning led to public outcries for better treatment for those in long-term care.

In 1978, Congress created the nationwide Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program through the Older Americans Act. Soon after, State and local ombudsman organizations began forming throughout the United States.

VOYCE was originally founded in 1979 as the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program of St. Louis (LTCOP) under the Lutheran Mission Association of Metropolitan St. Louis as part of this movement.

In 1991, LTCOP was recognized by the IRS and the State of Missouri as an independent 501(c)(3) organization. It has been known as VOYCE since September 2012.

Throughout the years, the organization has grown to include VOYCEconnect, our information and referral resource for the community, systemic advocacy, and education for families and long-term care professionals.