Elder services providers grappling with surging caseloads and funding deficits are bracing for new state directives that will curtail access to home care programs. The Healey administration on Feb. 1 plans to tighten eligibility criteria for older adults enrolling in the state-funded Enhanced Community Options Program (ECOP), which serves frail individuals who clinically qualify for nursing homes but are able to receive intensive at-home care. By the start of March, the state will then impose a cap on the number of available ECOP slots, providers told the News Service…