September 19, 2018
DBHDS hosted a preview this morning of the material to be presented tomorrow at TACIDD – the slides done by Burns & Associates which will also be used for the TACIDD meeting are below. The apparent intent of the meeting was is well articulated on the Agenda slide:
- Vision and Goals for Supports Packages
- Design
- Pilot and Implementation
The meeting was a bit contentious with providers asking questions along two lines – first, why have the steps outlined in the
Revised Plan for Supports Packages (from October 2015 – eleven months before the implementation of the first Waiver Services in September 2016) not been followed; and second, if the services included in the “packages” are not the most expensive services (residential services including Group Home, Sponsored and Supported Living are not included), then what impact will establishing Supports Packages have on the cost of the Waivers?
Areas of concern”
- The packages designed were based on FY17 (July 2016 to June 2017) claims data
- The packages are clearly designed to produce a budget for each combination (Living Situation, Level/SIS and Age (child vs adult)), and “Funding amounts are not being treated as a hard cap at this time” (Slide 10)
- The pilot being scheduled appears to be a “slow roll-out” as the concept is built into the planning process for DBHDS
- It is not clear how this improves on the Person-Centered Planning process already in place
There are lots of words:
- about finding gaps in services,
- trying to make sure everyone gets what they need, but not more than they need,
- making the system equitable,
- giving the Support Coordinators a tool to talk with families about what array of services should/could look like, and
- completing the Activity Calendar in WaMS to generate the supports package.
It seems as though the process is fairly firmly in place and will potentially drive the service options for individuals moving into the future. Stay tuned!
Individual Supports Packages – Purpose, Design and Drafts