RHODE ISLAND
Grant Information
- Name of Grantee
- Department of Human Services
- Title of Grant
- Rhode Island's Community–Integrated Personal Assistance Services and Supports
- Type of Grant
- Community–Integrated Personal Assistance Services and Supports
- Amount of Grant
- $539,730
- Year Original Funding Received
- 2001
Contact Information
Deborah Florio, Chief
Family Health Systems
600 New London Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920
401–462–0140
dflorio@gw.dhs.state.ri.us
Subcontractor(s)
Affiliated Consumer Systems/Birch and Davis
Rick Jacobsen, PhD.
401–462–6357
rjacobse@gw.dhs.state.ri.us
RFP issued for PASS grant activities (7/1/02–9/30/04).
Target Population(s)
Medicaid–eligible children with special health care needs.
Goals
- Design and implement a consumer–directed Personal Assistance Services and Support (PASS) program that will maximize control and choice for children with special health care needs and their families, potentially substitute for other therapeutic services in high demand, expand the pool of current service providers, and improve the continuum of services for children.
- Provide PASS support to children with special health care needs to enhance their independence and ability to live and participate in the community.
Activities
- Collaborate with consumers, advocates, and providers to guide the key design components of PASS.
- Develop certification and performance standards for PASS providers.
- Integrate PASS services into the existing Rhode Island Medicaid infrastructure CEDARR (Comprehensive Evaluation, Diagnosis, Referral, and Reevaluation services and supports) for children with special health care needs.
- Develop and implement specialized training modules targeted to key parties in the PASS program (consumers, broker agencies/fiscal intermediaries, PASS direct workers, CEDARR Family Centers).
- Implement a quality assurance and PASS program evaluation system that is data driven.
Abstract
The Rhode Island Department of Human Services (DHS) will establish two new services to expand consumer choice and maximize consumer control. These will be consumer–directed PASS for children and families using the Service Responsibility model and the Service Choice model. Services will be available to children and families with all types of disabilities. Presently the state plan does not include PASS for children outside residential facilities, and waiver–based PASS are overwhelmingly geared to adults. Currently, within the children's system, children and families often endure long waiting lists and inconsistent service provision.
These PASS services will fill a large void in Rhode Island. By the end of the grant period approximately 350 to 400 families will access Community PASS services. Funded as service benefits under EPSDT rules, the services developed through this grant will continue to be supported beyond the period of this grant.
This grant is particularly timely. Over the past 3 years DHS has partnered with consumers, providers, and other state agencies to redesign the ways in which services are available to children with special health care needs (CSHCNs) and their families. The resulting CEDARR initiative provides the supporting infrastructure and method for implementing Community PASS services to maximize informed choice, consumer control, continuing support for families, and continuous quality improvement. CEDARR includes two delivery system components developed in phases. Phase 1 was the development of CEDARR Family Centers (CFCs), which provide family–directed coordinated services to help families understand and navigate the system of services for CSHCNs. The first statewide CFC opened in April 2001, the second in September 2001, and a third is due in the spring of 2002.
Phase 2 is the development of CEDARR–certified direct services to fill gaps in the existing system. Community PASS services will be developed as CEDARR direct services. In partnership with consumer–focused workgroups, specific service requirements and responsibilities will be delineated and certification standards will be written. Any entity that can demonstrate compliance with the standards will be certified as an eligible provider. DHS brings both an experienced team and a tested approach to the tasks of service design, implementation and startup, targeted training and technical assistance (for families, service worker brokers, direct service workers, and CEDARR Family Center staff), and quality assurance oversight and monitoring.
The CEDARR Policy Advisory Committee, an 11–member body that includes six family representatives (one as co–chair) and one member each from five state agencies, will ensure direct consumer involvement through all phases of this project.