The Arc Ready to Assist Clients As Service Change Takes Effect

SOUTH DENNIS – There are 601 Cape May County residents deemed “eligible consumers” who may benefit from a change in services delivered by the state Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). That number is from a 2015 census by DDD. 
The Arc of Cape May County is in a position to assist those people, according to Patricia Merk, executive director, The Arc of Cape May County.
During an interview with Merk and Sarah Matthews, director of operations, The Arc of Cape May County at the Herald office July 21, they explained how the change in service delivery could affect those individuals. It will move into a Medicaid billing system with each person having an individual budget that will be drawn upon to provide needed aid for the person.
Persons staying with their families or in “unlicensed” residential settings will experience a flexibility that did not exist in the past.
“This is ‘choice driven'” she added, and will help families and those living with families over age 21 to find services that they need.
“We are available to help and to make sure they get the assistance they need,” said Matthews. She pointed to a pilot program in 2015 whose graduates will be among the first to benefit from the program.
Community integration is the thrust of the program, to get people in the program working in local businesses with an eye toward making them as self-sufficient as possible and away from an institutionalized setting.
The Arc of Cape May County has existed since the early 1950s with that goal in mind, Matthews said. She pointed to the Rio Grande Thrift Shop, which employees three persons with disabilities. That store, she added, is also the primary source of fundraising for The Arc.
According to a release provided by The Arc, DDD has changed the service delivery model to offer individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities more personalized choice about the supports and programs available to them so they can remain independent and a part of their community for as long as possible.
It noted this was an “ideological shift award from segregated, institutionally-based care to a system that promotes integration through community -based service and support options.”
Before the change, “There were only a few ways in which people could receive services through providers who were contracted through DDD with the state…and now they are given options through a host of businesses and organizations that can tailor supports for their unique needs.”
All people receiving DDD-funded care will be moved to this Medicaid billing based program, but the first pilot of this program began with a few individuals in July 2015.
At present, the number has grown through additional pilot programs and all graduates of 2016 will fall under the new process.
This has been in the works for several years, the release noted.
The ARC, with over 55 years of supporting the community with respect to this population, wants to ensure those same people that it exists to answer questions and help them through the conversion.
The Arc has worked closely with the state and will remain “vigilant about being informed and ready to aid those who need assistance.”
The Arc’s employment and day-habilitation program are undergoing expansion in light of the new approach, and it looks forward to the new venture and how it will benefit the local community.
“We will continue to provide innovative services that support independence and community inclusion for people with developmental disabilities through both the Supports Program and the Community Care Waiver,” Matthews said.
There are five key points about the upcoming changes:
* Supports Program will become the primary channel for accessing services for persons who live at home with families, on their own, or other unlicensed settings.
Once changes are implemented, adults over age 21 and older who are both DDD-eligible and Medicaid-eligible with the exception of those enrolled on the Medicaid Community Care Waiver, will access employment and day services, and individual and family support services through DDD’s new Supports Program. Because it is a Medicaid program, participants will be required to maintain Medicaid eligibility to continue receiving services.
Residential counseling services are not covered by the program but are covered under another program.
* Support Coordination will be the key resource for getting services in the community. Supports Program participants will not have a DDD case manager. They will be required to select or be assigned a Support Coordination Agency.
* Individualized Service Plan will be the primary Support Coordination document. That plan will be reviewed and modified as needed if there is a change in a participant’s level of need or circumstances.
* DDD will approve and authorize funding and provide oversight. Participants will be assigned a Waiver Assurance Coordinator, who will be responsible for assisting and overseeing the person’s services.
* Participants will get an individual budget for services based on assessed level of need.