I would not say we have promising practices plus we are in the midst of waiver redesign. In terms of Waiver services, we currently have a wait list for the ID waiver that is
based on “urgency” of need, urgent vs. nonurgent except that there are people who have been on the urgent list for 15 years. The DD Waiver wait list is first come first serve with 10% emergency reserve slots. When there are emergencies for folks on the ID
waiver wait list, they usually can borrow a slot (a facility slot or one from another locality). These waivers are about to be combined. That part of it is good since they won’t be diagnostically based. But they are going to have to combine two distinct
waiting lists. For people on the DD Waiver list who were perhaps in the top 100, they are quite upset because now they will be reevaluated for “urgency.” When the state allots waiver slots under the ID waiver, one goes to each of the localities (Community
services boards) so that assuming there are 40 slots approved each of the 40 CSBs get one slot. They additional slots are divided proportionately by the number of folks on that jurisdictions urgent list. As noted, the DD list is currently statewide and first
come first serve. The Elderly and Disabled with Consumer Direction waiver does not have a wait list and may on the ID/DD waiver wait lists are on that waiver. That waiver, however is NF alternate placement not ICF/IID placement and they have cracked down
on children getting into that waiver in the last couple of years. We don’t have a children’s waiver.
Under the new waiver redesign, they are proposing a Priority 1, 2 and 3. There are significant issues with this as Priorities 2 and 3 need services btw 1 and 5 years from the
date evaluated, which would actually make them ineligible for the wavier since you have to require and be willing to accept services within 30 days to get on the wait list. We are currently in the public comment period for our waiver applications so we don’t
know how it will all turn out.
Some of the larger (Fairfax) and more affluent localities provide local dollars to support folks but it is variable.
Heidi Lawyer
Executive Director
Virginia Board for People with Disabilities (VBPD)
1100 Bank Street, 7th Floor, Richmond, VA 23219
804-786-9369
800-846-4464
www.VaBoard.org
From:
xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com [mailto:xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com]
On Behalf Of Brian Cox
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2016 11:44 AM
To: NACDD list
Subject: DD Councils Eligibility and access to services
Good morning or afternoon (depending on where you are),
Our DD administration has engaged us in exploring with them ways to improve how our state's waiting list for community supports & services is handled. We are interested in knowing the following
as we look at other states' processes and policies:
1) Does your state have a process for determining eligibility for services that you think is reasonably/relatively fair and effective?
2) If your state places individuals deemed eligible for services in priority categories, is the criteria and process reasonably/relatively fair and effective?
3) Relative to the two questions above, we are also interested in how eligibility and access to services are handled for children.
I know that "fair and reasonable" is subjective and often the answer is no because of many variables and perspectives. I also realize there will always be many caveats and no system is 100%
effective. To narrow our research, I am basically trying to get a quick read from your perspective on which states might warrant further exploration.
If I hear that there are some promising practices in your state, I might want to talk further offline. Thank you for any feedback.
Feel free to email me directly at
xxxxxx@md-council.org.
Brian
Brian Cox
Executive Director
Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council
