Hello Brian,
This is certainly a busy time for DD Councils. I have been so tied up with Nebraska’s State Plan Goal and Objectives development, and I finally have time this week to go back through and catch up on emails and national Council information. I am pleased you sent out this question on March 9th about eligibility and wait list prioritization across the country.
Since the beginning of this year Nebraska advocates have been encouraged as our new DD administration is engaging stakeholders in numerous work groups to address multiple issues related to DD services. I have been participating in the “Waitlist and Prioritization” work group. The ultimate goals of the various work groups is to gather information and suggestions to incorporate into Nebraska’s waiver applications are to stabilize the current adult and children’s DD HCBS waivers, as Nebraska has been granted an extension and plans to resubmit the waiver applications to CMS in the coming months. The group is exploring how Nebraska can prioritize the current waitlist and addressing the concern that we need a plan to reserve capacity. I’m sending a PowerPoint that we reviewed at one of the workgroups that highlights how a few states prioritize their waitlist.
I’m also working on the eligibility and application workgroup. Again, the NE DD administration is focused on stabilizing the current waivers and improving access to the eligibility process. I can share more in the coming months once this work group fine tunes the process and procedures. Access to services for children is still a huge concern in our state, so I am curious what others have shared with you. If you happen to have additional information that you could share with me, I would so appreciate it. It appears like both Maryland and Nebraska are addressing some similar issues. Thanks Brian!
Kristen Larsen
Executive Director
Nebraska Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities
P.O. Box 95026
Lincoln, NE 68509-5026
Office 402-471-0143
Work cell 402-853-4180
Fax 402-471-0180
From: xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com [mailto:xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com] On Behalf Of Brian Cox
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2016 10:44 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