DHS/DRS Home Services Program Info

[Guest guest]

Can't stress this enough. If your son/daughter is 18 or older, is receiving SSI

and is deemed Medicaid eligible, AND IF YOU ARE ON THE WAITING LIST FOR THE DD

Home & Community Based Support Waiver, pls read on.

There is another Medicaid Waiver in Illinois that could help you. It's a DHS

Waiver, but this one is administered thru the Dept of Rehab Services, not

Division of DD. So you don't go to your PAS agency, you go to your local DRS

office for this.

It's called the Home Services Program, and what it may entitle your son or

daughter to are what's known as Personal Assistant or Attendant Care Services,

in your home. Eligibility depends on how you score on a Determination of Needs

Assessment Scale, or DON. They basically ask you a lot of questions having to

do with Activities of Daily Living (can the individual use the phone, take

medication safely, get out of the house safely if there's an emergency, can they

bathe/shower/groom/dress/etc completely independently, can they get ready to go

somewhere independently, can they safely cook a meal for themselves, use sharp

knives to cut or prepare food, stay at home alone safely etc etc. Lots of

adults with developmental disabilities struggle with these activities of daily

living.

THERE IS NO WAITING LIST FOR THIS WAIVER. If you are deemed eligible, and you

meet the SSI/Medicaid standards, you are approved for funding, different amounts

based on how your individual scores on the DON assessment. My daughter scored a

54 (29 is the minimum) and she was approved for an allotment worth about

$22,000/year.

HERE'S THE " CATCH " : Your individual can only use the money to pay for services

provided to them in their home, and it has to be necessary to prevent or delay

nursing home or institutional care.

HERE'S THE MAGIC: After age 18, your individual can choose to pay a family

member, including one of the parents, as caregiver. So that means the mom or

dad who does the majority of the caregiving signs up as your son/daughter's

employee, and then mom or dad send in timesheets to the state of IL and get

paid. Every two weeks. OR you can hire someone of your choosing to do the work,

too. Up to you and your son/daughter.

Is it as flexible as the DD Medicaid Waiver? No, in that you can't, for

example, set up an automatic payment system for, say, a day program, or for a

PSW to go out into the community with your individual. However, once you get

your paychecks, and have your taxes withheld on that income, you are free to

spend that money however you wish, right? So if some of it went to help

privately pay for community helpers, or respite workers, etc. that's your

business. (I think - lord help us if the attornies jump in here and tell me what

we did was illegal somehow!)

I recently looked up our two local offices for DRS. If you live in a county

other than Will or Dupage, you'd need to go to your local DRS office. Again, do

not call your PAS agency, they may not know about this Waiver.

Dupage County/Downers Grove DRS Office

2901 Finley Road, Downers Grove

(630) 495-0500

Will County/Joliet DRS Office

1617 W. Jefferson St.

Joliet

(815) 730-4200

If you need more information about what to say, let me know.

The reason I share this is because I have a sinking feeling that when this

Waiver comes up for renewal (2012 I believe) Illinois could re-write the

eligibility criteria to say 'when funding is available' just like the DD Waiver

is written. And then there goes that idea. Right now they still have to fund

you if you're deemed eligible.

Check it out.

www.dhs.state.il.us/page/aspx?item=29738