DDES Memo Series
2004-22
ACTION MEMO
December 9, 2004
STATE OF WISCONSIN
Department of Health and Family Services
Division of Disability and Elder Services
To:
Area Administrators/ Human Services Area Coordinators
Bureau Directors
Children’s Waivers County Contacts
County Departments of Community Programs Directors
County Departments of Developmental Disabilities Services Directors
County Departments of Human Services Directors
County Departments of Social Services Directors
Licensing Chiefs/Section Chiefs
Tribal Chairpersons/Human Services Facilitators
From:
Sinikka Santala
Administrator
Re:
Children’s Waivers Crisis Slots
Document Summary
This numbered memo provides notification on the availability of
waiver slots for children with an urgent need for long term support
services. The memo describes the criteria and process for obtaining a
waiver slot for a child.
This memo provides information on the availability of waiver slots for
children with an urgent need for long term support services. Forty state
funded slots for the Children’s Waivers were provided by the State
Legislature to be phased in from July 04 - June 05 for families in crisis.
The crisis slots are intended to assist families keep their child with
a disability at home. For this reason, crisis slots will not be awarded to
cover the costs of children placed outside of the home including foster
care. Crisis slots are reserved for families dealing with a new or
increased stress that affects their ability to care for their child. This
could be due to increased needs of the child or other events in the family
such as long-term job loss, divorce, or illness of caregiver. Priority
will be given to families with multiple stresses. Examples would be
families with more than one child with a disability in the home, or a
parent’s mental status or cognitive ability makes it difficult for the
parent to help the child with the disability.
The waiver slots are state funded at the rate of $48.33/day. If a child’s
service cost exceeds that rate, the county would need to provide the
non-federal share of the cost above the rate. If the child’s costs are
less than the rate, the county may use the remainder to serve another
child in the same target group. However, when the child for whom the
crisis slot is awarded is no longer eligible for any reason (moves, turns
22 etc.) the total funding of the slot returns to the state. If a second
child was receiving waiver services with the state funding, the state
portion would then need to be covered by the county.
Process for Obtaining a Crisis Slot
To obtain a crisis slot, the child’s care manager needs to prepare an
assessment narrative. The narrative should include an assessment that
identifies the needs of the child and a social history that includes a
description of the current crisis and the expected duration of the
increased level of need. The narrative should also indicate what specific
waiver services the child will use and how that will alleviate the stress
in the family or meet the increased needs of the child. We also need
information that demonstrates that the child meets the Level of Care (LOC)
requirements for the waiver. If the child is on Katie Beckett Medicaid,
note that in the narrative as this will meet the LOC requirement. If the
child is not on Katie Beckett Medicaid provide a completed LOC packet in
addition to the narrative. Once awarded a slot, the care manager will need
to complete all remaining steps on the waiver plan checklist. Mail the
required materials to Sandy Blakeney, PO Box 7851, Children’s Services
Section, Madison, WI 53707-7851.
Limitations on Crisis Slots
The Children’s Waivers serve children with a developmental
disability, severe emotional disturbance or with a physical disability.
The Department’s goal is to balance the crisis slots between these
target groups.
Due to the limited number of Children’s Waiver slots, the crisis
slots are not available to pilot sites which have their own fully funded
children’s waiver slots. If a county is awarded a crisis slot for a
child and subsequently becomes a pilot site, the slot will become one of
the pilot slots and the crisis slot will be available to be awarded to
another child in another county. Likewise no county will be awarded more
than two crisis slots without demonstrating an extraordinary situation.
Any county seeking a third crisis slot should call Beth Wroblewski at
608-266-7469 to discuss the situation prior to preparing a narrative.
If a child using a crisis waiver slot moves to an out-of-home
placement, the crisis slot will be returned to the state. The slot may be
held by the state for the same child for up to 60 calendar days from the
date of placement if there is intent to return the child to their home
within 60 days. Crisis slots may not be used to pay any out-of-home costs.
If the out-of-home placement is still a waiver allowable setting, the
county will become responsible for the non-federal share of the waiver
cost but will still be eligible for the federal match. Counties have
fiscal responsibility for out-of-home placements and the crisis slots are
a critical resource for maintaining children in the home with their
families.
ACTION SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Counties are to use this information to request a waiver slot for a child
in urgent need of long term care services.
CENTRAL OFFICE CONTACT:
Julie Bryda
(262) 650-4445
MEMO WEB SITE:
http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/partners/local.htm
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