Name of Grantee
Rhode
Island Department of Human Services
Title of Grant
Real
Choice Systems Change Grants for Community Living: Respite for Children
Type of Grant
Respite
for Children
Amount of Grant
$100,000
Year Original Funding
Received
2003
Expected Completion Date
September
2007
Sharon Kernan, Project
Coordinator
401-462-3392
SharonK@dhs.ri.gov
Deborah Florio, Project Director
Center for Child and Family Health
Department of Human Services
600 New London Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920
401-462-0410
dflorio@dhs.ri.gov
None at this time.
Children with special health care needs and their
families.
The goal of this project is to assess the need for
and the feasibility of providing cost-effective respite care services for
children with special health care needs and their caregivers.
The Rhode Island Department of Human Services
(DHS) has led the State in developing a system of care for children with
special health care needs (CSHCN) that is responsive to consumer needs. Until
recently, DHS and the Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals
(MHRH) jointly administered, but MHRH actively managed, a Home and
Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver to provide respite care and related
services to persons with mental retardation and other developmental
disabilities, including children. In addition, MHRH has provided respite care
for approximately 300 children under a state-funded program. The Rhode Island
General Assembly transferred responsibility for both programs to DHS effective
July 1, 2003. DHS will now have an active role in ensuring the provisions of
respite care for a designated population.
This study will begin with a thorough analysis of
the programs DHS has inherited from MHRH to determine who receives respite
care, under what circumstances, provided by whom, and at what cost. DHS will
also review more than 1,000 cases that have been assessed by the Comprehensive
Evaluation, Diagnosis, Assessment, Referral, and Reevaluation (CEDARR)
This project may also be used to help develop
tools necessary for implementing a more expansive respite care benefit, pending
state budget approval. Activities may include drafting certification standards
for providers, developing a recruitment and training program for providers,
designing an outreach program for consumers, developing a monitoring and
evaluation plan, outlining state legislation and State Plan amendments and/or
waivers, and preparing an implementation and phase-in strategy.