Community-Integrated Personal Assistance Services and Supports

KANSAS

Grant Information


Name of Grantee

The University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc.

Title of Grant

Community-Integrated Personal Assistance Services and Supports

Type of Grant

Community-Integrated Personal Assistance Services and Supports

Amount of Grant

$725,000

Year Original Funding Received

2002

Expected Completion Date

September 2006

Contact Information


Sara Sack
Associate Professor in Research
Kansas University, Center on Disability
2601 Gabriel
Parsons, KS 67357

620-421-8367
ssack@ku.edu

Shelia Nelson Stout and Sidney Hays
K-PASS Grant Coordinators
Occupational Center of Central Kansas
1710 W. Schilling Road
Salina, KS 67401
785-827-9383

Subcontractor(s)

Kansas Association of Centers on Independent Living (KACIL)

Shawnee County Community Developmental Disabilities Organization of the Topeka
Association of Retarded Citizens (TARC)
2701 SW Randolph
Topeka, KS 66611

Center for Independent Living in Southwest Kansas
111 Grant Avenue
Garden City, KS 67846

OCCK
1710 West Schilling Road
Salina, KS 67401

Target Population(s)


Kansans with mental retardation (MR) or developmental disabilities (DD) who are served on the MR/DD waiver and who use personal attendant services.

Goals


  • Increase the use of consumer-directed options for personal care assistant (PCA) services in all regions of the State.
  • Increase the availability of personal care workers at home, at work, and when away from home.
  • Ensure consumer safety while supporting informed consumer choice/risk.
  • Measure consumer and PCA satisfaction and adjust services based on this information.

Activities


  • Share consistent information across all regions of the State so that persons with developmental disabilities can make informed choices and personally manage their attendant care services.
  • Work with three pilot developmental disabilities organizations (one urban, one rural, one low-unemployment region) to increase self-directed services, identify barriers, and model changes identified by pilot group.
  • Identify barriers and develop a plan to address barriers to increase self-directed services.
  • Develop a plan to increase labor pool, job satisfaction, and retention among PCAs.
  • Develop and disseminate training materials that assist consumers in advertising for, interviewing, selecting, resolving conflict with, and supervising PCAs.
  • Analyze the range of services being utilized in self-directed services.
  • Collect and evaluate data regarding consumer satisfaction and safety.

Abstract


This effort focuses on increasing PCA options for persons who have mental retardation or developmental disabilities and who are eligible for the Kansas Medicaid waiver program. This program will support individuals served on the MR/DD waiver in personally managing their attendant care services. In order to live and participate fully in their communities, PCAs must be available in an individual's home, at work, and when away from home. Objectives include (1) sharing consistent information regarding the range of activities that an individual might self-direct in regard to their personal attendant services and (2) increasing the availability of PCA services across the State. Currently, agreement on self-directed services is lacking and contributes to the impression that agencies or PCAs are driving plans of care for persons with mental retardation or developmental disabilities.

This goal will also work towards giving consumers maximum control in exercising choice over all aspects of personal assistant services and to have sufficient training to direct these services. A pilot program with service providers and consumers served by three Community Developmental Disability Organizations (CDDOs) will be conducted. Project staff will work with the pilot programs to develop a model that encourages reimbursement of self-directed plans of care for persons with developmental disabilities based on the consumer's needs, including evaluation of rates paid.

This program will develop an infrastructure to support individuals with developmental disabilities or their families/guardians to develop and exercise management skills, obtain and evaluate customer feedback, use customer feedback to identify and correct problems, and create a plan for dealing with recurring issues. Data will be collected regarding the range of activities persons are currently self-directing and their satisfaction with these services. Data from the consumers, the pilot agencies, and a control group will be collected annually. The stakeholder group will consider changes that could be made in reporting systems to annually collect information regarding quality indicators. An additional review of a random sample of plans of care from persons served on the MR/DD waiver will be conducted to review the range of services utilized, the range of entities providing these services, and customer satisfaction with the self-directed care process.