This meeting was the first meeting of this newly formed committee. Kathy Kelly, Co-Chair, welcomed everyone and gave a brief summary of the new committee. This committee was formed by Manhattan DD Council as a merger of former sub-committees including Family Support, Service Coordination & Transition. The goal of this committee is to bring forth information on relevant topic areas in the field that have relevance to the broad community of families and service providers.
The meeting began with Introductions and Announcements. Please see attached copies of Flyers that were distributed. In addition to the flyers, any agency that has current openings in either Medicaid Service Coordination (MSC) or Day Habilitation were asked to also include that information on a separate Vacancy Announcement Sheet since it has become increasingly difficult for new people to find available options for these particular services. Please also see the Vacancy Announcement Sheets attached as well.
The meeting included a general discussion on the current concerns surrounding the transition to Care Coordination. OPWDD has started a series of Webinars for MSC’s that began in December and are scheduled to be held twice a month. Information on registering for these Webinars can be found on OPWDD’s website – www.opwdd.ny.gov and clicking on the People First Care Coordination link. In addition, you can also view previously recorded Webinar sessions from December & January. It was also brought up that it would be helpful to have additional and continuing information available specifically to provide CCO Transition information geared to people supported and their families. A request was made to perhaps have the various Care Coordination Organizations (CCOs) present on how they expect to plan for the transition as there are several options available particularly as it relates to transitioning MSC staff. At this time, it is still unknown which of the prospective CCOs will be approved. However this committee is committed to ensuring that as this transition progresses, we will keep the CCO Transition as a running topic on the monthly meeting agendas. In addition, we will explore the most effective forum to give the CCOs a platform to present.
There was also a brief discussion on the Coordinated Assessment System (CAS) and some of the problems recently identified with the administration. We reviewed the role of the MSC in this process as well as brought up several ways that families can assist in improving the accuracy of these assessments. Please see the attached handouts of The Role of the MSC in the CAS Process and CAS Assessment – Tips for Families.
The committee discussed possible future topics of interest which include Certified Residential Opportunities; Respite Opportunities; Adult Day Service Opportunities; as well as information from MSC E-Visories.
Thank you to Sinergia for hosting this meeting.
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday February 27th 10-12 at
AHRC, New York City – 83 Maiden Lane – 11th Floor Boardroom.