The Supports Waiver is for adults age 21 or older who have a developmental disability.
The goal of this Waiver is to create meaningful opportunities for your family member. This includes helping them get a job and get more involved in their community.
Please note: The waiver system has recently changed! You will still hear about the 4 different waivers, but they will soon be integrated into one. Please call your OCDD office for more information!
See below for some of the services that this waiver may cover. But understand that there is a new system and it should cover just the services that each person really needs.
A person who qualifies will not necessarily get all of these services. It will depend on their situation and their needs.
Click on the boxes below to read more about each service. (Click on the title again to close the box.)
If your family member would like to work in the community, Supported Employment is a service that can help make that happen.
This service also includes:
-
Ongoing career counseling - helping your family member choose a job in an area of work that they enjoy
-
Benefits planning - finding out what benefits, like Social Security, they can get
-
Financial literacy - making good choices with money, savings, and bills
-
Assistive technology (AT) - if your family member needs a device to speak or hear, Supports Waiver will help pay for it
-
Transportation to and from work
Ask your Support Coordinator for help with setting this up. They will need to fill out a form. Click on the "Supports Waiver - Job Assessment, Job Discovery, and Job Development Completion Form" at the bottom of this page to download a copy.
Prevocational services will help your family member get ready for having a job.
This means that these services will help them build the skills they need in order to get a job. These skills will need to be listed in a career plan that outlines your family member's job-related goals.
Types of prevocational services include:
-
learning to follow rules and instructions
-
talking with coworkers and supervisors in a way that is appropriate for work
-
paying attention to the task you are working on
-
finishing tasks
-
being safe at work
-
figuring out what to do when you need help
-
staying positive when work gets to be stressful
The Support Coordinator will review the progress for each activity. When your family member has made enough progress on these tasks, they can work with the Support Coordinator to take the next step in finding a job.
Your family member can use these services for up to four years. The goal is to find a job within that time.
Day Habilitation services help people with disabilities learn new skills.
These skills often focus on making the person more independent.
Notes:
- These services can also be fun activities, like playing sports or joining a club. As long as the activity is helping your family member meet their POC goals, it counts!
- Day Habilitation may also include building skills outside of the home, like making food choices at a restaurant or doing non-paid work in the community to practice social skills.
- Transportation is included in this service.
Respite means getting a much-needed break!
Respite Care services can help if you or your family member's caregiver needs a break for a short period of time.
For example, if you are going away on vacation and you can't bring your family member, they can stay with aRespite Care Provider while you are gone. This allows your family member to keep up their same schedule of services and activities.
Your Support Coordinator will help you find a provider that offers these services. It can be in your home, or at a Respite Center.
Habilitation services help your family member practice and build the skills they need to be independent.
They will have a staff person who will work with them one-on-one.
The goal is to learn skills like:
-
being able to do things on their own
-
making new friends
-
dealing with stress
Supports Waiver offers housing services to help people get ready to leave a hospital or group home and return to their family or live on their own.
Ask your family member's Support Coordinator for a PERS if you would like to have this extra layer of safety.
Support coordination will help your family member get the waiver and Medicaid services they need.
Here's what will happen:
-
You and your family member will choose an agency that offers support coordination.
-
They will give you aSupport Coordinator.
-
The Coordinator will come to your home and do an intake and assessment - they'll get to know your family member and their needs.
-
They will help you create a service plan for your family member. This is called the Plan of Care (POC).
The Support Coordinator will be your teammate in the waiver process.They will be your main contact for anything relating to waiver services.
The Support Coordinator will help you do these things:
-
Write a POC based on your family member's needs and goals
-
Plan services and choose providers, based on who your family member wants to work with
-
Meet with your family member on a regular basis to check in and get updates
-
Transition them out of services, if needed
To learn more:
- Go this webpage: About the Supports Waiver. (It will open in a new tab on your screen.)
- Click on the "Support Waiver - Tip Sheet" link at the bottom of the page to download a fact sheet.
Source: LDH