Caregivers in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania

Adult Autism Services

At Allcare & Allied Health Services LLC we provide the following services to individuals with autism and their family members.

Family Support: Family Support-Autism Marriage and Family

Therapies- Counseling –Autism Marriage and Family

Service Definition:

This service provides counseling and training for the participant’s family and informal network to help develop and maintain healthy, stable relationships among all members of the participant’s informal network, including family members and the participant, in order to support the participant in meeting the goals in the participant’s ISP. Family Support assists the participant’s family and informal care network with developing expertise so that they can help the participant acquire, retain or improve skills that directly improve the participant’s ability to live independently. Emphasis is placed on the acquisition of coping skills, stress reduction, improved communication, and environmental adaptation by building upon family and informal care network strengths. The waiver may not pay for services for which a third party, such as the family members’ health insurance, is liable. The Family Support service does not pay for someone to attend an event or conference.

Family Support must be necessary to achieve the expected outcomes identified in the participant’s ISP. The Family Support provider must update the Supports Coordinator at least monthly regarding progress toward the goals for the Family Support service. The Supports Coordinator will summarize monthly progress in the Quarterly Summary Report submitted into HCSIS. The Family Support provider must maintain monthly notes in the participant’s file and have them available for review by BAS during monitoring. If the participant receives Specialized Skill Development/Behavioral Specialist Services, the Family Support provider must provide this service in a manner consistent with the participant’s behavioral support plan and crisis intervention plan. The major purpose of this service is to teach the participant’s family and members of his or her informal network coping skills by building on their strengths.

The participant does not need to be there when this service is provided. This service is limited to 40 hours per year.

An example of Family Support is teaching family member’s ways to help the participant calm down when he or she is upset and explaining how autism may make it difficult for the participant to understand why others may be getting upset.

This service may be delivered in PA and in states contiguous to PA.

Respite:

We provide different levels of respite services to individuals with autism and their family members.

Respite – Agency Managed Out-of-Home (Unlicensed)

Respite – Agency Managed In-Home

This service gives a participant’s caregiver a short break. It is for unexpected circumstances when the caregiver is not available at a time when the caregiver would usually be available to support the participant. This service is not for events that happen regularly. It may be used to give the caregiver a break, such as a long weekend away or vacation. Respite services may also be used by a participant who gets Residential Habilitation services in a Family Living Home.

Respite includes help for activities such as bathing, dressing, eating, doing housework, managing money, and cooking.

During respite the provider follows the participant’s regular schedule as much as possible.

Respite is not available to people who get Residential Habilitation services in a Community Home.

If Respite is provided out of the participant’s home, it includes meals provided by the provider.

This service may be provided in or out of the participant’s home. It may be for part of a day, an entire day or over several days.

A participant can receive up to 30 times the day unit rate for respite in a licensed facility per year.

Respite may not be provided at the same time that Supported Employment (when provided directly to the participant), Transitional Work Services, Day Habilitation, or Community Support is provided.

An example of a time where Respite services can be used is when a caregiver has jury duty and must be out of the house for a few hours when the caregiver would usually be home.

Specialized Skill Development:

This service is used to teach participants skills to help with challenges participants may have. The challenges may be because the participant has trouble understanding what other people are saying or because the participant has trouble with people understanding what the participant is saying. It may be because the participant is very sensitive to sounds, lights or other things around him or her. The challenges may be because of other reasons. The Specialized Skill Development service includes the development of individual plans by experts in behavioral supports and independent living skills development to help the participant learn skills. Specialized Skill Development includes three levels of support: Behavioral Specialist Services, Systematic Skill Building and Community Supports.

A Behavioral Specialist

Behavioral Specialist Services (BSS) is used to provide support to participants with behaviors that are a problem for them. This may include disruptive or destructive behaviors, which make it hard to be active in the community or live at home. BSS includes the development of a Behavioral Support Plan (BSP).

A Behavioral Specialist provides Behavioral Specialist Services (BSS).

The Behavioral Specialist first conducts a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) to understand the participant’s behavior concerns and the causes of the behaviors. The Behavioral Specialist then does an analysis of the results of the FBA and develops the BSP.

People with autism learn skills faster and better when they are helped in the same way by different people and in different places. For that reason, the BSP tells everyone who is in regular contact with the participant what they should do to help the participant learn skills. After the plans are created, the Behavioral Specialist and SC meet with the participant and the people who support him or her to explain the BSP and to answer questions about the BSP.

BSS includes training family members and providers so that they understand the BSP and can help the participant learn the skills the participant needs. BSS can also include training other people with regular contact with the participant (like friends and neighbors) how to teach the participant the skills he or she needs to be more independent and to reach his or her goals.

The Behavioral Specialist works with the SC to make sure that all of the participant’s waiver services follow the BSP. The Behavioral Specialist may ask providers to collect data to see if the BSP is working well or needs to be changed.

The Behavioral Specialist also develops a Crisis Intervention Plan (CIP). The CIP explains what can be done to help the participant avoid a crisis. It also explains how to help the participant if there is a crisis.

If the participant needs behavioral support before the plans are developed, the SC may submit a request to BAS for ongoing support to be provided during plan development.

The BSS agency must have someone available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week to help if a participant has a crisis.

The Behavioral Specialist will check to see how well the BSP and CIP are working. If the BSP and CIP are not working well and need to be changed, the Behavioral Specialist will discuss the need for changes with the participant.

Systematic Skill Building helps the participant learn skills that increase independence and participation in his or her community. These skills are not behavioral in focus. They include skills like cooking, using public transportation or keeping one’s home neat.

The Systematic Skill Building Specialist looks at the participant’s abilities and learning style. The Skill Building Specialist then develops a Skill Building Plan (SBP). The SBP will explain how the participant can learn the skills that the participant needs to learn to increase his or her independence and participation in the community. The SBP will use Applied Behavior Analysis techniques to teach skills.

After the SBP is developed, the Skill Building Specialist and SC meet with the participant and the people who support him or her to explain the SBP and answer questions about the plan.

People with autism learn skills faster and better when they are helped in the same way by different people and in different places. For that reason, the SBP tells everyone who is in regular contact with the participant what they should do to help the participant learn skills. Systematic Skill Building includes training family members and providers so that they understand the SBP and can help the participant learn the skills the participant needs. Systematic Skill Building can also include training other people with regular contact with the participant (like friends and neighbors) how to use the SBP to help the participant learn the skills he or she needs to be more independent and to reach his or her goals.

The Skill Building Specialist will check to see how well the SBP is working. If the SBP is not working well and needs to be changed, the Skill Building Specialist will discuss the need for changes with the participant.

Community Support Specialist

Community Support helps a participant gain, keep, and improve skills needed to live in the community. The goal of this service is for the participant to needless direct help.

Community Support services include helping a participant improve the skills he or she needs to be active in the community. This includes helping the participant meet people, attend social events and develop social relationships. The participant may also use this service to help him or her get to know his or her neighborhood and community where he or she lives , take part in community activities and be involved in hobbies. He or she may go shopping, volunteer or attend events.

Community Support services can be used to assist a participant with self-care activities that are usually done at home such as bathing, dressing, eating, housework, managing money, or cooking.

Community Support cannot be used just for transportation.

Community Support staff implement the BSP and SBP and collects and records the data necessary in order to evaluate progress and the need for revisions to the plans.

Community Support can take place in a participant’s private home or in places in the community such as libraries or stores.

Community Support has three staffing levels. The staffing level depends on the participant needs and circumstances. There may be one staff supporting one participant, one staff supporting two participants, or one staff supporting three participants. For example, if three participants who have the same provider are attending the same concert and one staff person can support all three of them at the same time, one staff person will attend the concert. This allows for small groups to participate in activities without having more staff than they need.

A participant can get a total of 50 hours per week of Community Support, Day Habilitation, Supported Employment (when provided directly to the participant), and Transitional Work Services. A participant who needs more than 50 hours a week may ask for more hours and BAS will determine if there is a need for the additional hours.

A participant cannot get Community Support services at the same time that Supported Employment (when provided directly to the participant), Transitional Work Services, quarter hour Respite, or Day Habilitation is provided.

Some examples of Community Support services are helping the participant use public transportation, make new friends, and handle money. Community Support services can also be used to help the participant with personal hygiene, cooking, grocery shopping, or following a daily schedule.

Temporary Supplemental Services:

This service provides extra staff for a short time when there is a concern about a participant’s health and welfare. This service is for circumstances such as unexpected life events which may make it more likely that a participant will have a crisis event. An example is a recent loss of a family member.

This service may also be used to support a participant after a recent crisis event that resulted in a need for a short term increase in support. Staff supports the family, the participant’s informal support network and other providers’ staff.

BAS decides if Temporary Supplemental Services are needed based on information from the SC, the Behavioral Specialist (if the participant gets that service) and the rest of the ISP team. BAS reviews the need for Temporary Supplemental Services at least once a week.

Temporary Supplemental Services are limited to 540 hours in a 12-month period.

An example of Temporary Supplemental Service is providing extra support to the team after the participant is discharged from a hospital stay on after a behavioral crisis.