June 30, 2017 at 4:47 p.m.
Oneida County looks for piece of the pie with CCOP
Oneida County looks for piece of the pie with CCOP
At a committee meeting Tuesday, the department discussed the administration of the Children's Long-Term Support Waiver Program. Currently, the Human Service Center provides that program and has expressed a desire to continue to do so.
The county's social services director Mary Rideout believes she has come up with a compromise which would make both sides happy: the Children's Community Options Program.
According to compasswisconsin, org, the Children's Community Options Program (CCOP) provides supports and services to children living at home or in the community who have one or more of the following long-term disabilities: Developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, severe emotional disturbances.
The child's disability is characterized by a substantial limitation on the ability to function in at least two of the following areas: Self-care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction.
"CCOP funding can be used to provide a range of services and supports that allow the child to remain in the home or community," according to the website. "Allowable services are selected based on an individualized assessment of the child's needs and a service plan completed by the local county CCOP agency, in consultation with the child's family. Some examples of covered services include home modifications, respite care, adaptive equipment, transportation, care management, and communication aids. Parents may be required to pay a sliding scale fee, based on the family's income and service costs."
"What I really hope is that I'd be able to designate a social worker that would understand these programs so that when we have youth in the juvenile justice system that need these services, they can understand what services are available, what we need to pay for, we would refer it to the Human Service Center," Rideout said. "What we would try to do now is develop the programs and services that these youth need and then refer it to the Human Service Center ... This just gives us a financial piece, especially with one-time costs that we can do right away because we can have a social worker that can find somebody eligible in their office."
Human Service Center representative Tamra Anderson did not agree with Rideout, as the HSC has the stance that all of the services need to fit under one umbrella.
"The board's position is that if we start to separate some of our programs out, what does that say to the statute we're obligated to operate under?" Anderson said. "We've sought some legal advice and consultation with our attorney and he really feels that the 51.42 statute is an umbrella of services and it's not something that we can piecemeal out. Services that go together belong under that umbrella and we need to stay operating that way."
Rideout countered by arguing the state statute directs the Department of Health Services to make the decision on CCOP not the county board.
"There's no requirement that it's in the 51 system, the 41 system or the 938 system," Rideout said. "DHS can pick a private agency if they choose to do that. COP was a little more straightforward. The county board passes a resolution on who's going to be the lead agency. Children's COP isn't worded quite as clearly and it really does leave it up to DHS's discretion on who that lead agency is."
Rideout wanted the CCOP under the umbrella of the county to ensure children with disabilities are being provided the proper amount and type of care.
"We do child welfare and juvenile justice and we understand it and they don't," Rideout said. "Yet we need services for those youth now through CLTS. I find that my staff have a better understanding of the services that are needed and the services that are put in place to keep these youth in the home. What they don't have is the knowledge of what CLTS and Children's COP can pay for. So we have these barriers and that's what we've been trying to work out."
Vilas County, which partners with Oneida and Forest counties in the HSC, also has similar designs for Children's COP.
The committee ultimately decided more information is needed and tabled the resolution until the next meeting while Rideout and Anderson further discuss how to come to a compromise.
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
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