Friend Indeed.
Dear Friend Indeed,
My answer will be a bit more general than you would, perhaps, expect
for two reasons:
1) the answer depends on several issues specific
to your friend and to Utah and
2) I want to be able to share
information that will help others with similar questions.
There are hundreds of different Medicaid home and community-based
service programs both Waivers as well as state plan personal care
services. Every state has several and the different programs are
targeted at different groups. For example, I checked the waivers in
Utah on the Center for PAS website and found five HCBS Medicaid
Waivers:
1. Individuals aged 65 & over
2. Mental Retardation/Developmental Disability (MR/DD)
3. Acquired Brain Injury
4. Individuals with Physical Disabilities age 18 and over
5. Technology Dependent/Medically Fragile
State waiver descriptions and contact information can be found on our:
State Information page at:
Contact Info and Descriptions for all State Medicaid Waivers.
This will provide you with a list and
brief description of the state's waiver programs with contacts
(phone numbers, etc.) for more information.
This contact should help you figure our which program(s) your friend
may be eligible for, how to apply, if there are waiting lists,
eligibility criteria, etc. - all kinds of stuff your friend will
need. This same process will apply for any state and any person in
then country.
Once a person is determined to be eligible for a given program, the
number of hours a person gets is based on an individual assessment
to determine needs of amount and type of services.
Another resource I encourage people to contact is the local center
for independent living (CIL) or the state-wide independent living
council (SILC). You can find the CIL nearest you by choosing the
Help in My State
choice on the PAS Users page. After you select your
state, it will list all the PAS agencies in the state, the CILs in
the state, and other organizations involved in employing people with
disabilities in your state. The National Council on Independent
Living also may be able to get you contact
information for the closest CIL or the SILC. The SILC may be able
to refer you to a local CIL or other agency for assistance.
In your case, I have gone ahead and found some of this additional
information. The SILC contact information is:
Utah SILC
1800 S. West Temple #204
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
801-463-1592
I have also been told that Debra Mair for the Salt Lake City CIL is
heavily involved with transition from institutions and attendant services
and that she probably knows the answer. Her contact information follows:
Debra Mair
Utah ILC, Inc.
3445 South Main St.
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
801-466-5565
uilc@xmission.com
Best regards,
Mike
