Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled

Community Services for the Developmentally Disabled (CSDD) serves approximately 1400 children and adults on an annual basis. Four major units work with individuals to develop a person-centered plan using self-determination principles in a culture of gentleness. Our mission is "to promote and support ongiong choices and opportunities for people and their families to be full and equal citizens in the community.

Clinical Services

Clinical Services staff –nursing, dietary, psychology, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and psychiatry are available to assist individuals with assessment, development of treatment plans, providing and/or monitoring treatment. All staff are licensed, registered, and/or certified to provide services in their areas of expertise. Evidence-based practices are utilized to help each individual optimize their inclusion in the community. Services are provided in a variety of settings, including the individual’s home.

The majority of the staff in the Clinical Services Unit have more than 20 years of experience working with individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (including those individuals with autism spectrum disorders).

Life Consultation

CSDD Life Consultation provides case management / supports coordination services for eligible adults with developmental or intellectual disabilities. Case management / Support Coordination services help individuals find housing, employment and leisure activities in their communities, help link to community entitlements, maximize natural supports in the community and access services from other CSDD and CMH programs. They also help monitor and maintain those resources.

Life Consultation staff consist of support coordinators/case managers assess each individual’s strengths, needs, and personal choices. They will then assist with linking/coordinating with internal/external resources/supports, monitoring the supports, accessing entitlements, providing housing assistance, and maximizing life transitions. Family Support staff provide specialized case management services to children with disabilities in their home and community. Services include family support subsidy, respite services and special needs equipment.

Self Determination / PCP

Person Centered Planning (PCP) is a method of discovering and documenting the strengths, abilities, personal connections, community supports, dreams, choices and preferences you have and want to make in your life. Person Centered Planning can take many forms, but always incorporates some constants. These include:

• Your right to have a PCP meeting when you want one, including your choice of location, time and date, persons participating, and the subject matter of the meeting.
• Your ability to choose who is facilitating the meeting. This can be your Case Manager / Supports Coordinator, you or someone you choose or an independent facilitator paid for by CMHA-CEI.

The purpose and goal of having a Person Centered Planning meeting is to generate a plan for the services you will be receiving from CSDD that will allow you to profit from the skills, abilities and talents you already have and to identify the dreams, desires and goals you want to work on with us now and in the future. PCP’s are designed to maximize:

• Involving natural supports that you choose
• Honoring you choices and preferences as much as possible
• Maintaining you health and safety
• Maximizing your choices and independence
• Respecting your unique culture and religion
• Helping you feel like you are listened to and respected
• Personal pride in your accomplishments

Self Determination is a group of concepts that shifts control of resources used to pay for the supports agreed to in a Person Centered Plan from the agency to an individual. It is based on four principles; Freedom, Authority, Responsibility and Confirmation.

Freedom: The ability to control, within agency, Medicaid and legal limits, the funds that pay for a consumer’s care.

Authority: The ability to actively manage the supports a consumer receives. This can include choosing a provider agency or hiring and firing their staff.

Responsibility: The responsibility of asking for only needed supports and using those supports for the purposes defined in the Person Centered Plan and in agreement with all applicable laws and regulations.

Confirmation: The responsibility for all parties to wisely manage public funds entrusted to them and to maintain documentation of how those funds were spent.

Self Determination (SD), like the current supports consumers use, should not replace natural supports in the community. SD supports are supposed to increase access to and maintain placement in the consumer’s community of choice.

How do I get a Self Determination Plan?
The basis of a good Self Determination Plan is a good Person Centered Plan. Talk with your Case Manager / Supports Coordinator during you preplanning and ask to use Self Determination in the management of the supports you are receiving in your Person Centered Plan. Your Case Manager / Supports Coordinator and your PCP team will help you plan for the supports you need to be successful in meeting your goals in your plan, and how to more directly manage those supports using Self Determination principles and practices.

Habilitation Supports Waiver

The Habilitation Supports Waiver Program (HSW) is an intensive home and community based, active treatment and support program, designed to assist individuals with severe developmental disabilities to live independently with supports in their community of choice. This program is designed as a community based alternative to living in a group home. The Habilitation Supports Waiver is based on legislation found in Title XIX of the Social Security Act. This legislation allows the state to provide waiver services to a targeted population who, without waiver services, would be at risk for out-of-home placement.

To be eligible, all of the following requirements must be met:

The individual must have a developmental disability as defined by federal law.

If not for the availability of home and community-based services, this individual would require the level of care provided in an intermediate care facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID).

CMHA-CEI screens individuals who may be eligible, and assists with the application process. The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) reviews and scores the application. They decide who receives priority for this program.

If approved for the Habilitation Supports Waiver, an Individual Plan of Service (IPOS) is developed through the Person Centered Planning Process, that reflects the individual’s need for a combination and sequence of specialized, interdisciplinary treatment services that are of an extended duration and aggressively directed toward the acquisition and/or maintenance of skills and behaviors necessary for the person to function with as much independence as possible. The waiver program covers, but is not limited to the following services:

Community Living Supports: Designed to provide assistance to the individual in their own care, while facilitating their independence and integration into the community. Skill development is related to activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, grooming, and household chores. Also included but not limited to, promoting mobility, sensory-motor, communication, socialization, and community participation.

Specialty Services: Services such as Occupational Therapy, Psychiatry or Nursing as required to meet the person’s goals as listed in the Person Centered Plan.

This list is not an all-inclusive list, as other services and supports are also available.