In March 2024, Massachusetts DDS (Department of Developmental Services) published “The Self-Directed Services Participant-Directed Programming Guide.” Click here for the link. This 81-page guide provides a map for those interested in utilizing the participant-directed program as their program of choice. This guide was unavailable when we started our self-direction journey, but I wish it were!! Below is a general overview of this guide. I will review the individual sections in upcoming posts and describe what we did during each process.
General Overview:
-The handout has eight sections. Each section covers most of the information you need to make an informed choice about whether this program model suits your adult child.
-Each section is enriched with real-life stories from current participants and families, sharing how they are utilizing self-direction and what it looks like for them. These stories serve as a reassurance that there’s no ‘one size fits all model’, and that you can truly customize the program to suit your needs.
-The individual sections dive into the responsibilities of the families, such as the Employee of Record, budget management, and staff support and management. When we started exploring the difference between the programs, it became more apparent as we dived deeper into the participant-directed model that, as a family, you need to approach this almost like you are starting your own business.
-The person-centered plan becomes the origin document that guides the Individualized Support Plan (ISP), which then guides staffing needs and the budget. When we started this process, I wrote out a projected 5-year, 3-year, and 1-year business plan for this program based on L’s person-centered plan.
In the upcoming posts, I will be breaking down this handout and provide detailed information on how we approached each section so you can get another perspective. Remember, this is not a “one size fits all” model. So what worked/is working for us may not necessarily work for you, but by sharing our experience we hope that it provides some additional information.
Remember: this handout (and our experience) is specific to Massachusetts; each state has their own handouts, rules and processes that may differ than ours. Please check out your state specific DDS and The Arc for state specific information and resources.
-Cheryl
#Life Without a Filter 