Missouri's Guide to Home and Community Based Services

AGENCIES AND TERMINOLOGY

Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) -  Provides services for individuals aged 60 and over such as Congregate and home delivered meals, transportation, legal support, information and referral, case management services, and family care giver services. AAA are Located in 10 regional offices covering every Missouri county and St. Louis City.

Centers for Independent Living (CILs) - Community-based non profit consumer controlled organizations that are cross-disability and provide information and referral, independent living skills training, peer support, and individual systems advocacy as their four core services. They also provide other services such as consumer-directed personal assistance services, and benefits counseling. For more information about CILs, or to find the center closest to you, call the Statewide Independent Living Council toll free (877)222-8963.

Consumer Directed Care - Personal Attendant Services (PAS) - Administered by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Consumers direct their services by hiring, training, and managing their own attendants. This program maximizes consumer control and choice regarding who is hired and what, when, and how the attendant tasks are done.

Division of Medical Services (DMS) - Housed within the Department of Social Services (DSS), is responsible for the payment of all Medicaid funded services to consumers and service providers.

Division of Mental  Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MRDD) - Housed within the Department of Mental Health, serves a population that has developmental disabilities such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy, head injuries, autism, epilepsy, and certain learning disabilities. Such conditions must have occurred before age 22, with the expectation that they will continue. To be eligible for services from the division, persons with these disabilities must be substantially limited in their ability to function independently.

Division of Senior Services (DSS) - Part of the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), the Section for Senior Services employs over 400 social workers covering every county in Missouri providing case management and adult protective services to seniors and adults with disabilities.

Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) - Part of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), oversees administration of the Independent Living Waiver, 21 Centers for Independent Living for consumers with physical disabilities.

Family Support Division(FSD) - Offices located in every Missouri county and the city of St. Louis, housed within the Department of Social Services (DSS) and determines eligibility for public assistance benefits such as food stamps, Medicaid and Blind Pension programs.

Healthy Children and Youth (HCY) -Provides preventative health services to children under the age of 21 who are enrolled in Medicaid. The objectives of this program are improved access to health services, increased frequency of health screenings, improved provider participation in Medicaid, and expansion of diagnostic and treatment services.

Home and Community Services - Services and supports provided in a home or community location to help persons live as independently as possible.

Intermediate Care Facility for Persons with Mental Retardation (ICF/MR) - A licensed facility that provides care designed to meet the needs of persons with mental retardation who require special health and rehabilitation services. Missouri's habilitation centers are ICF/MR facilities.

Long-Term Care - Services designed to provide diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, supportive or maintenance services for individuals who have chronic functional impairments. Services may be provided in a variety of institutional and non-institutional settings, including the consumer's home.

Medicaid - State and federally funded health care for low income and needy populations.

Medicaid Spenddown - Medicaid for elderly, blind, or disabled populations which require consumers to "spend down" some of their monthly income in order to reduce their incomes to the non-spenddown limit in order to qualify for services.

Ombudsman - Individuals who visit nursing facilities as resource personnel, not employed by the facility or the state, to advocate for resident rights, mediate resident issues with other residents or the facility, and serve as a contact for residents and their families.

Personal Care - In-home personal assistance service such as help with bathing, dressing, bowl and bladder routines, transferring, meal preparation and housekeeping.

Regional Center - Housed in 11 principal sites and supported by numerous satellite locations, are the primary points of entry into the MRDD system. Regional Centers provide assessment and case management services, which include coordination of each individual's "person-centered plan." They can purchase a wide variety of services for individuals, based on the individual's person-centered plan.

Residential Care Facility (RCF) - A licensed facility that provides meals, shelter and personal assistance or supervision for more than 24 consecutive hours for adults who do not require nursing home care. Residents must demonstrate ability to negotiate a path to safety in case of emergency.

TTY - Stands for Teletype Device that provides telephone accessibility to people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. TTYs have a typewriter keyboard and allow persons to type their telephone conversations via two-way text. Conversation is read on a lighted display screen and/or paper print out on the TTY.

Waiver - A term describing Medicaid programs funded by the federal and state government which "waive" certain statutory limitations so that states can offer innovative programs to provide home and community services to eligible persons.

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Missouri's Guide to Home and Community Based Services' Quick Links
[ Cover Page | Table of Contents | Introduction | What Are My Options? | How Do I Qualify? | Applying for Services | Appeal Process | What is Consumer Directed Care? | Other Program Available for Non-Medicaid Eligible Individuals | Questions for Nursing Facility Residents or Individuals in an RCF or ICF/MR | Aged and Disabled Waiver | AIDS Waiver | Independent Living Waiver | Lopez Waiver | MR/DD Comprehensive Waiver | MR/DD Community Support Waiver | Physical Disability Waiver | Consumer Directed State Plan Services | DHSS HCY State Plan Services | Other State Agencies to Contact | Agencies and Terminology | Numbers to Know ]