Along with each new season comes change and transformation. This is no exception for Catholic Charities Disabilities Services (CCDS). This spring, our agency will be undergoing a series of significant changes in the services we provide.

As many of you know, the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), the entity that provides the funding and regulates the provision of Medicaid Service Coordination (MSC), plans to transition MSC and Plan of Care Supports Services (PCSS) to a new model of service delivery called Care Coordination. The conversion to Care Coordination is planned to take place on July 1, 2018, and as of that date CCDS and other similar agencies will no longer be able to offer MSC services. Anyone currently receiving these services will be given a choice of several different levels of care coordination services to receive, and which Care Coordination Organization (CCO) to receive these services from. The State has awarded approval to several CCOs to begin planning for operation. In our area, there are three CCOs: Care Design New York, Life Plan, and Tri County Services. We have partnered with Care Design New York, so many of our current Service Coordinators will be transitioning to work for Care Design New York. While we will miss providing MSC services to all of the people we have supported over the years, we are very pleased that these individuals may well be able to keep their current Service Coordinators as Care Coordinators. For further information about the new CCOs click here.

While goodbyes and separations always have their challenges, we have some exciting new beginnings and areas of growth in our services to look forward to. We are currently in the beginning stages of developing a number of transitional apartments, for individuals who have both intellectual disabilities and behavioral health challenges, which we hope to open this summer. We are also now providing “Health and Recovery Program” (HARP) services as a waiver service under the auspices of the Office of Mental Health. Additionally, we hope to expand the number of people we provide broker and fiscal intermediary services to under the Self-Direction program. Finally, we are in the process of increasing the number of people who receive service coordination through the Department of Health sponsored Traumatic Brain Injury Program.