Family Support

Funds are made available to individuals living in the family home, to defray the cost of expenses related to an individual's intellectual and/or developmental disability (IDD). Funds may be allocated for, but not limited to, incontinence supplies, in home and group personal care services (PCS), in home and group respite, specialized childcare, nutritional supplements, adaptive equipment, and communication devices.  Family Support funds are considered a resource of last resort and will not be utilized to duplicate or add a service and/or supports offered through another waiver, such as Intellectual and/or Developmental Disability, Technology Assisted, Physical Disability, or Severe Emotional Disturbance.

Procedures

  1. The Targeted Case Manager (TCM) is responsible for reviewing these guidelines for Family Support requests with individuals and families who are applying for assistance.
  2. The individual receiving support must be living in the family home. The family home is defined as a setting where the person lives with someone meeting the definition of family. Family is defined as any person immediately related to the individual. Immediately related family members are a parent (including an adoptive parent), grandparent, spouse, aunt, uncle, sister, brother, first cousin, and anyone with a step-family relationship.
  3. Each request should include the appropriate supporting documentation. (See Funding Committee General Information and Funding Committee Checklist for further details)
  4. Explanation of natural supports, community resources or alternative funding which has been fully explored and exhausted. 
  5. To determine the potential level of funding please see the SCDDO Sliding Fee Scale.
  6. Families who have experienced significant decreases in income or are seeking an exception to the sliding fee scale shall provide details for consideration by the committee.
  7. Funds allocated are not transferable unless approved by the funding committee.
  8. Individuals must reapply for family support annually.
  9. Allocation of funds will be considered for the current state fiscal year ending June 30th. The maximum amount available to each eligible individual is determined by SCDDO at the start of each fiscal year and can be located on the current request form.

Personal Care Services (PCS)/Childcare

Requests for PCS, general childcare, camp, or respite are available to assist with the needs for specialized care due to the disability.

  1. A Family Support Request should be submitted along with the following supporting documentation.
    1. Provider information:
    2. Affiliate: Please give the Affiliate’s name
    3. Licensed Childcare Provider: Please provide the name, address, and phone number for agency/person providing childcare.
    4. Location where the care will be provided and the ratio at which it will be provided.
  2. The provider must be affiliated with the SCDDO. Exceptions will be considered for YMCA camp, latchkey, or licensed daycare programs (SCDDO will check licensure).
  3. Explanation as to why natural supports cannot provide the care during the requested time frame.
  4. If the child is age 13 or younger, childcare expenses will be deducted when funding is allocated to cover parents work schedule and typical childcare would have been accessed. The Kansas Department for Children & Families (DCF) Child Care Subsidy Program guidelines will be used to determine the amount of deduction. To waive typical childcare expenses the family must be eligible for the DCF Child Care Subsidy Program. Funding Committee will review eligibility guidelines, or the family may provide documentation of eligibility.  The program guidelines can be found at dcf.ks.gov/services/ees/Pages/ChildCare/ChildCareSubsidy.aspx.
  5. Supports will not be funded during Extended School Year (ESY) hours or during typical school hours. TCM’s shall provide details of eligibility when requesting supports in the summer.
  6. Funding for YESS Camp and Camp Woodchuck only covers staffing costs. No activity fees or memberships will be paid.
  7. Personal Care Services, general childcare, or respite allocations will be managed on a month-to-month basis, similar to Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Program Funds. Monthly allocations must be used within the month and cannot be carried over to following months as funds will no longer be available. For example: If an individual is allocated 5 units of personal care services per month from Sept-June and they do not use all of the units for Sept, the Sept allocation cannot be used in later months or be reallocated for a different use, such as summer camp.
  8. Future allocations may be modified by contacting the Operations Administrative Officer at 660-7630 and having the Funding Plan changed.  For example: If the funding plan lists 5 units of PCS per month from Sept - June and in October the individual determines they need to attend camp in the months of May and June, a new request may be submitted asking for this modification.

Funding Committee Decision

If the family does not agree and would like to ask for a reconsideration or appeal, please see Funding Committee General Information for details.

Additional Documents