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1.
Mental Retardation and Developmental Disability
Two governmental offices in New York City, The New York City Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and the New York State Office of
Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD), have chief
responsibility for the planning, development, funding, and monitoring
of services to people with developmental disabilities and their families.
Other governmental agencies are involved as well; they include the New
York State Education Department (SED) and its Office of Vocational and
Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID), the New
York City Human Resources Administration, the New York City Board of Education,
and the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD). Additionally,
the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC),
whose members are appointed by the Governor, plans and administers Federal
funds for a substantial number of innovative pilot projects.
The New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
has responsibility, under State Law, for the comprehensively planned care,
treatment and rehabilitation of New York State's citizens with mental
retardation or developmental disabilities. OMRDD certifies, regulates,
operates and contracts for a variety of programs for persons with developmental
disabilities. These programs include a full range of residential, day
and family support services.
The NYCDOHMH, through its Division of Mental Hygiene, is responsible for
the planning, development and funding of a range of day and support services
to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families in New
York City. The services are provided primarily by voluntary agencies in
contract with the department and include work readiness, transitional
employment, specialty clinics, socialization/recreation programs for children
and adults and information/referral programs.
In New York City, the range and scope of voluntary service providers vary
greatly. Many serve only individuals with developmental disabilities while
some serve a number of different populations. Some agencies are comprehensive
service providers, offering a full line of residential, day and family
support services while others offer just one or two types of service,
e.g. residential or day services only. Some agencies serve individuals
with a range of developmental disabilities, others serve individuals with
a particular developmental disability such as autism or epilepsy.
The Department works collaboratively with all the components of the service
community. A distinguishing feature of this partnership is that consumers
of services, including the families of people with developmental disabilities,
are an integral component.
There are five Borough Councils that function as a primary organizational
mechanism for the service system. The Councils, which are part of the
Department's Federation advisory structure, serve as forums for the exchange
of information and discussion of issues at the local level. They also
provide direct input in some basic system tasks, including planning, establishment
of priorities and proposal review.
Until about 30 years ago, the prevailing method of providing care for
people with developmental disabilities was to place them in large institutions
for life. Parents of newborns with disabilities were advised to "give
the children up" to the care of professionals. Since the early 1970's,
as a result of the settlement of the class action lawsuit related to the
inhumane situation at Willowbrook, there has been a transition to the
community-based system of services, which exists today. The Department
has played an active role in the development of this system and continues
its involvement as one of the system's key participants.
1) Key Contacts in State and City Government
If you need information or referral to services, call the following numbers
at OMRDD's local Developmental Disabilities Services Offices (DDSOs):
• Bronx: 718-430-0478 • Brooklyn: 718-642-8644
• Manhattan: 212-229-3131 • Queens: 718-217-5722 • Staten
Island: 718-982-1904
New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities
(OMRDD)
- New York City Regional Office
75 Morton Street, 6th floor New York, New York 10014
General Information & Directories: 212-229-3231
- Metro NY Developmental Disabilities Services Office (Bronx Division)
2400 Halsey Street Bronx, NY 10461
718-430-0885 718-430-0713
- Brooklyn Developmental Disabilities Services Office
888 Fountain Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11208
718-642-6000
- Metro NY Developmental Disabilities Services Office (Manhattan Division)
75 Morton Street New York, New York 10014
212-229-3216
- Queens Developmental Disabilities Services Office
80-45 Winchester Blvd., Bldg 12
Queens Village, NY 11427
718-217-6831
- Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Services Office
1150 Forest Hill Road Staten Island, NY 10314
718-983-5321
Services for the MR/DD population begin with the early identification
of disabilities in infants. Treatment interventions and support for the
families are provided based on clinical assessment of need. Services are
available and may continue throughout childhood with school becoming a
central activity. For young people who have finished school, there is
a range of adult training and vocational program options as well as residential
alternatives with various support levels. There are also many specialized
support and recreation programs that are operating in the city. Finally,
the needs of older adults are addressed through programs designed specifically
for senior citizens with developmental disabilities.
Due to the nature and variety of developmental disabilities, highly specialized
and individualized services have been developed. Each service is designed
to both minimize the impact of the disability on the individual and enable
that person to live as independently as possible.
The good news is that community-based services are making a difference.
They are enabling children to remain home and be cared for by their families,
to go to the same schools as their non-disabled peers, to develop into
adulthood and, in many cases, to live largely self-supporting lives with
a job and their own residence.
2) SERVICE CATEGORIES AND DEFINITION
(1) COMMUNITY RESIDENTIAL
Community Residence Supervised (CR)
A facility that provides housing, supplies, and services for people with
developmental disabilities.
Community Residence Supportive (CR)
A facility that provides housing, supplies, and services for people with
developmental disabilities, who do not require 24 hour on site supervision.
Individual Residential Alternative (IRA)
A facility that provides room, board, and individualized protective oversight
for people with developmental disabilities.
Intermediate Care Facility (ICF)
A facility that provides housing, 24-hour support, and services, including
professionally developed and supervised activities and therapies planned
for each resident by an interdisciplinary team.
Family Care
A private residence and the family residing there, jointly certified by
OMRDD, to provide housing and care for people with developmental disabilities.
Residential School
A privately operated non-medical residential facility, certified by OMRDD
as a school, that provides 24 hour care, treatment, education, and training
for people with developmental disabilities.
(2) CAMPUS
Developmental Center (DC)
A large, state operated ICF/DD authorized under section 13.17 of the New
York State Mental Hygiene Law to provide housing, services, and supports
for people with developmental disabilities.
Multiple Disabilities Unit (MDU)
An intermediate care facility that provides residential and treatment
services for people who are dually diagnosed with a mental illness and
developmental disability.
Regional Behavioral Intensive Treatment Unit (RBITU)
An intermediate care facility that provides a semi-secure residential
setting and treatment for people with developmental disabilities who have
been committed to OMRDD custody though the criminal justice system.
Center for Intensive Treatment (CIT)
An intermediate care facility that provides a semi-secure residential
setting and treatment for people with developmental disabilities who have
been committed to OMRDD custody though the criminal justice system.
Small Residential Unit (SRU)
An intermediate care facility with limited capacity designed for the purpose
of providing small residential group settings on the grounds of a developmental
center.
(3) DAY SERVICES
Day Treatment Program
A planned combination of diagnostic, treatment, and rehabilitative services
provided for people with developmental disabilities at an OMRDD certified
day treatment site.
Day Training
A combination of nonresidential services that assist people with developmental
disabilities to acquire skills and develop competencies to improve their
personal, social, educational and prevocational functioning.
Day Habilitation
Services for people with developmental disabilities that are directed
toward acquiring, retaining, and improving those skills necessary for
an individual reside in the community. Habilitation services may be provided
in the community (day habilitation) or in a residence or a program connected
with a residence (residential habilitation).
Senior Day Training
Services that provide a range of social and habilitation activities for
seniors with developmental disabilities. Services include but are not
limited to senior center integration programs, senior day programs, and
social model adult day care.
Supported Employment
Paid competitive work performed in an integrated setting by people with
developmental disabilities who require intensive support services to obtain
and sustain employment.
Affirmative Business
A business that employs a workforce of people with developmental disabilities
in an integrated setting. It is regulated as a business and as such provides
all employees with competitive wages and benefits.
Prevocational Services
Activities that prepare an individual for paid or unpaid employment, but
which are not job task oriented. Such services include teaching such concepts
as following directions, attending to task, task completion, problem solving
and safety.
(4) FAMILY AND INDIVIDUAL SERVICES
Family Support Services
Goods, services, and subsides that assist families to care at home for
a family member with developmental disability:
Family Reimbursement/Cash Subsidy
Services and goods which are not funded through other sources can be purchased
through family reimbursement or cash subsidy. For family reimbursement
services, the family and provider agency or Developmental Disabilities
Services Office (DDSO) agree to a plan for purchase of services and goods,
the family makes the purchase, provides a receipt and is reimbursed. For
cash subsidy services, the family and provider agency or DDSO agree to
a plan for purchase of services and goods and then the family is given
a set amount of funding to make the purchase. After the services and goods
are purchased, the family must provide receipts in order to receive additional
family reimbursement or cash subsidy services.
Services:
Behavior Management
Planned, systematic application of the methods and findings of behavior
science with the intent of altering observable behaviors, including increasing,
decreasing, extending, restricting, teaching, and maintaining behaviors.
Case Management/Service Coordination
Regular contact with the individual, primary care giver and service providers
to assist with the planning for and accessing of desired services and
supports. Services include assessment of service needs, service planning
and coordination, linkage and referral, follow-up, monitoring, and advocacy.
Counseling
Face-to-face, individual, group, or family counseling or therapy in a
planned, structured session intended to help an individual or family gain
insight, resolve problems, develop alternate behaviors or address other
issues of concern. This includes counseling provided over the telephone
with individuals or with their families.
Financial and Life Planning Assistance
Financial assistance services assist families in accessing necessary assistance
from generic and OMRDD funding, benefits, entitlements, and other sources.
Life planning assistance services assist a family to develop a plan, with
input from the individual with a developmental disability, as possible,
and with assistance from professionals, which will provide the family
with some assurance about future life options available to the individual
with a developmental disability and selection of these options.
Home Care (Homemaker)
Employment of a person in an individual's place of residence to aid in
carrying out housekeeping functions in order to assist the individual
in reaching identified goals, offer assistance and relief to a caretaker
or family member who, in turn, can spend more time working directly with
the individual, or provide a temporary substitute for a caretaker or family
member.
Infant Therapies and Nutrition
Assessment activities and services provided in approved clinical settings
to persons under the age of six years to identify those who are born at
risk or who evidence developmental delays. The purpose of these services
is to minimize the potential for actual developmental disabilities in
the future, to maximize the development of age-appropriate skills, and
to prepare such persons to access an education program at the appropriate
time. Nutritional assessment and counseling in the planning or preparation
of meals or nourishment to meet the dietary needs of an individual. Nutrition
planning not only attends to restoring health, but focuses on preventing
disease and physical decline.
Information/Referral/Outreach
Information and referral services provide information on programs and
services for individuals and their families. Linkages can be made to diagnostic,
residential, rehabilitative, educational, vocational, medical, and recreational
services, and to entitlement programs such as Medicaid and SSI. Includes
activities undertaken to ensure the individual's use of a service or acceptance
in a program and may include accompanying the individual. Outreach services
identify unserved or underserved individuals with developmental disabilities
or their families who are eligible to use all appropriate services offered
through OMRDD generic and specialized services delivery systems.
Recreation (Day/Evening/Weekend)
Social, recreational and leisure activities which are enjoyable and often
include opportunities to interact with and participate as part of a community.
Recreation offers children and adults the chance to play, experience good
times, and identify and pursue activities in which they are interested.
It promotes development of a wide range of skills and helps create balance
and well being.
Recreation (Summer/Day Camp)
A planned program of social, recreational and leisure activities which
are enjoyable and often include opportunities to interact with and participate
with others. It promotes development of a wide range of skills and helps
create balance and well being.
Respite (Day/Evening/Weekend)
These services provide the family with temporary relief from the care
of a person with a developmental disability in order to permit the care
givers to be absent during the day or evening to conduct business, deal
with an emergency, or pursue a leisure activity. This service may be provided
either in or out-of-home and encompasses many means of service delivery,
including free-standing respite centers.
Respite (Overnight)
These services provide temporary room, board and supervision of an individual
with a developmental disability in and out-of-home setting, or supervision
in the natural home, when the family member or primary care giver is absent
or needs relief.
Training
Training and education activities offered to the parents, siblings and
care givers, designed to augment or improve their knowledge of, and ability
to promote the development of their family member, and to aid in their
ability to care for their family member at home. Training in activities
of daily living which enable individuals to increase their level of independence
and improve the quality of their lives.
Transportation
Provides an individual and/or family member with the proper mode of transportation
to and from his/her residence and programs and services.
Vacation/Sleep Away Camp
Vacation is a scheduled period of time away from the daily routine usually
spent on recreational and leisure activities. Camps, usually operated
in the summer, provide for the physical and social needs of campers and
offer recreation and leisure activities.
Other
At times a family or an individual may need a unique service which is
not included in the group of services listed.
Items Purchased Rented or Leased:
Special Adaptive Equipment
Any item, product or piece of equipment that can be used by persons with
disabilities to maintain or improve their functional abilities. Such equipment
might include: bathtub lifts, transfer boards, modified eating utensils,
communication devices, adapted toys or accessible vans. Includes assistive
technology services to help a person know about, acquire and use the appropriate
adaptive equipment, e.g., demonstration, assessment, funding, training,
maintenance, and repairs.
Environmental Modification
Environmental modification service provides assistance to families with
the removal of barriers which limit accessibility and remodeling to enhance
the independent or assisted functioning of individuals with developmental
disabilities within their home. Such services include the installation
of ramps, lifts or grab bars, widening of doorways, kitchen and bathroom
cabinetwork, and counter or appliance changes (e.g., special sink handles).
Supplies
Can include:
Medication expenses such as cost of prescription and nonprescription substances
which are necessary as a result of the individual's disability. Must have
a receipt from the pharmacy. (Note: For those eligible, costs of prescription
drugs are reimbursable through Medicaid.)
Continence products (e.g., diapers, wipes); products generally of a disposable
nature, used to assist in caring for the individual, who, due to the disability,
has a continence problem. Examples include diapers, wipes, chucks, draw
sheets, and other bed linens. Must have a receipt of purchase.
Special clothing; the cost for extra clothing required for an individual
with night time incontinence, or for an individual whose garments wear
out quickly due to abnormal movement patterns resulting from a disability.
Can include specially designed clothing for individuals with physical
disabilities, and medically prescribed articles for which other funding
is not available (e.g., orthopedic shoes, helmets for head protection).
Must have a receipt of purchase.
Special dietary needs; food and supplements costs for special diets prescribed
by a physician. The need for dietary supplements must be directly related
to the individual's disability and must not be reimbursable through other
funding sources. Must have a receipt of purchase.
Other
There are a number of items needed to properly maintain persons with disabilities
but are too numerous and varied to categorize. These items might include
things such as batteries, program supplies, or other items reasonably
related to the care of the family member with a disability. Must have
a receipt of purchase.
(5) Crisis Intervention
A service, which consist of those activities, that assist persons with
developmental disabilities and their families to deal with specific and
time-limited problems which threaten to disrupt the individual's residential
or day services.
(6) Individual Support Services
Goods, services, and subsidies determined by the individual that will
help him or her to live independently.
(7) Residential Habilitation Services
(See Habilitation)
(8) Respite
Respite is the provision of short term "substitute services"
to a person with developmental disabilities when the people normally provide
care are absent or in need of relief. Respite may be provided on an hourly
rate or over night basis in the person's home, in a family care home or
other OMRDD approved site, with the exception of IRA's.
(9) Service Coordinator
A service that assist people with developmental disabilities to plan for
and access desired supports and services. For people who have Medicaid
eligibility, services coordination may be provided through OMRDD Medicaid
service coordination, either HCBS Waiver or State Plan. For non-Medicaid
eligible persons service coordination may be available as a Family Support
funded service.
(10) Environment Modifications
Changes to the home environment chosen by the consumer and identified
as necessary to enable that person to function with the greater independence
in the home.
(11) Care at Home
A Medicaid waiver program that allows children with developmental disabilities
and complex health care needs to receive needed services at home.
(12) Pre-School
A program of special education and related services approved by the State
Education Department for children with developmental disabilities between
the ages of three and five.
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