Transitioning From School Into Adult Services

By Bob Fonte, Director of Outreach

The Arc Baltimore works intently to transition recent graduates from school into day and supported employment services. We refer to these students as transitioning youth. Every year there are a number of families who do not get into adult services or their entry is delayed for a variety of reasons. In order to prevent this from happening, I wanted to talk about what families should do in preparation for when their child exits the school system. Although the process can be daunting, it does not have to be difficult. Starting early will give you plenty of time to address any problems and agencies, such as The Arc, are there to help you.

HOW DO I GET FUNDING?

There are two state agencies that fund services for persons with disabilities. The Division of Rehabilitation Services (DORS) provides short-term employment and life skills training, employment support, and adaptive equipment. They work with individuals who have any disability that impairs their ability to maintain employment. DORS works with both individuals who have a mental health diagnosis or a developmental disability. There is a waiting list, but folks who receive Social Security benefits receive a priority for services.

The Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) is the state agency that funds services for persons with developmental disabilities. There is a long waiting list for services, but DDA generally allocates a significant amount of funding for students exiting school at age 21. This is known as the Transitioning Youth (TY) Initiative and the funds are for day or supported employment services. Students who leave school early are not eligible until the year they would have exited the school system if they stayed until age 21. The TY Initiative is the way that the majority of individuals get into DDA services. Everyone eligible for the transitioning Youth Initiative will get a resource coordinator (case manager for DDA services) who will assist you with this process. Both Baltimore City and Baltimore County School systems have transition teams that will also offer guidance beginning even before age 18. So, there is help for families who need it.

HOW DO I QUALIFY FOR DDA SERVICES?

To be eligible for any services from DDA, an individual must have a severe developmental disability that impairs their ability to function independently, but there are two levels of eligibility – DD (Developmentally Disabled) and SO (Supports Only). This often confuses families as most people determined as SO have a developmental disability.

“Supports only” (SO) - DDA determined that you have a significant disability, but are more independent than someone who would be determined as DD eligible.

A young adult exiting the school system with a SO status is unlikely to get into services through DDA. You can apply to DDA at any age. However, applicants under age 18 are often determined to be SO since, at that age, they are not expected to have many adult skills whether or not they have a disability. Individuals who are originally determined SO can easily request a “redetermination” provided there is documentation that supports this appeal. Current school records are usually adequate.

Families of a child turning 18 should know their status with DDA. If they are SO, they should contact their resource coordinator to initiate a redetermination. If the redetermination still yields a determination of SO, you have a right to formally appeal that decision.

Aside from exiting school at age 21, one must also be eligible for DDA services as developmentally disabled (DD) in order to be eligible for the TY Initiative and, in the future, the full range of services (residential, day and supports) that DDA offers. Those individuals who are determined only as SO are eligible for support services from DDA, but are not eligible for TY money nor day and residential services. Individuals in the SO category are also not eligible for the DDA waiver, so it is unlikely they will be able to obtain any services from DDA. The bottom line is that if you are eligible as DD, you are in position to receive day and employment services. If your status with DDA is SO, you should seek to appeal this decision.  

HOW DO I APPLY FOR THE COMMUNITY PATHWAYS WAIVER?

The other critical piece to getting DDA services is eligibility for the Community Pathways Waiver. The DDA receives about 50% of cost of services from the federal government for those in the waiver. So, DDA generally does not fund non-waiver services. One cannot apply for the DDA waiver in advance of services, but if someone receives SSI benefits and Medical Assistance, they almost certainly will be eligible for the waiver. Families should apply for SSI for a child at age 18 when only the individual’s - not the family’s - income and assets are counted.  There is an asset limit of $2000 for SSI and the waiver. Those who do not already have SSI and/or MA may still be eligible for the waiver, but it is a much longer and complicated process.

WHEN SHOULD I SELECT A PROVIDER AGENCY?

Early in the final school year, families should begin contacting providers and looking at programs of interest to them. Ideally, you should know where your son or daughter is going by January, but many families do not sort this out until much later. You should have a first and second choice of programs. Your resource coordinator should be working closely with you in this process and can send referrals to your choice of provider agencies. There is a universal application that all the agencies should accept, so you only need to fill out one application and give it to the resource coordinator to distribute with the referral packet. You should be aware that TY funding does not start until July 1 at the earliest and there is usually a gap of at least several weeks between graduation and the start of DDA services. 

Although the eligibility and waiver regulations can be complicated and confusing, the majority of students will transition into adult services without a hitch. There are three key points to remember to ensure a smooth transition into the adult world:

• Apply to the DDA and/or check DDA status at age 18.
• Apply for SSI benefits and Medicaid (Medical Assistance) at age 18 and keep assets under $2000
• Work with your resource coordinator to apply to and visit providers early in the student’s final year of school – if not before.

For more information and guidance on the TY process, check out our TY information page or contact me or my colleagues in the Outreach Department at 410-296-2272. 

A Continuum of Supports For Families Made Possible Through Agency Restructuring

By Nellie Power

Assistant Executive Director of Outreach and Family Services

We’ve made some recent and exciting changes that we wanted to tell The Arc community more about.What were formerly the Child & Family Services Division and the Outreach and Community Access Department have been merged and are now called: The Outreach & Family Services Division. There are three departments in the Division: the Outreach Department, the Foster Care Department, and the ‘Family Living’ Department. Family Living is an apt descriptor of the services we provide across the lifespan for both children and adults living with family members. While The Arc Baltimore is already known for the high quality supports we provide to individuals and their families, this restructuring was initiated to achieve a number of goals:

• To combine the 2 agency “Front Doors” so that anyone seeking service, whether child or adult, could be assisted by an expert Outreach Specialist. We already provide support to thousands of individuals and families seeking information, resources, and publicly and privately funded direct supports. Combining and expanding our internal resources allows us to even more quickly respond to our community while building an integrated team, sharing knowledge, and working together seamlessly.

• To more mindfully and intentionally meet the needs of supported individuals who live with their family. Those services are inherently different than those provided in an individual’s own home, assisted living unit (ALU) or other shared living space, because the family is the cornerstone. We look forward to using best practice approaches to family partnerships that achieve the shared goal of independent individuals thriving in the community and finding joy in their experiences!

• To build on our expertise and expand our supports through all of life’s “transitions”. An obvious transition is that of a young adult moving from the education system to Supported Employment or Day programming and In-Home/Community supports. Families of now adult children tell us they were in many ways unprepared for the drastic changes that came, essentially overnight, when their young adult family member reached the age of 21. In past years, the structure of the agency required that an individual’s supports be transferred over to another department. Now, the same team that is familiar with the family can continue to provide supports, earlier and more intensively, through what can be a difficult and confusing experience. In addition, the team will be there for the other transitions everyone experiences in life such as: new jobs, new relationships, grief and loss, change of living situation, etc.

• To promote more opportunities for cross division/department collaboration.

• To strengthen a Leadership team that will seek and grab opportunities to develop additional innovating programming.

Give us your feedback about the restructuring and how we can serve you better!

A Letter From Steve Announcing The Arc Baltimore Blog

By Steve Morgan, Executive Director

Time is precious. It’s why The Arc Baltimore strives to keep all of our online communications as concise as possible. We want to convey to you the essentials of Arc news and resources along with some of the fun event pictures and success stories in a way that you can digest quickly.

At the same time, we have issues, challenges, victories, trends, and sometimes even debates that we want to share with you, but they can require more detail and data than we generally include. We also want to invite your reactions and insights on these matters – which leads me to announcing and kicking off The Arc Baltimore Blog. Here we will require a bit more time from you, our readers, but we hope to offer more depth and perspective, and this online application will give you a way to respond to or to share the post with others. I will write here on occasion, as will others from our senior management team, program leaders, and those who receive support from The Arc Baltimore.

Here’s some of what we hope to cover:

• The challenges siblings face when they assume responsibilities for the social, legal, emotional, and financial matters that their parents handled in the life of their sister or brother with disabilities.
• The roadblocks we encounter in finding more and better job opportunities for youth transitioning from school to the adult world.
• The individuals with disabilities who are happily living longer lives and who now want fulfilling retirement options.
• How assistive technology is unlocking words and other outlets for expression.
• The balance of having inclusive communities and integrated social outlets with affinity gatherings and events that may be perceived as segregated.
• What parent advocates face in the quest for the best education they can get for their children.
• And more.

We will try to not over-do the blog, but do justice to the voices in our community. Hold us accountable as we work on this and let us know what you like, what you think, and what you want.

Best regards,

Steve Morgan 
The Arc Baltimore
Executive Director