the dd news blogtheafflerbachgroup.homestead.com/the_dd_news_blog__federal_ag… · favorite blog...

5/11/2015 The DD News Blog: Federal agency allows communitybased services and housing on the grounds of an institution

http://theddnewsblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/federalheightenedscrutinyreview.html 1/5

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Federal agency allows community‐based services and housingon the grounds of an institution

From the VOR Weekly News Updatefor April 24, 2015 North Dakota recently receivedapproval from the Centers forMedicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)to provide Medicaid Home andCommunityBased Waiver fundedresidential housing and day serviceson the grounds of the North DakotaLife Skills and Transition Center

(LSTC), a state funded intermediate care facility (ICF/IID). [IID = Individualswith Intellectual Disabilities] Federal approval for housing and day services on the ICF/IID campus cameafter a heightened scrutiny review by CMS, as required by the federal"community" regulation which requires all HCBSfunded services meetspecific criteria. The proximity of the housing and day services on thecampus of an ICF triggered "heightened scrutiny." This is believed to be the first ruling under a heightened scrutiny review. TheNorth Dakota Protection and Advocacy Project, North Dakota Center forPersons with Disabilities, and The Arc of North Dakota sent a letterregistering their significant upset and opposition to the ruling and for notbeing involved as “stakeholders.”

Read their letter to CMS here.

**********************************************

From Questions and Answers Regarding Home and CommunityBasedSettings

[page 7] Question: Are settings on the grounds of or adjacent to “private”institutions considered not to be home and communitygassed (HCB)?

Answer: It depends. Settings that are on the grounds of or adjacent to aprivate institution are not automatically presumed to have the characteristicsof an institution. However, if the setting isolates the individual from theboarder community or otherwise has the characteristics of an institution orfails to meet the characteristics of a home and communitbased setting, thesetting would not e considered to be compliant with the regulation. States willneed to assure that these settings fully comply with the requirements…to

Favorite Blog Posts

Contact info for Michigan US and StatelegislatorsAacorn Farm, Kalamazoo, MIWhen community care fails a person withsevere DDLegal Guardians: HCBS rule confirmsdecisionmaking authorityBen's Hope: Bringing People TogetherMI DD Council "Community Conversations" statewide meetingsMedical Necessity Criteria for Medicaidservices

let's talk

Blog Archive

▼ 2015 (34)► May (3)

▼ April (11)

Washtenaw County, MI : 2nd TownHall Meeting on Co...

From Upstate NY : “Our families willnot be silenc...

More on ND : Rationale for approvingcommunitybas...

Federal agency allows communitybased services and...

MI Mental Health System, IncludingServices to DD,...

Benefit Events for High Point School,Ann Arbor, M...

Summary of 4/14/15 meeting oncommunity living ser...

Washtenaw County, MI : CMH toannounce rate decrea...