February, 2006
PAO Person-Centered Teams
PAO intends to refocus the organization to achieve the benefits of being small while continuing to take advantage of office staff capabilities and expertise as well as the economies of scale and financial benefits associated with a larger organization. The values of being small include: 1) a personal knowledge of people receiving services and their families and friends; 2) an ability to quickly see needs and tailor services to fulfill the obligations to and expectations of stakeholders; and 3) to keep the Midland dream of community participation alive for people with disabilities.
In order to accomplish the above, PAO is establishing Person-Centered Teams to serve individuals or small groups of individuals. These teams would be a part of PAO service departments which focus on differing service needs and circumstances that can be identified for the people served by PAO. The following service departments have been identified and in some cases are already in operation. The intent is to formalize these departments, to establish teams within those departments and to clarify how each will operate to best meet the needs of the people being served.
Person-Centered Teams
Short Shifts Service – CMH ACT Team, PAO Administrative Staff and PAO Short Shift Staff work as a team to support persons receiving predominantly less than 2 hrs of service and as low as 15 minutes of service in a given shift. This team will meet on a regular basis to set and work on goals that include; a) better knowledge of and better service for the person served (fewer staff serving and services provided when most convenient for the person served), b) fewer no-show incidents, c) fewer between miles traveled by staff, etc. In general, PAO Administrative Staff will work with two Team Leaders and the Short Shift Staff to develop schedules and emergency fill-in procedures. CMH Community Support Technicians will serve as the initial contact for emergency situations with PAO providing back –up on-call support.
Team Service Supporting an Individual– CMH Coordinators, PAO Team Leaders and PAO Personal Assistant Staff form a Team to provide services to a individual person served. The Team is committed to, takes responsibility for, and sets and works on goals for meeting the service needs of the person being served. The Team, led by the Coordinator and the Team Leader will understand the person’s goals and dreams, hire and do in home training for personal assistant staff, provide coaching and problem solving, will schedule shifts and plan for emergency fill-ins, minimize overtime, and help the person participate in and contribute to the community using the Person-Centered Plan as a guide. PAO Administrative Staff will serve as a backup and will provide mentoring and coaching as needed to assure that service needs are met.
Team Service Supporting a Small Group – CMH Coordinators, PAO Administrative Staff and PAO Personal Assistant Staff will form teams that work together to provide services for small groups of individuals served to meet their needs. In addition, there may be circumstances when an individual has funding for services provided by PAO through DHS but not through CMH/CM. In this circumstance, the PAO Administrative Staff would work with DHS and PAO Personal Assistant Staff to meet the individual’s needs. Understanding the individual’s goals and dreams, hiring, in-home training, coaching and problem solving, scheduling, emergency fill-in planning and helping the person served participate in and contribute to the community will be accomplished on an individual basis in conjunctions with family, friends and other community based supports for the individual as determined by the Person-Centered Plan.
Mentoring Services – CHMCM Childrens and Family Service provides for mentoring services for children up to the age of ?. Generally mentors are assigned for up to six months and are meant to assist in skill development so that specific goals related to participating in and contributing to the community can be worked on. A team of PAO Personal Assistant Staff will be available to perform this service as requested by CMH/CM. The PAO Personal Assistant assigned to the mentoring role will work with the CMH/CM Coordinator (or other counseling professional), the PAO Mentoring Team Leader, parents and friends of the person served to accomplish the defined goals.
Private Pay Service –PAO Administrative Staff and PAO Personal Assistant Staff will form teams that may serve individuals or possibly small groups of individuals. The teams will work with people served and their families and friends to define and provide services. The person or his/her family may personally provide the necessary funding or the funding may be provided by a private funding source. Understanding the individual’s goals and dreams, hiring, in-home training, coaching and problem solving, scheduling, emergency fill-in planning, overtime minimization and helping the person served participate in and contribute to the community will be accomplished on an individual basis by the team of PAO Administrative Staff, the PAO Personal Assistance Staff in conjunctions with family, friends and other community based supports for the individual.
Overnight In-home Companion Services – In cases where overnight companionship is needed either on an ongoing or a temporary basis, a PAO Resident Companion (ongoing live-in companion) or a Stipend Sleeper (temporary overnight companion) will be a part of the Team that serves the person needing the support. The Person-Centered Plan and/or the CMH/CM Plan of service will define the responsibilities of the overnight companion.
Fiscal Intermediary Service – A team of PAO Administrative Staff will provide fiscal intermediary services to meet the defined fiscal intermediary needs of an individual as defined by the individual and their support group. This service will be provided to individuals who do not receive other PAO services. In general, the fiscal intermediary services will include: billing of funding agencies and/or other funding sources; establishment and maintenance of necessary accounts including assurance of adequate fund balances; bill payment; payroll services including paycheck issuance and payroll-related payments; provision of financial and fund balance statements on a regular basis; and any related financial services that may be needed by the person served.