Who is eligible for the Adult Autism Waiver?

In order to be eligible for the Adult Autism Waiver, a person must be age 21 or older, a U.S. citizen or qualified alien, a resident of Pennsylvania (or planning to be a resident at the time of enrollment) and meet certain diagnostic , financial and functional eligibility criteria listed below. Priority is given to people not already receiving ongoing state funded or state and federally funded, long-term care services.

Diagnostic Criteria:

Must have a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, which includes:

  • Autistic Disorder
  • Pervasive Development Disorder, Not Otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)
  • Asperger Syndrome
  • Childhood Disintegratitive Disorder
  • Retts Disorder

Financial Eligibility:

Functional Eligibility:

Must have substantial functional limitations that are likely to continue indefinitely in three or more of the major life activities listed below. These functional limitations, which must be evident before the person reaches the age of 22, include limitations in:

  • self-care
  • understanding and use of receptive and expressive language
  • learning
  • mobility
  • self-direction
  • capacity for independent living

ROADS To Freedom CILNCP autism services are all under the PA Adult Autism Waiver. People interested in applying for the waiver need to go through the state’s application process and will get referred to a supports coordination agency. They can then pick ROADS To Freedom CILNCP to be their service provider.

Here’s the link to the application website:  Application Website 

Sometimes it’s easier call the number to apply: 1-866-539-7689

Services Provided:
Community Inclusion:

This service helps a person to gain the skills needed to live in the community.

This service includes things that will help a person improve his or her activities of daily living (ADLs). ADLs are things usually done at home, such as bathing, dressing, and eating, or doing housework, managing money, and cooking.
This service also includes teaching and improving skills that will help him or her to be active in their community. These are things like socializing, getting to know the neighborhood where he or she lives, or participating in community activities such as hobbies, shopping or attending an event.
 

The types of community inclusion activities a participant will do depend on his or her Individual Support Plan (ISP). The activities will be ones that are needed to help a participant reach a certain goal written into the ISP.
Community Inclusion can take place in a person’s home or in community locations such as libraries or stores.

An example of community inclusion is teaching a person with disabilities to use public transportation to get to and from work.

Job Assessment and Finding:

This service helps waiver participants in finding paid or volunteer work in the community.

Job assessment includes:  

  • Review- looking at the participant’s work history, interests, and skills to determine what types of jobs and/or training will be best.
  • The provider then suggests what kinds of jobs in the community match the participant’s skills, abilities, and interests. 
  • Situational assessments- this is like a job tryout where the participant performs certain types of job tasks to see if he or she   has the ability and/or interest to do that particular type of job.

Job Finding includes:

  • Finding a specific job that matches the participant’s skills and interests with an employer’s needs.
  • Successful job finding is a permanent job placement where the participant has worked for at least 30 days.

If the participant also is getting Behavioral Specialist Services, then Job Assessment and Job Finding should be done in a way that includes using the behavioral support plan and the crisis intervention plan.

An example of Job Assessment and Job Finding is being tested for different job skills, sharing areas of interest or experience that might be helpful in a job, and applying for a job with an employer who has already been contacted by the job finding provider.

Supported Employment:

This service provides ongoing help in keeping a job once the waiver participant has found employment.

  • Supported employment is used to lessen the need for help by supporting the participant to be successful at work without special help.
  • This service is provided for participants who, because of their disability, need ongoing support to function in a work setting.
  • Supported Employment is delivered in a community job setting, either volunteer or paid, which includes co-workers who are not disabled.

An example of supported employment is having staff accompany the participant to work until they have learned the routine of the work place, providing help to meet co-workers and helping the boss and co-worker to become familiar with the participant. Then the staff can accompany the participant less often, but be available to provide extra support if needed.

Temporary Crisis Services:

This service provides additional staff to help a participant after a crisis. A crisis may exist when the participant’s safety is at risk and services cannot be provided without additional staff.

  • This service is used for those unexpected circumstances when a temporary increase in staff is needed to allow the participant to carry out their normal activities.
  • Temporary Crisis Services staff will support the family and/or staff in the following areas:
  • Community Inclusion, Residential Habilitation, Day Habilitation, and Family Living Home
  • The Bureau of Autism Services (BAS) decides whether someone needs temporary crisis services, based on information from the Supports Coordinator, the Behavioral Specialist (if the participant gets that service) and the rest of the Individual Support Plan (ISP) team. BAS will review the need for this service at least once a week.
  • This service is meant to be temporary. If a participant needs this service several times, his or her ISP should be reviewed to understand why the participant is having a crisis so often.
  • Only 540 hours of this service may be used in any 12-month period.

An example of temporary crisis service is an additional staff member is added when the participant goes out to the mall as part of his or her community inclusion service, following the participant’s discharge from a psychiatric hospital stay.

Transitional Work Services:

This service provides job opportunities in which the participant is working alongside other people with disabilities. This service is meant to transition participants to jobs in the community with mostly non-disabled co-workers. Transitional work services options include:

  • Mobile work force- This uses teams of workers who perform their work away from the agency or facility which employs the team. This includes work such as maintenance, lawn care, janitorial services, and other such tasks. The Transitional Work Services Provider contracts with an organization or business to provide the job but participants are paid by the waiver service provider.
  • Work station in industry- This involves individual or group training of individuals at an industry site. Training is run by the waiver provider or by a representative of the industry. Training is phased out as the waiver participant obtains the skills needed to perform the job and meet production standards.
  • Affirmative industry- This refers to an integrated operation where disabled and non-disabled individuals work together on the same job tasks.
  • Enclave- enclave is a business model where disabled individuals are hired by a business/ industry to perform specific tasks while working alongside non-disabled workers.

An example of transitional work services is participation in a mobile work force team where the participant learns job skills like being on time, taking direction from a supervisor and specific skills like yard maintenance which could be used in getting a job in the future.

Also provided by the ROADS To Freedom CILNCP (not under the waiver):

The ASD Support/Socialization Group

This is an open group whose main purpose is to allow anyone affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to find support and make friends. The group is open to people with ASD, their family members, professionals, and the public who are interested in learning about Autism or looking for a safe place to socialize with others. The group meets weekly in the CIL lounge area at 10:00 and lasts for about an hour. Frequent activities the group participates in include: movie days, playing board games, roundtable discussions, and disability rights education. A light snack is provided, attending the group is free of cost, we ask that everyone signs in at the front desk.