HCBS Participant Planning

 
4
Medicaid HCBS Waivers
Developmental Disabilities
No

What would you like to do?

What you need to know

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​YOU are in charge of your life!​ ​

  • ​​Planning happens during conversations you have with the people who are most important to you. 
  • Your Service Coordinator documents your plan at your meetings. 
  • Your services are provided based on what is written in your plan.  
  • The resources below will help you take charge.​

It is important for your services to meet your needs; this is person-centered planning.  



Planning Your HCBS Waiver Services​

Self-Directing Your Services

When you work with independent providers, you are in charge of directing your services. The following are available to help you with this decision:

Your Rights - and Recognizing Restrictions

Understand your rights 

​Restriction Resources

Your Service Coordinator (SC)

Your Team

YOU choose who you want to support you. 

Your team must include you, your Service Coordinator, and any Medicaid HCBS service providers who work with you. When you have a guardian, they are on your team. You can invite other family, friends, or organizations.

When choosing a team, it may be helpful to think about:

  • ​Who are your cheerleaders?
  • Who keeps you grounded?
  • Who is an expert in something you enjoy or want to do?​​​

Your Meetings

Your meetings are with your team. You choose your team! Your meetings are person-centered for YOU.​

There are at least two meetings held each year. Before your meetings, your Service Coordinator talks with you about your needs and available services. Your team will discuss your progress toward goals. When services do not meet your needs, any team member can request a meeting.​



​Charting the LifeCourse - Tools to Plan Your Good Life!​​

Learn about Person-Centered Planning

DHHS and the Nebraska Council on Developmental Disabilities are focused on a Person-Centered Planning (PCP) initiative to provide person-centered supports for all Nebraska's HCBS Waivers. 

Introduction to Charting the LifeCourse (CtLC)

​There is a variety of information to help you think about your services and plan your life:

Life Experience Series - Quick Guides for Using CtLC at Different Ages

  • Focus on Early Childhood - Early childhood is the time in a child's life before they begin school full time.
  • Focus on School Age - School age is the years from kindergarten through middle school.
  • Focus on Transition to Adulthood - Transition means that you are moving from childhood to young adulthood and from school to adult life.
  • Focus on Adulthood - Adulthood is the period from the time after we transition from school and childhood years through the time when we enter our golden years.
  • Focus on Aging - Aging is the period of life when we begin to slow down and experience many age-related changes.​

CtLC Service Planning Binder

Nebraska's Community of Practice put together an assortment of tools to help you make decisions about healthy living, safety, employment, independence, and whatever else is important to YOU. 

You can view or print these resources as a full binder, or by section:

CtLC Tool: Integrated Supports Star

CtLC Tool: Life Trajectory

Person-Centered Planning Champions - A Monthly CtLC Discussion

​DHHS has a monthly discussion on the first Tuesday of each month via Webex at 3:00 PM, CT, led by Amy Callendar-Taft, a Service Coordinator Supervisor and CTLC Ambassador.

Anyone can attend, whether you struggle with CTLC or use the tools regularly. We want to engage participants, guardians, independent providers, and agency staff.

Sessions are open discussions about how CtLC tools work and any problems people have.

  • We share ideas, show examples, talk about resources, problem solve, and explore the tools.
  • We talk about how teams can use CtLC tools to create goals, supports, and improve the lives of those they were created for and by.
  • We will discuss different community resources, habilitative ideas, technology, and relationships.
  • Most importantly, we open essential dialog between participants, Service Coordinators, families, and providers about the value of CTLC tools when fully prepared and used.

Join Meeting

Meeting ID: 2484 319 0031

Meeting password: FQtsucjC343



​​​​Competitive Integrated Employment - Thinking About a Job

Comprehensive Study of Supported Employment in Nebraska

The Nebraska Council on Developmental Disabilities (NCDD) contracted with national subject matter expert Dr. Lisa Mills, to conduct a comprehensive study of supported employment outcomes and services for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Mills has expertise and knowledge as a national consultant on Employment First who has worked with over 30 states, including Medicaid, Vocational Rehabilitation, and workforce agencies. She has expertise in Medicaid waivers, Customized Employment, and value/outcome-based reimbursement models for supported employment services.

Waiver Services to Support Employment

The decision to work is complicated when you are not sure if you want to work, where you want to work, what type of job you would enjoy, or how having a job could affect your benefits. 

  • For information on DD Waiver services which support employment, see the following service summaries: 
    • Benefits Counseling Service Summary - Helps you understand your pathway to obtaining individualized integrated employment or self-employment. It will explain how employment may impact your current benefits. The goal is to increase your economic self-sufficiency through using available work incentives. Includes Benefits Education, Benefits Planning, and Benefits Management.
    • Employment Exploration Service Summary - A time-limited and targeted service to help you make an informed choice about if you want to pursue individualized integrated employment or self-employment. This service can take up to 30 calendar days from the date it starts.
    • Supported Employment - Individual Service Summary - Provides a job coach for one-on-one teaching to help you keep your competitive job. This service is provided at your job. Your provider helps you with job skills and referrals for other resources. This is a habilitative service. 
  • For information on TBI Waiver services which support employment, see the following service handbooks:

Nebraska VR - Find a Job

DDD partners with Nebraska VR for employment services. Nebraska VR provides vocational rehabilitation services to help job seekers. 

Nebraska VR helps people with disabilities prepare for, find, and keep jobs while helping businesses recruit, train, and retain employees with disabilities. They may also: 

  • ​Provide Pre-Employment Transition Services to eligible young adults. 
  • Attend IEP meetings when providing services during the IEP year or if they may provide services. 
  • Provide support for adults with disabilities to evaluate an individual's abilities to help them seek and secure competitive employment opportunities. 
  • Assist with initial job task training and ensure the individual has the necessary accommodations to be successful in the work area. ​

For more information:

Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NCBVI) - Find a Job

DDD partners with NCBVI to provide vocational rehabilitation for people who are blind or have a vision impairment​.




Other Resources

Enable Accounts - Save Money

​Enable accounts are offer checking, savings, and investment accounts for people with disabilities. This gives participants the ability to save money without it affecting their benefits (up to $100,000). 

Learn More



Guardianship Resources - Information for my Guardian

You do NOT need a guardian in order to have services; however, many participants d​​o have guardians. If you have a guardian, this is some information they need to know about the guardianship process and their responsibilities. 

Supported Decision Making - When I don't have a Guardian

You do NOT need a guardian in order to have services. This does not mean that you have to make all you decisions on your own. 

Medicaid and Long-Term Care - Services, Renewal, and Share of Cost

HCBS Waivers are Medicaid services. Learn more about Medicaid and what else may be available to you.

Annual Renewal

The Division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care (MLTC) reviews each member's Medicaid eligibility. It is very important that Medicaid members make sure their contact information is up to date with Nebraska Medicaid. If Nebraska Medicaid is not able to reach a member, they could unnecessarily lose Medicaid coverage.

Check your conta​​ct information on iServe

Share Of Cost Information

Provider Options for DD Waivers

You can choose the provider(s) you want to work with. There are different types of providers available for Medicaid HCBS waiver services.

DDD maintains resources and directories for providers of the DD Waivers: Family Support Waiver (FSW), Adult Day (DDAD) Waiver, and Comprehensive (CDD) Waiver:

  • DD agency provider - a company which is an enrolled Medicaid provider and certified by DHHS to provide developmental disabilities services. The agency provider is responsible for hiring or contracting, and supervising employees and contractors who work with you, and other administrative functions. 
  • DD independent provider - a person enrolled as a Medicaid provider and employed by you. You are responsible for hiring and supervising your independent provider. Once you choose a person, the state has an approval process to ensure requirements are met. Your Service Coordinator will help with the process.

Therap - Access Your Information

Participants and guardians can access Therap, the web-based case management system.




Learning Opportunities​

Munroe-Meyer Institute

The Munroe-M​eyer Institute (MMI)​ at UNMC offers training opportunities for both the public and professionals. There are specific training pages for people with disabilities and parents/caregivers.

Therap Training Academy

The Therap Training Academy offers many training opportunities. Enrolling in the training academy is free. Therap is important to the services we provide, so it is important to learn about. The Therap training account is separate from your Therap login.