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NYS-OPTS UPDATE JANUARY 21, 2005
NYS OPTIONS FOR PEOPLE THROUGH SERVICES January 21, 2005 News from the OPTS Unit (#1-2005) 1. OPTS Questions 2. Proposal Status Report as of January 20, 2005 3. Recent Changes to the NYS OPTS Application 4. Brief Summary of Select Proposals 5. Best Practices – Inclusion 6. Best Practices – Evaluation 7. Items to be Included in the Next Update 8. Information Sharing 9. Why You May Receive Multiple Copies of this Message 1. OPTS Questions The OPTS Unit is the point of contact for anyone who wants to know the status of a specific proposal, and is a central point to receive and answer questions on OPTS. The phone number for the OPTS Unit is (518) 408-2744. E-mail addresses are:
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OPTS questions can be sent via e-mail to
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Questions of general interest will be included in a “Frequently Asked Questions” listing that is being compiled. OPTS proposals must be submitted electronically through the OMRDD Secure Message Center to
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2. Proposal Status Report as of January 20, 2005 Proposals Received 115 Proposals Complete 91 a Health Checks Complete 76 Consumer Verifications Complete 49 b Team Review Meetings Held/Scheduled 43 c Awaiting Scheduling of Team Review Meeting 3 Recommended for Approval, Not Yet Approved 0 Proposals Approved 6 Implemented 1 NYS OPTS Payment for Services 0 d Number of DDSOs impacted by Proposals 13 Number of Proposals “On Hold” 24 e Number of Proposals “Not OPTS” 7 f a – Contact telephone numbers are now required as part of the OPTS Application. The Application sent to non-profit providers granted access to the Secure Message Center after January 1, 2005 includes this requirement. For those granted access to the Secure Message Center prior to January 1, 2005, through the OMRDD Home Page you can view the Application, and the Budget and Roster for NYS OPTS Proposal (Microsoft Excel document). b – Several proposals have “completed” the consumer verification step, but have been put “on hold” due to insufficient participation by the consumers, families and/or advocates. c – Several proposals have been reviewed twice, the initial review and then upon receipt of supplemental information from the non-profit provider. d – Services under the first OPTS Agreement began in January 2005, payment for services delivered has not yet been processed because the services have not yet been reported to OMRDD. e – If a non-profit provider submits a number of proposals, they may be asked to prioritize their submittals, this category would then include the proposals non-profit providers designated as a low priority. f – Proposals determined to be “Not OPTS” are either services that OMRDD is not authorized to provide, have already been approved for implementation outside of OPTS, or the non-profit provider has withdrawn the proposal. 3. Recent Changes to the NYS OPTS Application Evaluation Component of Application – The Application has been changed from a four-part to a five-part document. Separating the Evaluation from the Program Narrative will facilitate the initial review since it will be easier to determine if the Application includes descriptive information on the evaluation planned for the proposal. Contact Phone Numbers - The Application has been updated so contact phone numbers are now required. The contact phone number provided may be for the proposed participant, a family member and/or advocate. The contact phone number is provided by completing the Participant Listing portion of the Budget and Roster. Along with the contact phone number, you are instructed to indicate who the phone number is for: (P) participant, (F) family member, (A) advocate, and (SC) when the Service Coordinator is the advocate contact. Identification of Willowbrook Class Members – The Participate Listing now provides a field to identify these individuals. 4. Brief Summary of Select Proposals · Downsize a multi-storied residence through development of a small, single story home that will enable individuals with mobility difficulties to easily access all parts of their home. The proposed participants for the new home are all friends who expressed a desire to continue to live together. Reducing the number of individuals who reside in the existing home benefits the remaining individuals who will have more living and personal space. With the individuals split in two homes, the community activities the individuals participate in can be more focused on their interests and hobbies. · Provide supports to help individuals transition from living in their family home to living in their own apartments. This proposal will provide individuals with developmentally disabled with the opportunity for independence while giving their families a measure of assurance regarding their health and safety. As the individuals develop the skills to live independently, the services to them will be scaled back and additional individuals who wish to move from their family home can be offered transitional supports. In each case, the transitional supports will be tailored to the individual’s needs and wants. · A mother’s son is still in school, and while the school provides assistance to help her son prepare for life after school, she desired more. Seeking out other parents who have a similar interest, she worked with school officials and a non-profit provider to develop an OPTS proposal that enhanced her son’s school day and provided more opportunities for community inclusion and social activities. · Ability rather than disability will be the focus of the OPTS proposal for art program opportunities. In conjunction with an institution of higher learning, an Art Gallery to display art work will be developed. Participants in the OPTS proposal will not only create works of art, they will also be given the opportunity to assist in the Art Gallery, to hold showings of their works and to visit other artists to see their works and discuss their common interest - creating artistic pieces to express their thoughts and feelings.. · Through the NYS OPTS initiative, OMRDD anticipates more flexibility in service delivery so services to individuals can be enhanced. An OPTS proposal that combines the opportunities for skill development, learning and leisure, demonstrates how this can be done. An OPTS proposal under review involves a site that has facilities for animal care, horticulture activities, and a bed and breakfast with a small general shop. The proposal will provide a place where individuals can learn new skills, and practice and refine skills already learned. Under the proposal, leisure and recreation activities will be made available to individuals with developmentally disabled, their families and the general public. Provision of multiple services in a single location and bringing people from the local community in to interact with the individuals are components of this OPTS proposal. · “Where do you plan to go to college?” is a question often asked of students when they reach a certain age. For many individuals with developmentally disabled, this is a question they don’t get asked, yet they might have the desire to move away from home and participate in a college experience. one OPTS proposal was developed to make this a possibility. The non-profit provider, working with a small college proposes housing that will give several individuals the opportunity to have that first taste of freedom to live away from home. The individuals will be supported by a college student who will have an apartment in the same building and who will be taking courses in community/disability related services. The resident college student will offer direct support to the disabled students, and provide guidance and serve as a friendly neighbor. The proposal also incorporates college experiences many recall, eating in the dining hall, going to the Library and attending sporting events. The proposal also incorporates the time-limited nature of the college experience with an upfront understanding by the participants that they may enroll for a two-year cycle with the option, based upon an individual’s desire, to re-enroll two additional times. Inclusion in a college community, opportunity for independent living and consumer choice are features of this OPTS proposal. 5. Best Practices - Inclusion OMRDD is striving to make OPTS an inclusionary process that focuses on quality improvement and service needs identified by stakeholders. Participation by individuals and their families in the proposal development and evaluation of the pilot is critical. How can participation by individuals and their families occur when situations change during development of a proposal? By meeting with the individual, their family member(s) and/or advocate to discuss the proposal, get input on objectives to be realized if included in the proposal, and outcomes to be measured in the evaluation. After a proposal is submitted, identified participants may change - “…two of the consumers participating in the project have decided to participate three days a week…that leaves the option of including another consumer in the project…met with…(the individual), her family and service coordinator to explain the OPTS project and the type of support it could offer. (Individual) and her family have a strong interest in [the service described in the OPTS project]…her valued outcomes are…” As the above example shows, the individual, her family and service coordinator were included in discussions about a proposal already developed. once a decision was made to include this additional person, valued outcomes were developed specific to this individual. 6. Best Practices – Evaluation All pilot proposals are expected to improve quality and many will present new and varied ways of doing business and providing services. It is essential that these service and system changes be designed to assure that the expected results to be achieved through the proposal are identified, that the method of evaluating the outcomes is clear, and that the achievement of these results will lead to desired outcomes for the individuals served. Each OPTS proposal is expected to have an evaluation period, minimum evaluation standards (with reports) and a pilot evaluation committee. The evaluation component of the first OPTS proposal approved was reviewed and determined to be comprehensive and professionally prepared, meeting or exceeding the evaluation criteria established for OPTS. The evaluation criteria established for OPTS can be found through the OMRDD Home Page (www.omr.state.ny.us) [Information for Providers] link to Options for People Through Services and Pilot Proposal Evaluations, or by contacting Dr. Allen Schwartz, chair of the OPTS Statewide Evaluation Committee, by phone at (518) 474-4904 or e-mail
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. Examples of the evaluation information provided in the first approved OPTS proposal, includes: · Identification of the Pilot Evaluation Committee members, identifying the expertise or interest they represent. · Valued Outcomes, Needs and Proposed Services/Supports – Provided for each individual who will participate in the proposal. If a large number of individuals are to participate in the proposal, individual examples must be provided to demonstrate person-centered planning and individual choice. While the valued outcomes do not need to be described in the proposal for each individual, OMRDD expects there to be a record of individual specific valued outcomes that the effectiveness of the pilot can be evaluated against. · Evaluation timeline detailing when data would be gather, who would gather, who would evaluate, how the data would be used, and who would receive reports and when. · Examples of some of the formal assessment tools to be used include the Becker Work Adjustment Profile and Scales of Independent Behavior. · Individuals, their family and service coordinator will be asked to provide feedback on areas such as participation in planning, satisfaction with services, and adequacy of supports and oversight. 7. Items to be Included in the Next Update · Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) initiative on Vendor Responsibility and NYS OPTS Proposals · Brief description of the NYS OPTS Service Types listed on the Application Budget Form · Brief summaries of NYS OPTS Proposals approved for implementation 8. Information Sharing We encourage you to share the information in this message with individuals who are interested in knowing more about recent activities associated with the NYS OPTS initiative. 9. Why You May Receive Multiple Copies of this Message This message is being sent to individuals on several distribution lists. If you appear on more than one of the distribution lists being used, you will receive multiple copies of this message. This message is being distributed to: OPTS Steering Committee OPTS Consumer and Family Subcommittee OPTS Implementation Subcommittee OPTS Provider Subcommittee FSS Statewide Advisory Committee Provider Associations Parent-to-Parent Liaison Self Advocate Liaison DDSO Directors Central Office Leadership Team DDSO and Central Office OPTS Point People/Liaisons |
