Summary of Children's Community Options Program Planning for January 2016
Purpose
The purpose of this communication is to provide a summary status of the plan for
establishing the Children's Community Options Program, including necessary
direction for current operations in counties.
Background
The Department of Health Services, Bureau of Children's Services (BCS), is
charged with establishing a Children's Community Option Program (CCOP) and in
consultation with partners, develop guidelines for implementing the program and
criteria for reviewing community options programs as defined in 2015 Act 55
46.272<http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2015/related/acts/55/1535>
The CCOP is the result of merging the Family Support Program (FSP) and the
portion of Community Options Program (COP) used to serve children, into a single
allocation to counties with one set of requirements for the use of program funding.
The BCS has established a workgroup of internal and external partners to gather
input on the development of the program guidelines for the Children's Community
Option Program. We have planned a series of three meetings after which we will
establish a transition plan and subsequent program guidelines.
Status
During the first workgroup meeting, we recognized that counties and families are
asking for immediate guidance on what will, or will not, change effective
January 1, 2016as a result of the merging of Family Support and Community
Options Program into the Children's Community Options Program.
EffectiveJanuary 1, 2016we are expecting minimum differences for county use of
this combined funding. The statute for the Children's Community Options Program
establishes the authority for accessing funds under this program. In reviewing
the statutes we find only two instances wherein current use of these funds will
be prohibited in January 2016.
The exceptions are:
* Prohibiting funding for room and board in CCOP. (COP could fund room and
board, FSP could not); and
* No use of the funds for individuals over age 22. (FSP allowed exceptions
for use up to age 24), the statute limits use of program funds to age 22.
Notwithstanding the two restrictions, we are expecting counties to use the
combined FSP/ COP funding allocation to serve children eligible for FSP or COP
going forward. Families should experience no change in access or services beyond
the two restrictions noted above. Furthermore, for instances where statutorily
established restrictions do create a change, we would like to work with counties
to identify a solution and transition before the change in access to services.
Please reach out to your CSS for any specific cases wherein the limits noted
above will cause a loss of access to services to current participants into
January 2016.
Summary Take-Away
The merging of these two General Purpose Revenue (GPR) funding sources should
not be viewed as elimination of FSP or COP, but as a combining and streamlining
program funding and requirements. Families should not be unnecessarily alarmed
that something is "going away." We are working to create guidelines that will
assist in the implementation for this program. In the meantime, other than the
two restrictions for use noted above, we expect counties to continue to use this
funding allocation in their 2016 contract as otherwise allowed by the individual
FSP and COP allocations prior to the merging of the two.
We hope this overview provided some general guidance for use in current
operations. We will continue to work through the technical requirements for
ongoing operations of the Children's Community Options Program. Thank you for
your attention to this matter.
Please direct program questions to the CCOP Project Manager for additional
inputs, atAlyssa.Zirk@wisconsin.gov<
***We want to thankLiz Hecht from the Waisman Center University Center forExcellence in
DevelopmentalDisabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD)for sharing the information.
Purpose
The purpose of this communication is to provide a summary status of the plan for
establishing the Children's Community Options Program, including necessary
direction for current operations in counties.
Background
The Department of Health Services, Bureau of Children's Services (BCS), is
charged with establishing a Children's Community Option Program (CCOP) and in
consultation with partners, develop guidelines for implementing the program and
criteria for reviewing community options programs as defined in 2015 Act 55
46.272<http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2015/related/acts/55/1535>
The CCOP is the result of merging the Family Support Program (FSP) and the
portion of Community Options Program (COP) used to serve children, into a single
allocation to counties with one set of requirements for the use of program funding.
The BCS has established a workgroup of internal and external partners to gather
input on the development of the program guidelines for the Children's Community
Option Program. We have planned a series of three meetings after which we will
establish a transition plan and subsequent program guidelines.
Status
During the first workgroup meeting, we recognized that counties and families are
asking for immediate guidance on what will, or will not, change effective
January 1, 2016as a result of the merging of Family Support and Community
Options Program into the Children's Community Options Program.
EffectiveJanuary 1, 2016we are expecting minimum differences for county use of
this combined funding. The statute for the Children's Community Options Program
establishes the authority for accessing funds under this program. In reviewing
the statutes we find only two instances wherein current use of these funds will
be prohibited in January 2016.
The exceptions are:
* Prohibiting funding for room and board in CCOP. (COP could fund room and
board, FSP could not); and
* No use of the funds for individuals over age 22. (FSP allowed exceptions
for use up to age 24), the statute limits use of program funds to age 22.
Notwithstanding the two restrictions, we are expecting counties to use the
combined FSP/ COP funding allocation to serve children eligible for FSP or COP
going forward. Families should experience no change in access or services beyond
the two restrictions noted above. Furthermore, for instances where statutorily
established restrictions do create a change, we would like to work with counties
to identify a solution and transition before the change in access to services.
Please reach out to your CSS for any specific cases wherein the limits noted
above will cause a loss of access to services to current participants into
January 2016.
Summary Take-Away
The merging of these two General Purpose Revenue (GPR) funding sources should
not be viewed as elimination of FSP or COP, but as a combining and streamlining
program funding and requirements. Families should not be unnecessarily alarmed
that something is "going away." We are working to create guidelines that will
assist in the implementation for this program. In the meantime, other than the
two restrictions for use noted above, we expect counties to continue to use this
funding allocation in their 2016 contract as otherwise allowed by the individual
FSP and COP allocations prior to the merging of the two.
We hope this overview provided some general guidance for use in current
operations. We will continue to work through the technical requirements for
ongoing operations of the Children's Community Options Program. Thank you for
your attention to this matter.
Please direct program questions to the CCOP Project Manager for additional
inputs, atAlyssa.Zirk@wisconsin.gov<
