So you have just been approved for DSPD Services (Utah)

So you have just been approved for DSPD  services...Yea!  Now what?

You will need to make several decisions...

You will need to choose a case manager (this person comes out every 3 months to see how things are going and helps you navigate the system.)

You will need to decide if you want to go through an agency that will provide employees to fill your hours or if you want to do SAS (Self-Administered Services).  We will discuss this more in detail a little later.

You need to decide which fiscal agent to use.  The money in your budget is state and federal funds.  The money gets put into different codes (discussed below).  Your employee submits their hours to the fiscal agent and the fiscal agent sends them a paycheck (the fiscal agent also take a fee).  You never actually handle any money.  The fiscal agents I know of are Acumen, Morning Star and Leonard Consulting.  I only have experience with Acumen.  Your case manager can set up appointments for them to have a representative come to your house so you can interview them.

Let's talk about the pros and cons of using an agency verses SAS.
     Agency Pros:  A larger pool of employees so hopefully more covered shifts.  You don't have to worry about advertising, hiring people, new hire paperwork, timesheets, firing people.  They have a little training from the agency.
     Agency Cons:  You do not have as much of a say in who comes to your house.  (You can always call the employer and discuss problems or request that a certain person not come any more...but the more people you get rid of the smaller your pool becomes.)  They cannot handle complicated medical things (as far as I know).  Employees get paid less because agency takes a cut.
     SAS Pros:  You get to choose your own people.  They can handle a little more complicated medical things.  You do all training.  Youc an pay your employee more than if you use an agency.
     SAS Cons: If your employee is sick you are out of luck (no one to fill in), you have to do all advertising, interviews, paperwork, timesheets, firing.  You do all training.

I only have experience with SAS.

Here are the codes available if you use SAS to find descriptions follow the link:  (here is the website https://dspd.utah.gov/providers/service-code-descriptions/).
CH1 (Chore)
CO1 (Companion Services)
TF1 (Daily Transportation)
HS1 (Homemaker Services)
PA1 (Personal Assistance)
RP1 (Respite)
RP6 (Repite with Room and Board)
RP7 (Respite Group)
RP8 (Respite Group with Room and Board)
SL1 (Supported Living) (Employee must be 18 or older)

You cannot hire a parent of the child, but you can hire a sibling of the child (so one of your other kids) or any other relative, neighbor, friend, stranger.  For most of the codes the employee needs to be  minimum of 16 years old, but for Supported Living they need to be at least 18.

You can have as many employees as you desire, they just can't work at the same time as each other.  Once they are not working any more make sure to send in the paperwork to terminate their employment because the fiscal agent takes a monthly fee for each employee.

You can have multiple codes open at the same time.  You just CANNOT bill for multiple codes at the same time.  ie:  you CAN'T have someone billing for Respite at the same clocked in times as someone doing Homemaker.  But you can have both Respite and Homemaker codes open for either the same employee or different employees.  If you use Supported Living your employee can make more money per hour than if you are paying them under the respite code.  The Supported Living Code covers both Respite and Homemaker type services.

The codes I have used are RP1, HS1, SL1.  I usually use SL1 (because you can pay more and it covers both respite and homemaking).  But I currently have all 3 open because I have 1 employee that is in her early 20's that uses the SL1 code and I have some hours filled by my 17 YO son so he doesn't qualify for SL1 (he is too young).

If your child is admitted to the hospital you cannot pay any hours while they are admitted.  (Even homemaker).  I usually tell my employees to sign up with a temp agency for when this happens.

Another code you may want to have your caseworker open up is massage therapy.  My daughter has a therapist come out once a week for an hour to our house to give her a massage.

If you ever need home adaptations (ramp, house lift, car lift, bathroom remodel, etc...I have even used it for repairs to my wheelchair van lift) these can be paid for with DSPD funds.  It does not come out of your budget.  It is called a one-time expense.  (although you can use it multiple times).  Your caseworker requests the money and it takes a few months to go through an approval process.  They will not pay for the vehicle...only the adaptation.

If you ever need communication devices (AAC) your DSPD funds can pay for this with one-time funding also.  (Once again you can use it more than once however).  This would be like switches, specialized communication computer programs, communication devices, etc...

What insights or questions do you have about DSPD, SAS, service codes, case managers, etc...  What have you done that has worked (or not) for you?