Frequently Asked Questions

Person Centered Services is a Care Coordination Organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Our job is to help individuals and families navigate a very complex system of services and supports. We do this through a holistic, customized Life Plan that promotes informed choices and independent decision-making.

At Person Centered Services, Care Coordinators work on a Life Plan tailored to an individual’s needs. Care Coordinators focus on all services and resources a person might need, ranging from coordinating medical and dental appointments, to managing behavioral care, to monitoring safety needs. It’s an all-encompassing, health-focused continuous process.

Please call our Customer Service Department at 1-888-977-7030 or email connect@personcenteredservices.com

Your Care Coordinator will work directly with you to help develop and determine your goals and to help you live a fulfilling life. Once these supports and goals are determined, the Care Coordinator will assist with linking you to the appropriate service that will help to achieve this.

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities may be eligible for supports and services from New York State’s Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), and therefore eligible for Care Coordination. If eligibility is not yet granted, our Intake Specialists can help with the eligibility process.

Care Coordinators support individuals with a qualifying condition. Examples of qualifying conditions include:

– Intellectual Disability

– Cerebral Palsy

– Epilepsy

– Neurological Impairment

– Autism

– Familial Dysautonomia

– Prader-Willi Syndrome

Care Coordinators work with you using assessments, conversations, and documentation reviews to help you identify what you want and need. They will ask you questions related to your dreams, strengths, needs, and access to resources among other things to help you identify what you need to live the life you want. Be sure to clearly express your wants or needs to your Care Coordinator.

A person-centered approach is a way of putting you at the center of everything Care Coordinators do. Care Coordinators recognize that every person has different wants, needs, and goals. As someone participating in Care Coordination, your unique needs and wants should direct every plan, goal, meeting, and support in which you participate. It is for you to decide what the plan should include and what things you should work on and it is the Care Coordinator’s role to help you achieve those things.

The relationship you build with your Care Coordinator will be extremely important. Care Coordinators will ask questions, take notes, and have you to sign many documents. This is all needed to get to know you and assess which supports you may need to improve your life. The Care Coordinator is part of your team and will also want to get to know your other teammates. Think about who your supports are, what you would like to tackle in your life, and what help you need. This will be very helpful during the assessment and planning aspects of Care Coordination.

By getting to know you and your family, a Care Coordinator will assist you with developing a plan, evaluating it, and carrying it out. The plan is based on your unique goals and life situation. A Care Coordinator can assist with many things, including finding medical providers, social services, resources, and assistance to make your life better. As a Health Home, one of our main goals is to help you plan in a way that positively affects your health and overall well-being. Finding a dentist, helping navigate the education system, applying for environmental modifications, and locating opportunities for socialization are just a few examples of what a Care Coordinator can do.

OPWDD provides services and supports that help with a range of needs, including day habilitation and community habilitation programs, assistance with employment, help living in the community, respite, and more. The services are provided by a network of nonprofit agencies.

Care Coordinators bring together health care and developmental disability service providers to develop an integrated Life Plan for each person. This includes medical, behavioral health, community and social supports, and other services. Life Plan development is driven by the person, with input and participation from all members of the care-planning team. The Life Plan guides delivery of services and is regularly reviewed and updated.

Please call our Customer Service Department at 1-888-977-7030 or email connect@personcenteredservices.com

Please call our Customer Service Department at 1-888-977-7030.

Self-Direction gives you control over the funding used to buy your services. It gives you the power to design the supports, services, schedule and structure that you want. According to the NY State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, you can choose to self-direct some or all of the services that help you: live in the home and community of your choice; work, volunteer and do activities you enjoy, and have relationships.

Anyone who is eligible for OPWDD services and enrolled in the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waiver can choose to self-direct their services. An individual should be able to make his or her own decisions (or have help to).

You choose if you want an agency to help you self-direct (agency-supported self-direction) or if you’d like to manage your own budget and staff with help from a Fiscal Intermediary and Support Broker (Self-Direction with Budget and Employer Authority). Either way, you will work with a team of people who will help you select your services and put together a budget. This team is chosen by you and can include family and close friends, your Care Coordinator, and/or other staff you know.

You will need to attend a self-direction information session. Your Care Coordinator or your local Developmental Disabilities Regional Office (DDRO) can provide you with a current schedule of options. If you are already Medicaid Waiver-eligible, your Care Coordinator will submit a request for Self-Directed services through the Front Door. If you are not Medicaid Waiver-eligible yet, you will need to complete a Waiver application and apply to be enrolled in the Waiver. Person Centered Services can help you with this process. The most comprehensive source of information about Self-Direction is the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities. Go to: https://opwdd.ny.gov/selfdirection or call OPWDD’s information line – 1-866-946-9733