ILCHV established the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) in July 1994 with the mission of giving individuals control over their home care. CDPAP enables self-directing individuals who are Medicaid eligible or their designated representative to recruit, interview, hire, train, supervise and if necessary, dismiss their personal assistants. A personal assistant is an individual who is paid to assist a person with a disability to accomplish daily living tasks. The activities may include, but are not limited to: assisting in dressing, grooming, hygiene, mobility, transfers, toileting and health maintenance, as well as light housekeeping and miscellaneous tasks like writing, reading and running errands.
If trained by a consumer or designated representative, a personal assistant can also perform tasks that are usually performed by a Licensed Practical Nurse and/or Registered Nurse. Some of these tasks may include: catheterization, dispensing medications, checking and monitoring glucose levels, checking blood pressure and assisting with range of motion exercises. A personal assistant can work in the home, in the workplace, and/or in an educational setting.
Consumers of the program are granted the opportunity to develop a working relationship with their personal assistants without intrusion and work with individuals who have similar interests and personalities. The work schedule is negotiated directly between the consumer and the personal assistant. This provides greater flexibility which makes the service more convenient and more functional for both the consumer and the personal assistant. The personal assistant is directly accountable to the consumer or designated representative. Consumers are encouraged to select personal assistants who understand the spirit of the program as well as accept the notion of self-direction. When individuals are considering using the program they are encouraged to take time to think about their ability to manage/direct their daily personal care.
The role of ILCHV is to be the Fiscal Intermediary for payroll, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, and disability insurance for all personal assistant(s) enrolled in CDPAP. As Fiscal Intermediary it is the responsibility of ILCHV to provide support and program monitoring for consumers or designed representatives to manage their program in compliance with NYS Department of Health, NYS Department of Labor, and the NYS Department of Social Services regulations.
In addition, ILCHV provides information and ongoing advisement to consumers on managing their personal assistance services. ILCHV assists consumers in enrolling their personal assistants on the program and has regular contact with each consumer.
To find out more about the program, call ILCHV and speak to Vince Reiter, CDPAP Program Coordinator.