Family Voices Indiana

by Kerry Bonney, health information specialist

A successful transition to adulthood begins early. If you have a young child with special healthcare needs, it may seem a bit preposterous to discuss transition to adulthood while he or she is so young. Regardless of the age of your child, however, it is never too early to start preparing for this transition. 

Our hope for all of our children is for them to be able to live as independently as possible and for them to have a good quality of life. To that end, there are baby steps in a few key areas that we can take along the way that can help ease our child into adulthood.

1) Education - Beginning as early as age 3, you may find yourself seated in a meeting with the school, discussing a 504 plan or Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for your child. When appropriate your child should attend these case conference meetings. In most cases, by age 10-12, a child will be able to participate and his input should be sought.

Ask questions such as “wha…

From DDRS:
From: Nicole Norvell, Director, Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services  Re: Community Integration and Habilitation Waiver Renewal  Date: October 1, 2014
Effective October 1, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has approved the state of Indiana’s request to renew the Community Integration and Habilitation Waiver (CIH), which is administered by the Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services (DDRS).
The CIH renewal also includes the first Preliminary Transition plan required by CMS to ensure that the Home and Community Based Service (HCBS) programs offered by the state follow CMS’ final rule on HCBS settings, CMS-2249 & CMS-2296, published January 16, 2014. For more information about the CIH Waiver or the CIH Waiver transition plan, please visit the DDRS website. 
Changes that were approved in the CIH Waiver renewal, IN.0378.R03.00, include:   Quality Improvement strategies throughout the application reflect changes required per CMS dire…