DC “Independent Living Support” pilot program up and running
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Independent Living Support pilot program through the Dunn County Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) is up and running.
There have been a few glitches getting the ILSP going, but that is always the case when the state starts a new pilot program, said Tracy Fischer, manager of the ADRC, at a meeting of the ADRC Advisory Committee on January 22.
Fischer reported to the ADRC Advisory Committee in March of 2023 that Dunn County, Chippewa County and Eau Claire County had teamed up to apply for the pilot program through the state of Wisconsin, with Dunn County as the lead, and had been awarded $3.5 million all together.
Participants in the Independent Living Support grant pilot program will receive $7,200 for items or services to help keep them safe in their homes, such as ramps, lift chairs and nursing help.
The pilot program will help 430 people in the three-county area.
The criteria for participating in the program is that individuals ages 18 to 54 must be diagnosed with a disability and have a functional need, such as difficulty with a daily living activity.
People who are 55 years or older do not need a diagnosis of a disability, but they must have a functional need, such as needing assistance with medication, preparing meals or bathing and dressing, or must have a need to make alterations in their home to assist with daily living.
Bumpy road
There have been “a few bumps in the road.” The state computer program for the ISLP just went live the week before the January ADRC meeting, Fischer said.
Premier Financial Services is working with vendors to provide services. The challenge has been finding people who can help those enrolled in the ILSP in their homes. Visiting Angels is one of the agencies providing services, but what has turned out to be a better solution is friends and family signing up to help provide their loved one with services in their home, she said.
In one situation, a granddaughter is going to be a caregiver so her parents, who are providing care for their parent, can get a respite. The person has dementia and is wary of strangers, so this works out well, Fischer said.
There is not a pool of providers to provide services in the homes, so it has been challenging to find people, she said.
There have been success stories already with the ILSP. One couple in Chippewa County thought they would have to leave their home and move to an assisted living facility, Fischer said.
The house is a bilevel, and the ILSP paid for a chair lift so the homeowners have a way to safely go up and down the stairs in their home, she said.
A split-level house has three or more levels or floors separated by short staircases, while a bilevel house has only two levels.
Slow going
The ILSP pilot is not working as quickly as everyone would like it to work, but that comes with the territory when starting a pilot program, Fischer said.
The goal for the ILSP pilot is for the state to eventually apply for federal money to keep the program and to expand it statewide. During the pilot phase, the “kinks” can be worked out of the program before it expands throughout the state, she said.
As it turned out, people who signed up for the program needed more case management than had been anticipated, Fischer said.
The program is intended to help people become more independent or to remain independent, but it requires more paperwork and a certain amount of computer signup for certain forms, so the state offered more money to the counties involved in the pilot program to hire additional staff, she said.
Fischer wrote a grant application to hire three part-time people to serve the three counties as case managers. Interviews were conducted the week prior to the ADRC meeting, and Fischer said she had hired one person to move forward and then most likely would post the job again.
The money for the three part-time people is being covered by the state grant, and there would be no county tax levy used, she said.
It is taking more staff time to get people enrolled in the ILSP than had been anticipated, Fischer said.
Launching the pilot program has been a learning experience, but the program has “good momentum” now, and people are starting to get the services they need, she said.
Adult protective services
Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the ADRC committee, asked about the ADRC budget request for 2024.
The budget request was to hire an adult protective services worker, Fischer said.
The Dunn County Board agreed to add a lead worker position, and the hiring process is moving forward, she said.
There has been an increase in the number of APS cases in the past few years. From 2017, the first full year that statistics were kept for adult protective services, until 2023, the number of cases has doubled, Fischer said, noting that the increase in cases is both for referrals and for the number of cases opened.
Currently there are only two APS workers, and the new position is a lead worker who would do some of the APS work and also would take care of APS administrative duties, she said.
Reorganization
In addition, APS has been reorganized under the Department of Human Services.
Fischer said she had previously supervised adult protective services, but now APS comes under behavioral health.
One of the biggest reasons for moving APS to behavioral health is that many of the calls that come in for adult protective services are considered to be a crisis situation, which means those cases are billable to the state Medicaid program, Fischer said.
Behavioral health is able to get the crisis training needed, and then has the ability to invoice services for Medicaid. The ADRC does not have that ability, she said.
The new supervisor for APS is Sara Olinger.
Fischer said she had taken over adult protective services from Olinger when Fischer was hired to manage the ADRC, so Olinger was the previous supervisor for APS.
County residents “are in good hands,” and it is worthwhile for the crisis unit and APS to combine, she said.
Many elders are dealing with a mental health crisis, and the change to behavioral health is a positive for APS, which will also open up billing options for Dunn County that were not available before, Fischer said.
The move to place adult protective services under behavioral health occurred on January 2, she noted.
Why?
One ADRC committee member asked about the increase in cases for adult protective services.
The increase follows the aging of the population, Fischer said.
Of the population served, 80 percent are elders, and the remainder are adults with disabilities. As the population of elders increases, so does the need for APS, she said.
Adult protective services has done a lot of work to partner with law enforcement and with the Department of Justice to provide training for law enforcement officers, Fischer said.
The more aware that law enforcement officers are about the services available, the more willing they are when they see things in the community to call for services, she said.
Some of things law enforcement sees in the community did not “trigger” a call to APS before, but it is beginning to happen more now, Fischer said.
Elders are considered anyone who is age 60 or older, she noted.
