Ohio Administrative Code › Title 5123 - Department of Developmental Disabilities › Chapter 5123-9 - Home and Community-Based Services Waivers › Section 5123-9-15 - Home and community-based services waivers - individual employment support under the individual options, level one, and self-empowered life funding waivers

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A)
			 Purpose
This rule defines individual employment support and sets forth
				provider qualifications, requirements for service delivery and documentation of
				services, and payment standards for the service. The expected outcome of
				individual employment support is competitive integrated employment in a job
				well-matched to the individual's interests, strengths, priorities, and
				abilities that meets the individual's personal and career goals.
(B) Definitions
For the purposes of this rule, the following definitions
				apply:
(1)
									"Acuity assessment group" means one of four groups (i.e.,
			 group A-1, group A, group B, or group C) to which an individual is assigned
			 based on the individual's score resulting from administration of the acuity
			 assessment instrument in accordance with rule
			 5123-9-19 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(2) "Adult day support"
			 has the same meaning as in rule
			 5123-9-17 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(3) "Agency provider"
			 means an entity that directly employs at least one person in addition to a
			 director of operations for the purpose of providing services for which the
			 entity is certified in accordance with rule
			 5123-2-08 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(4) "Career planning"
			 has the same meaning as in rule
			 5123-9-13 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(5) "Competitive
			 integrated employment" means work (including self- employment) that is
			 performed on a full-time or part-time basis:
(a) For which an individual is:
(i) Compensated:
(a) At a rate that is not less than the
			 higher of the rate specified in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938,
			 29 U.S.C.
			 206(a)(1), as in effect on
			 the effective date of this rule, or the rate specified in the applicable state
			 or local minimum wage law and is not less than the customary rate paid by the
			 employer for the same or similar work performed by other employees who do not
			 have disabilities, and who are in similar occupations by the same employer and
			 who have similar training, experience, and skills; or
(b) In the case of an individual who is
			 self-employed, yields an income that is comparable to the income received by
			 persons without disabilities, who are self-employed in similar occupations or
			 on similar tasks and who have similar training, experience, and skills;
			 and
(ii) Eligible for
			 the level of benefits provided to other full-time and part- time
			 employees;
(b) At a
			 location where the individual interacts with persons without disabilities to
			 the same extent as employees who are not receiving home and community-based
			 services;
(c) That is not performed
			 in:
(i) Dispersed enclaves in which
			 individuals work in a self-contained unit within a company or service site in
			 the community or perform multiple jobs in the company, but are not integrated
			 with non- disabled employees of the company; or
(ii) Mobile work crews comprised solely of
			 individuals operating as a distinct unit and/or self-contained business working
			 in several locations within the community; and
(d) That, as appropriate, presents
			 opportunities for advancement that are similar to those for persons without
			 disabilities who have similar positions.
(6) "County board"
			 means a county board of developmental disabilities.
(7) "Customized
			 employment" means competitive integrated employment designed to meet the
			 specific abilities of an individual with a significant disability and the
			 business needs of an employer that is carried out through flexible strategies
			 such as job exploration by the individual and working with an employer to
			 facilitate placement including:
(a)
			 Customizing a job description based on current employer needs or on previously
			 unidentified and unmet employer needs;
(b) Developing a set of job duties, a work
			 schedule and job arrangement, and specifics of supervision (including
			 performance evaluation and review), and determining a job location;
			 and
(c) Providing services and
			 supports at the job location.
(8)
			 "Department" means the Ohio department of developmental disabilities.
(9)
			 "Fifteen-minute billing unit" means a billing unit that equals fifteen minutes
			 of service delivery time or is greater or equal to eight minutes and less than
			 or equal to twenty-two minutes of service delivery time. Minutes of service
			 delivery time accrued throughout a day will be added together for the purpose
			 of calculating the number of fifteen-minute billing units for that
			 day.
(10) "Group employment
			 support" has the same meaning as in rule
			 5123-9-16 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(11) "Independent
			 provider" means a self-employed person who provides services for which the
			 person is certified in accordance with rule
			 5123-2-09 of the Administrative
			 Code and does not employ, either directly or through contract, anyone else to
			 provide the services.
(12) "Individual"
			 means a person with a developmental disability or for purposes of giving,
			 refusing to give, or withdrawing consent for services, the person's guardian in
			 accordance with section
			 5126.043 of the Revised Code or
			 other person authorized to give consent.
(13)
			 "Individual employment support" means individualized support for an individual
			 to maintain competitive integrated employment. Activities that constitute
			 individual employment support include but are not limited to:
(a) Job coaching, which is identification and
			 provision of services and supports, utilizing task analysis and systematic
			 instruction that assist the individual in maintaining employment and/or
			 advancing the individual's career. Job coaching includes supports provided to
			 the individual and the individual's supervisor or coworkers on behalf of the
			 individual, either in-person or remotely via technology. Job coaching may
			 include the engagement of natural supports in the workplace to provide
			 additional supports that allow the job coach to maximize the job coach's
			 ability to fade. Examples of job coaching strategies include
			 customized employment, job analysis, job
			 adaptations, instructional prompts, verbal instruction, self-management tools,
			 physical assistance, role playing, coworker modeling, and written instruction.
			 Job coaching for self-employment includes identification and provision of
			 services and supports, including counseling and guidance, which assist the
			 individual in maintaining self- employment through the operation of a business.
			 When job coaching is provided, a plan outlining the steps to reduce job
			 coaching over time will be in place within thirty calendar days.
(b) Training in assistive or other technology
			 utilized by the individual while on the job.
(c) Other workplace support services
			 including services not specifically related to job skill training that enable
			 the individual to be successful in integrating into the job setting.
(d) Personal care and assistance, which may
			 be a component of individual employment support but will not comprise the
			 entirety of the service.
(14) "Individual
			 service plan" means the written description of services, supports, and
			 activities to be provided to an individual.
(15) "Mentor" means a
			 person employed by or under contract with the agency provider who has
			 experience providing direct services to persons with developmental disabilities
			 and who is available on a regular basis to provide guidance to new direct
			 support professionals regarding techniques and practices that enhance the
			 effectiveness of the provision of individual employment support.
(16)
			 "Natural supports" means the personal associations and relationships typically
			 developed in the community that enhance the quality of life for individuals.
			 Natural supports may include family members, friends, neighbors, and others in
			 the community or organizations that serve the general public who provide
			 voluntary support to help an individual achieve agreed upon outcomes through
			 the individual service plan development process.
(17)
									"Pay stub" means
			 a document issued by an employer that shows, for a specified period of time, an
			 employee's gross earnings, deductions from those earnings, and net
			 pay.
(18) "Service and
			 support administrator" means a person, regardless of title, employed by or
			 under contract with a county board to perform the functions of service and
			 support administration and who holds the appropriate certification in
			 accordance with rule
			 5123-5-02 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(19) "Service
			 documentation" means all records and information on one or more documents,
			 including documents that may be created or maintained in electronic software
			 programs, created and maintained contemporaneously with the delivery of
			 services, and kept in a manner as to fully disclose the nature and extent of
			 services delivered that includes the items delineated in paragraph (E) of this
			 rule to validate payment for medicaid services.
(20) "Vocational
			 habilitation" has the same meaning as in rule
			 5123-9-14 of the Administrative
			 Code.
(21) "Waiver
			 eligibility span" means the twelve-month period following either an
			 individual's initial waiver enrollment date or a subsequent eligibility re-
			 determination date.