Opinion ID: 3009581
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Recipients of attendant care have

Text: the right to make decisions about, direct the provision of and control their attendant care services. This includes but is not limited to hiring, training, managing, paying and firing of an attendant. 62 P.S. at § 3052. The Care Act defines attendant care services as [t]hose basic and ancillary services which enable an individual to live in his home and community, rather than in an institution, and to carry out functions of daily living, self-care and mobility. Id. at § 3053. Basic services include assistance with getting in and out of bed, a wheelchair, or a car and also include assistance with routine bodily functions such as health maintenance activities, bathing and personal hygiene, dressing, grooming, and feeding. Id. Certain ancillary services may be provided which include homemaker services such as shopping, cleaning and laundry, companion-type services such as transportation, letter writing, reading mail, and escort, and assistance with cognitive tasks such as managing finances, planning activities, and making decisions. Id. The PDPW contracts with various agencies to provide attendant care services pursuant to the Act and Department guidelines. The Department requires that the agencies offer three models of service delivery: the consumer model, the agency model, and the combination model. Under the consumer model the consumer advertises, interviews, hires, and fires the attendant. The consumer submits invoices to the respective agencies and receives money so that the consumer is responsible for the task of paying the care giver for his or her services. Under the agency model, the agency employs the attendant, but the consumer retains the right to reject an attendant that the consumer considers unsuitable. The consumer provides direction in developing the service plan and retains the responsibility for supervising the attendant in the home. Under the combination model, the consumer selects certain tasks to be performed and certain tasks the agency will perform. The consumer has the responsibility to choose the service delivery model that he/she most prefers. PDPW describes the combination model as a menu with the consumer selecting what tasks he or she will do and what tasks the agency will do.