LAW
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Ohio Laws and Rules
(A) As used in this section, “emergency” means any situation that creates for an individual with mental retardation or developmental disabilities a risk of substantial self-harm or substantial harm to others if action is not taken within thirty days. An “emergency” may include one or more of the following situations:
(1) Loss of present residence for any reason, including legal action;
(2) Loss of present caretaker for any reason, including serious illness of the caretaker, change in the caretaker’s status, or inability of the caretaker to perform effectively for the individual;
(3) Abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the individual;
(4) Health and safety conditions that pose a serious risk to the individual or others of immediate harm or death;
(5) Change in the emotional or physical condition of the individual that necessitates substantial accommodation that cannot be reasonably provided by the individual’s existing caretaker.
(B) If a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities determines that available resources are not sufficient to meet the needs of all individuals who request programs and services and may be offered the programs and services, it shall establish waiting lists for services. The board may establish priorities for making placements on its waiting lists according to an individual’s emergency status and shall establish priorities in accordance with divisions (D) and (E) of this section.
The individuals who may be placed on a waiting list include individuals with a need for services on an emergency basis and individuals who have requested services for which resources are not available.
Except for an individual who is to receive priority for services pursuant to division (D)(3) of this section, an individual who currently receives a service but would like to change to another service shall not be placed on a waiting list but shall be placed on a service substitution list. The board shall work with the individual, service providers, and all appropriate entities to facilitate the change in service as expeditiously as possible. The board may establish priorities for making placements on its service substitution lists according to an individual’s emergency status.
In addition to maintaining waiting lists and service substitution lists, a board shall maintain a long-term service planning registry for individuals who wish to record their intention to request in the future a service they are not currently receiving. The purpose of the registry is to enable the board to document requests and to plan appropriately. The board may not place an individual on the registry who meets the conditions for receipt of services on an emergency basis.
(C) A county board shall establish a separate waiting list for each of the following categories of services, and may establish separate waiting lists within the waiting lists:
(1) Early childhood services;
(2) Educational programs for preschool and school age children;
(3) Adult services;
(4) Service and support administration;
(5) Residential services and supported living;
(6) Transportation services;
(7) Other services determined necessary and appropriate for persons with mental retardation or a developmental disability according to their individual habilitation or service plans;
(8) Family support services provided under section 5126.11 of the Revised Code.
(D) Except as provided in division (G) of this section, a county board shall do, as priorities, all of the following in accordance with the assessment component, approved under section 5123.046 of the Revised Code, of the county board’s plan developed under section 5126.054 of the Revised Code:
(1) For the purpose of obtaining additional federal medicaid funds for home and community-based services and medicaid case management services, do both of the following:
(a) Give an individual who is eligible for home and community-based services and meets both of the following requirements priority over any other individual on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section for home and community-based services that include supported living, residential services, or family support services:
(i) Is twenty-two years of age or older;
(ii) Receives supported living or family support services.
(b) Give an individual who is eligible for home and community-based services and meets both of the following requirements priority over any other individual on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section for home and community-based services that include adult services:
(i) Resides in the individual’s own home or the home of the individual’s family and will continue to reside in that home after enrollment in home and community-based services;
(ii) Receives adult services from the county board.
(2) As federal medicaid funds become available pursuant to division (D)(1) of this section, give an individual who is eligible for home and community-based services and meets any of the following requirements priority for such services over any other individual on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section:
(a) Does not receive residential services or supported living, either needs services in the individual’s current living arrangement or will need services in a new living arrangement, and has a primary caregiver who is sixty years of age or older;
(b) Is less than twenty-two years of age and has at least one of the following service needs that are unusual in scope or intensity:
(i) Severe behavior problems for which a behavior support plan is needed;
(ii) An emotional disorder for which anti-psychotic medication is needed;
(iii) A medical condition that leaves the individual dependent on life-support medical technology;
(iv) A condition affecting multiple body systems for which a combination of specialized medical, psychological, educational, or habilitation services are needed;
(v) A condition the county board determines to be comparable in severity to any condition described in divisions (D)(2)(b)(i) to (iv) of this section and places the individual at significant risk of institutionalization.
(c) Is twenty-two years of age or older, does not receive residential services or supported living, and is determined by the county board to have intensive needs for home and community-based services on an in-home or out-of-home basis.
(3) In fiscal years 2002 and 2003, give an individual who is eligible for home and community-based services, resides in an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded or nursing facility, chooses to move to another setting with the help of home and community-based services, and has been determined by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to be capable of residing in the other setting, priority over any other individual on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section for home and community-based services who does not meet these criteria. The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall identify the individuals to receive priority under division (D)(3) of this section, assess the needs of the individuals, and notify the county boards that are to provide the individuals priority under division (D)(3) of this section of the individuals identified by the department and the individuals’ assessed needs.
(E) Except as provided in division (G) of this section and for a number of years and beginning on a date specified in rules adopted under division (K) of this section, a county board shall give an individual who is eligible for home and community-based services, resides in a nursing facility, and chooses to move to another setting with the help of home and community-based services, priority over any other individual on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section for home and community-based services who does not meet these criteria.
(F) If two or more individuals on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section for home and community-based services have priority for the services pursuant to division (D)(1) or (2) or (E) of this section, a county board may use, until December 31, 2009, criteria specified in rules adopted under division (K)(2) of this section in determining the order in which the individuals with priority will be offered the services. Otherwise, the county board shall offer the home and community-based services to such individuals in the order they are placed on the waiting list.
(G)(1) No individual may receive priority for services pursuant to division (D) or (E) of this section over an individual placed on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section on an emergency status.
(2) No more than four hundred individuals in the state may receive priority for services during the 2008 and 2009 biennium pursuant to division (D)(2)(b) of this section.
(3) No more than a total of seventy-five individuals in the state may receive priority for services during state fiscal years 2002 and 2003 pursuant to division (D)(3) of this section.
(4) No more than forty individuals in the state may receive priority for services pursuant to division (E) of this section for each year that priority category is in effect as specified in rules adopted under division (K) of this section.
(H) Prior to establishing any waiting list under this section, a county board shall develop and implement a policy for waiting lists that complies with this section and rules adopted under division (K) of this section.
Prior to placing an individual on a waiting list, the county board shall assess the service needs of the individual in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws. The county board shall place the individual on the appropriate waiting list and may place the individual on more than one waiting list. The county board shall notify the individual of the individual’s placement and position on each waiting list on which the individual is placed.
At least annually, the county board shall reassess the service needs of each individual on a waiting list. If it determines that an individual no longer needs a program or service, the county board shall remove the individual from the waiting list. If it determines that an individual needs a program or service other than the one for which the individual is on the waiting list, the county board shall provide the program or service to the individual or place the individual on a waiting list for the program or service in accordance with the board’s policy for waiting lists.
When a program or service for which there is a waiting list becomes available, the county board shall reassess the service needs of the individual next scheduled on the waiting list to receive that program or service. If the reassessment demonstrates that the individual continues to need the program or service, the board shall offer the program or service to the individual. If it determines that an individual no longer needs a program or service, the county board shall remove the individual from the waiting list. If it determines that an individual needs a program or service other than the one for which the individual is on the waiting list, the county board shall provide the program or service to the individual or place the individual on a waiting list for the program or service in accordance with the board’s policy for waiting lists. The county board shall notify the individual of the individual’s placement and position on the waiting list on which the individual is placed.
(I) A child subject to a determination made pursuant to section 121.38 of the Revised Code who requires the home and community-based services provided through a medicaid component that the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities administers under section 5111.871 of the Revised Code shall receive services through that medicaid component. For all other services, a child subject to a determination made pursuant to section 121.38 of the Revised Code shall be treated as an emergency by the county boards and shall not be subject to a waiting list.
(J) Not later than the fifteenth day of March of each even-numbered year, each county board shall prepare and submit to the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities its recommendations for the funding of services for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities and its proposals for reducing the waiting lists for services.
(K)(1) The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code governing waiting lists established under this section. The rules shall include procedures to be followed to ensure that the due process rights of individuals placed on waiting lists are not violated.
(2) As part of the rules adopted under this division, the department shall adopt rules establishing criteria a county board may use under division (F) of this section in determining the order in which individuals with priority for home and community-based services will be offered the services. The rules shall also specify conditions under which a county board, when there is no individual with priority for home and community-based services pursuant to division (D)(1) or (2) or (E) of this section available and appropriate for the services, may offer the services to an individual on a waiting list for the services but not given such priority for the services. The rules adopted under division (K)(2) of this section shall cease to have effect December 31, 2009.
(3) As part of the rules adopted under this division, the department shall adopt rules specifying both of the following for the priority category established under division (E) of this section:
(a) The number of years, which shall not exceed five, that the priority category will be in effect;
(b) The date that the priority category is to go into effect.
(L) The following shall take precedence over the applicable provisions of this section:
(1) Medicaid rules and regulations;
(2) Any specific requirements that may be contained within a medicaid state plan amendment or waiver program that a county board has authority to administer or with respect to which it has authority to provide services, programs, or supports.
Effective Date: 06-26-2003; 07-01-2005; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007