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Our Services
Educate
Due to the changes being brought by CFSS, most people may not be in a position to understand how it works and the difference between CFSS and PCA. Our goal here is to ensure our clients understand what Community First Services and Supports (CFSS) is all about, How CFSS differs from the PCA program, who is eligible for CFSS, All the services provided by CFSS.
Creating plan
After ensuring that our clients understand what is CFSS and the different models available, we work together to ensure they come up with an effective plan that will support their needs and reasons why they need CFSS.
We do this by providing our clients with templates/ forms that can assist them in this process.
Creating Community Involvement
Community First Consultation Services has always valued community involvement and always lending a helping hand if possible. We believe that if the community is thriving then day-to-day planning because much more benefit is able. The Consultants provide information about community activities and resources regularly to the person, their guardian, and others living with the person.
Evaluating and Improving the Quality of Services
The quality of our work is evaluated through Surveys which allow us to pinpoint places that are needed to improve. We also have dialogues with the person and his/her guardian regularly.
Changes are made to support plans/approaches as needed. The feedback we receive from surveys and dialogues is used to elevate our quality of service and improve overall life efficacy.
Training and Evaluating Staff
Our staff are trained thoroughly with the CFSS protocol and a wide variety of plan writing software. We also value communication skills and effective teamwork. Through our surveys and feedback, we can see where we need to improve and properly evaluate our staff.Training steps:
1: Complete Online Training
2: Complete in Person Training
3: Submit Documentation of Completed Training
What do Community First Consultation Services deliver
Community First Consultation Services gives the participant and/or their representative a notice of action to take when goods or services are denied. Most reasons for denial:
- Services or goods that do not fall within the scope of CFSS
- Services or goods not related to an assessed need; and
- Services or goods provided in the plan that does not increase independence or decrease human assistance.
Community First Consultation Services will coordinate and collaborate, when necessary, with the Care Coordinator or Case manager when denying or reducing any part of the plan.
By the request of the participant, at the time of change in condition, or in collaboration with the lead agency or DHS, We will assist the participant to revise their plan by doing the following:
- Not limit how many times the participant can revise their plan.
- Ensure the revision is within the scope of CFSS.
- Write or rewrite the goal(s) associated with the revision, if applicable.
- Re-distribute the revised plan to the agency and/or FMS, and,
If applicable, provide the information to the Care Coordinator or Case Manager.
Community First Consultation Services will provide the participant with a list of all enrolled FMS providers that the participant may want for their FMS provider. Community First Consultation Services will have a policy that addresses neutrality: We will not limit the participants choice among all enrolled FMS providers that the participant can choose from
We are knowledgeable of general employment practices, including, but not limited to the following:
- Applicable federal tax, labor, and employment laws and regulations.
- Applicable state and local tax, labor, and employment laws and regulations; and
- Liability, and workers compensation coverage for household workers.
- We have policies and procedures that outline our activities to instruct the participant to learn and implement the skills needed to recruit and select qualified support workers.
- We assist the participant to learn and implement the skills needed to be a participant-employer. Our skills include how to:
- Recruit and select qualified support workers.
- Set wages for support workers.
- Supervise and evaluate support workers.
- Address the delivery of services by support workers; and
- Discharge support workers.
Community First Consultation Services will consult with and make recommendations to DHS or the Lead Agency regarding involuntary disenrollment from the budget model.
Community First Consultation Services provider is responsible to:
- Have and provide policies and procedures that outline Consultation Services provider activities to instruct the participant on their responsibilities to monitor their workers.
The participant’s responsibilities to monitor their workers include:
- Community First Consultation Services ensures support workers are competent to meet the participant’s assessed needs, along with any additional worker requirements as written in the CFSS service delivery plan.
Community First Consultation Services will determine the competency of the support worker through evaluation:
- Within thirty (30) days of any support worker beginning to provide services, and
- With a change in the participant’s condition as assessed; or
- Modification to the CFSS service delivery plan.
Community First Consultation Services will verify evidence of support worker competency, including documentation of the support worker’s:
- Education and experience relevant to the job responsibilities assigned to the Support worker and the needs of the participant.
- Training received from sources other than the participant.
- Orientation and instruction to implement defined services and supports to meet participant needs and preferences as detailed in the CFSS service delivery plan; and
- Periodic written performance reviews completed by the participant at least annually based on the direct observation of the support worker’s ability to perform the job functions.
Community First Consultation Services will Develop a worker training and development plan with or for the participant to ensure the support worker is competent when:
- The support worker begins providing services.
- There is any change in the participant’s condition; or
- Our performance review will indicate that additional training is needed.
- There is a modification to the CFSS service delivery plan; and
- Our Annual review will present the required documentation related to the participant’s monitoring and evaluation of their worker(s) in number 2, items i-iv above.
Community First Consultation Services will:
Provide a resource to the participant on how to find enrolled CFSS agency providers. This information must make participants aware that we cannot limit the participants choice among all enrolled or network CFSS agency providers.
Establishes policies and procedures that outline our activities to instruct the participant to learn and implement the skills needed to recruit and select qualified support workers.
provide the participant with a list of Financial Management Service (FMS) provider to facilitate the purchase of goods. This information must make participants aware that we cannot limit the participant’s choice among all enrolled FMS providers.
Community First Consultation Services will:
- Provide timely customer service offering a timely response to participant(s) requests within one (1) business day.
- Provide a toll-free phone and fax number and TTY number or alternative method for communicating with participants that are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Prove information regarding consultation services on our website.
- Have the ability to provide translation and interpreter services (i.e. American Sign Language and services for persons with Limited English Proficiency);
- Have materials available for participants in alternate formats.
- Have methods for receiving, returning and tracking communication from participants and workers.
- Have methods for receiving, responding to and tracking complaints from participants and workers within a reasonable time period.
- Conduct participant satisfaction surveys at least annually and analyze and summarize results for submission to the designated state program agency.
- Develop and implement a plan of correction or improvement, based on the summary of the satisfaction survey results to implement continuous quality improvement of Consultation Service provider operations, as appropriate; and
- Develop and implement policies and procedures that emphasize the application of the philosophy of participant direction and being culturally competent in all business practices in order to communicate effectively with a diverse population of participants of all ages, needs, disabilities and chronic conditions.
We will meet all consultant services goals and objectives:
- We will complete all required contacts for participants that do not have a case manager or care coordinator to authorize CFSS and with workers who are their paid parent when the participant is a minor or their paid spouse.
- We will have documentation on file that each participant’s choice of service delivery model and choice of provider was offered for the following:
- Choice of Agency Model.
- Choice of CFSS agency provider. And
- Choice of FMS provider when goods are part of the plan; or
- Choice of Budget Model. And
- Choice of FMS provider.
- We will provide consumer education to participants using self-directed services either under an Consultant Services enrolled with the Minnesota Department of Human Services provider or a PCA agency enrolled with the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
- The Consultant Services Support Planner at Community First Consultation Services will work with you to develop a community support plan that best meets your personal needs and goals.
- Your personal community support plan may include a mix of paid and non-paid services and both formal and informal supports, as long as we address your needs and are covered within your Consumer Directed Community Supports (CDCS) budget.