Text Box: (COGs) collectively referred to as “The Ohio MRDD Council of Governments Coalition” submitted a proposal for the National Core Indicators project. The COGs (NEON, MEORC, Clearwater, SOCOG, WESTCON, and NOWAC) appeared to be well suited for this project, having available 22 trained quality assurance staff located in 71 counties in Ohio. ODMRDD has just announced that The Center for Marketing & Opinion Research, LLC has been selected to implement the NCI project. We encourage individuals and their families to respond honestly and openly to the surveyors, in order to improve the overall service delivery system within Ohio. Note: For a complete look at the National Core Indicators project, please visit http://www.odmrdd.state.oh.us Text Box: Now that the Waiver Reimbursement Transition is all but complete, we find ourselves moving on to the next phase of the ever changing world of developmental disabilities as we know it. The Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (ODMRDD) Futures Committee has approved the recommended adoption and implementation of the National Core Indicators beginning FY2008. According to information on the ODMRDD website, the National Core Indicators will be used as a basis for measuring the performance of and improving Ohio’s MRDD service delivery Text Box: system. The ultimate goal is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our service delivery system so that we may improve the overall quality of life of the individuals we serve. The implementation of the National Core Indicators will include face to face interviews of 400 individuals, over the age of 18. In addition to these interviews, 1000 mail surveys will be sent to each of the following groups: Families who have their adult family member living with them at home; Families who have their adult family member living out of the family home and; Families with children under the age of 18 with MRDD. ODMRDD posted the Request for Proposal for those organizations interested in carrying out the National Core Indicators project. The 6 primary Council of Governments

FROM THE DIRECTOR...
Text Box: daily rate transition notes By Shannon Timmerman, QA Manager Text Box: transitioned to the 15-minute reimbursement rate, then transition to the DBU is required by 4/7/08. If previously transitioned to the 15-minute rate on or before 12/31/07, then the transition to the DBU is required by December 2008. Helpful Hints on using the DRA application: The site span is not required to align with the PAWS, the waiver spans of the people living in the site, or the fiscal year but should align with the cost projection tool span (20/20). The 20/20 or cost projection tool needs to be completed prior to entering information into the DRA as the 20/20 will give you the site costs, the site hours, and the individual portions of the Text Box: site costs. The DRA will then calculate the hourly rate from this information. All individuals living in the site and sharing services, even those not on a waiver, must be included in the DRA regardless of the funding source. In the DRA, delete means to take away a person entered in error. Remove means that person is no longer included as an individual sharing services in that site. Removing a person stores their past association with that site in the system. You may remove a person through the site maintenance area of the DRA. To delete someone entered in error, you need to email the department at dra-support@odmrdd.oh.us with the person’s name, client number, site Text Box: number, and reason why the person is being deleted. When entering an individual’s portion of the costs into the DRA, enter the complete cost. This includes the cents, even if it is 00, such as in $1234.00. If you do not enter the cents, you may encounter a negative balance for the total site cost. Transportation costs and individual costs, such as for camp and respite, should not be included in the site or individual portion costs of the DRA. For more information, DRA user guides for county board staff and providers are located on the ODMRDD website, http://odmrdd.state.oh.us/. Text Box: Northwest Ohio Waiver Administration Council

Spring 2008

Volume 7, Issue 1

NOWAC NEWS

New Quality  Assurance     Specialist

2

Superintendent            profiles

2

Helpful hints when having a garage sale

3

Why haven’t I received my check yet?

3

What would you do? A case study.

4

Questions about prader-willi syndrome

4

2007 QA        Patterns &trends

5

Nowac staff directory

6

Upcoming dates

6
Text Box: Debra Guilford NOWAC Executive Director Text Box: Over the past couple of months, I have received several questions about the DRA transition process and the ODMRDD DRA application website from county board staff. This article will cover some of the information I have gathered. Rule 5123:2-13-07 went into effect on 12/21/07. It requires transitioning to a Daily Billing Unit (DBU) for congregate settings where IO waiver enrollees share HPC services. Rule is not applicable to foster care settings, individuals who live alone but share services for recreational/leisure activities, and in cases where individuals receive services from a second provider for recreational activities such as bowling, camp, respite, etc… DBU transition timelines: If not previously