Section 46.275. Community integration program for residents of state centers.

 

(1)   Legislative intent. The intent of the program under this section is to relocate persons from the state centers for the developmentally disabled into appropriate community settings with the assistance of home and community-based services and with continuity of care. The intent of the program is also to minimize its impact on state employees through redeployment of employees into vacant positions.

(1m)   Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Medical assistance" means aid provided under subch. IV of ch. 49 , except ss. 49.468 and 49.471 .

(b) “Program" means the community integration program for residents of state centers for the developmentally disabled, for which a waiver has been received under sub. (2) .

(2)   Departmental powers and duties. The department may request a waiver from the secretary of the U.S. department of health and human services, under 42 USC 1396n (c), authorizing the department to integrate medical assistance recipients who reside in state centers for the developmentally disabled into their communities by providing home and community-based services as part of the medical assistance program. If the department requests this waiver, it shall include all assurances required under 42 USC 1396n (c) (2) in its request. If the department receives this waiver, at the end of the 3-year period during which the waiver remains in effect the department may request an additional 3-year extension of the waiver. If the department receives this waiver, it shall:

(a) Annually submit to the secretary of the U.S. department of health and human services information showing the effect of the program on medical assistance costs and on the health and welfare of program participants.

(b) Evaluate the effect of the program on medical assistance costs and on the program's ability to provide community care alternatives to institutional care in state centers for the developmentally disabled.

(c) Fund home or community-based services provided by any county or by the department that meet the requirements of this section.

(d) Unless s. 49.45 (37) applies, review and approve or disapprove each plan of care developed under sub. (3) (c) 2.

(e) Submit to the governor and to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to appropriate legislative standing committees under s. 13.172 (3) , annual progress reports on the program plus any other information requested.

(3)   County participation.

(a) Any county may participate in the program, if it meets the conditions specified in this subsection and the requirements established by the department, including requirements concerning the qualifications and levels of staff for home or community-based service providers.

(b) The board of supervisors of any county that participates in the program shall designate one of the following county departments to administer the program, subject to departmental review and approval:

2. A county department under s. 51.42 to which the powers and duties of a county department under s. 51.437 have been transferred under s. 51.437 (4g) (b) .

3. A county department under s. 46.23 .

4. A county department under s. 51.437 .

(c) Any county participating in the program shall inform the persons eligible for program services under sub. (4) that home and community-based services are available, at their choosing, in place of institutional care. Services provided under this section shall meet the following conditions:

1. The services substitute for care provided at a state center for the developmentally disabled.

2. The services are provided to each recipient under a written plan of care designed for that recipient and, unless s. 49.45 (37) applies, approved by the department.

(d) Any county participating in the program shall provide case management services, including the responsibility for locating, coordinating and monitoring all services and informal supports needed by eligible persons and their families.

(e) Any county participating in the program shall protect the health and welfare of persons receiving program services and shall coordinate the program to the greatest extent practicable with the long-term support community options program under s. 46.27 .

(3g)   Duties of the department. The department shall provide fair and equitable arrangements to protect the interests of all state employees affected by the program, including arrangements designed to preserve employee rights and benefits.

(3r)   Relocation by the department.

(a) The department may, without county participation under sub. (3) or county reimbursement under sub. (5) (a) , relocate a person eligible for program services under sub. (4) from a state center for the developmentally disabled into a community setting in any of the following situations:

1. The person's county of residence when the person entered the state center for the developmentally disabled cannot be determined with reasonable certainty.

2. The person's county of residence when the person entered the state center for the developmentally disabled is not participating, under sub. (3) , in the program.

3. The person will be relocated into the home of the person's parent or guardian and will be receiving state monitoring of the relocation and services provided by a public or private school or a tribal school, as defined in s. 115.001 (15m) .

(b) If the department relocates a person under this subsection, it shall comply with the requirements imposed on counties under sub. (3) (c) to (e) .

(c) Prior to relocating a person under this subsection, the department shall ensure delivery of any necessary education, habilitation, vocational, medical and therapy services through contracting with community-based service providers. If any service is not available, the department may provide it directly.

(4)   Eligibility of recipients.

(a) Any medical assistance recipient living in a state center for the developmentally disabled is eligible to participate in the program. Such a recipient may apply, or any person may apply on behalf of such a recipient, for participation in the program.

(b) The department in conjunction with the county shall review any application for participation in the program as to eligibility and the appropriateness of planned services. The county department administering the program for the county in which the medical assistance recipient resides shall review any application for participation in the program as to eligibility, except applications for relocation under sub. (3r) . No person may participate in the program unless all of the following occur:

1. Consent for participation is given either by the person's parent, guardian or legal custodian, if the person is under age 18, or by the person or the person's guardian, if the person is age 18 or over, except that this subdivision does not limit the authority of the circuit court to enter, change, revise or extend a dispositional order under subch. VI of ch. 48 or subch. VI of ch. 938 or to order a protective placement or protective services under s. 55.12 .

2. The county, or the department under sub. (3r) , agrees to provide services to the person.

3. The department determines that available home or community-based services are appropriate for that person.

(c)

1. Except as provided in subd. 2. , if a resident of a state center for the developmentally disabled is relocated in order to receive home or community-based services under the program, the center may not accept a patient to fill the bed left vacant by the person leaving.

2. If a person who has been relocated from a state center for the developmentally disabled under this program seeks to return to the center within 365 days after relocating because the person or the county department administering the program, or the department under sub. (3r) , finds that the services available are inappropriate, the center shall accept the person as a patient to fill the bed that the person vacated. After this 365-day period, the person may only be readmitted into a bed not left vacant because of relocation under this section.

(f) To the extent provided in 42 USC 1396n , if a person who has been relocated from a state center for the developmentally disabled under this program discontinues participating in the program for any reason other than institutional placement, the department may reallocate on a case-by-case basis the funding within the relocating county to another medical assistance recipient who is developmentally disabled and who, but for this program, would require the level of care provided in a state center for the developmentally disabled.

(4m)   Worker's compensation coverage. An individual who is performing services for a person receiving long-term care benefits under this section on a self-directed basis and who does not otherwise have worker's compensation coverage for those services is considered to be an employee of the entity that is providing financial management services for that person.

(5)   Funding.

(a) Medical Assistance reimbursement for services a county, or the department under sub. (3r) , provides under this program is available from the appropriation accounts under s. 20.435 (4) (b) , (gm) , (o) , and (w) . If 2 or more counties jointly contract to provide services under this program and the department approves the contract, Medical Assistance reimbursement is also available for services provided jointly by these counties.

(b) No county, or the department under sub. (3r) , may use funds received under this section to do any of the following:

1. Purchase land or construct buildings.

2. Reduce federal, state or county matching expenditures for long-term community support services provided to any person as part of this program from funds allocated under s. 46.495 (1) (d) , 46.80 (5) , 46.85 (3m) (b) 1. and 2. or 51.423 , as indicated in the county's budget or by actual expenditures.

3. Provide room and board, except for respite care.

4. Provide services, except respite care that is approved by the department, within a skilled nursing facility, intermediate care facility or intermediate care facility for persons with an intellectual disability, as defined in s. 46.278 (1m) (am) , including a state center for the developmentally disabled.

5. Provide residential services in any community-based residential facility, as defined in s. 50.01 (1g) , or group home, as defined in s. 48.02 (7) that has more than 8 beds.

6. Provide services to a recipient that are not specified in the recipient's written plan of care.

7. Provide services in any community-based residential facility unless the county or department uses as a service contract the approved model contract developed under s. 46.27 (2) (j) or a contract that includes all of the provisions of the approved model contract.

(c) The total allocation under s. 20.435 (4) (b) , (gm) , (o) , and (w) to counties and to the department under sub. (3r) for services provided under this section may not exceed the amount approved by the federal department of health and human services. A county may use funds received under this section only to provide services to persons who meet the requirements under sub. (4) and may not use unexpended funds received under this section to serve other developmentally disabled persons residing in the county.

(d) The department may, from the appropriation under s. 20.435 (4) (o) , provide reimbursement for services provided under this section by counties that are in excess of the current average annual per person rate, as established by the department, and are less than the average amount approved in the waiver received under sub. (2) .

(e) From the appropriation under s. 20.435 (2) (gL) , the department may provide moneys to a county to pay for one-time costs associated with the relocation under this section of an individual from a state center for the developmentally disabled.

(5m)   Report. By March 1 of each year, the department shall submit a report to the joint committee on finance and to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3) , describing the program's impact during the preceding calendar year on state employees, including the department's efforts to redeploy employees into vacant positions and the number of employees laid off.

(6)   Effective period. This section takes effect on the date approved by the secretary of the U.S. department of health and human services as the beginning date of the period of waiver received under sub. (2) . This section remains in effect for 3 years following that date and, if the secretary of the U.S. department of health and human services approves a waiver extension, shall continue an additional 3 years.

1983 a. 27 ; 1985 a. 29 ss. 896b to 896L , 3202 (23) ; 1985 a. 120 , 176 ; 1987 a. 27 ; 1987 a. 161 s. 13m ; 1987 a. 186 ; 1989 a. 31 ; 1993 a. 16 ; 1995 a. 27 , 77 ; 1997 a. 27 , 114 ; 1999 a. 9 ; 2001 a. 16 ; 2003 a. 33 , 318 ; 2005 a. 25 , 264 ; 2007 a. 20 , 153 ; 2009 a. 2 , 302 ; 2011 a. 32 , 126 ; 2015 a. 180 . The circuit court that protectively placed an incompetent person in a center for the developmentally disabled, and not the person's parent or guardian, has the ultimate authority under state and federal law to determine whether the person should remain institutionalized or receive home or community based services. OAG 3-97 .