Sec. 10.09.26.06. Covered Services for Day Habilitation

A. Day habilitation services shall be provided that are required and recommended in the waiver participant's IHP by licensed day habilitation programs and shall include the services listed in Regulation .05 of this chapter and in §B-D of this regulation.

B. Transportation.

(1) Transportation services shall be arranged for participants by the day habilitation services center staff. The center shall maximize the use of the following types of transportation services in an effort to achieve the least costly, yet appropriate, means of transportation for its participants:

(a) Persons who live within walking distance of the day habilitation services center, and who are sufficiently mobile, shall be encouraged to walk;

(b) Transportation supplied by family, friends, neighbors, or volunteers;

(c) Free community transportation services.

(2) After every effort made by the center to procure the types of transportation mentioned above has failed, the Department shall reimburse the day habilitation services provider for the waiver participant's traveling costs, to and from the center, by car, van, or specially equipped vehicles. It shall be the responsibility of the center to:

(a) Arrange for use of public transportation, when appropriate;

(b) Arrange special low-cost contract agreements with transportation providers to meet the transportation needs of the participants;

(c) Group participants, when possible, not to exceed the seating capacity, in the same van or specially equipped vehicle, to minimize the cost of transportation.

(3) Records shall clearly indicate both a primary transportation plan and an alternate plan. The center shall keep accurate records which include the type of transportation used by each participant.

C. Nutrition.

(1) Arrangements shall be made for participants to eat well balanced, palatable, properly prepared meals of sufficient quality and quantity.

(2) Dietary counseling and education shall be available to all participants.

(3) Nutrition services do not include a full meal regimen.

D. Prevocational Services.

(1) "Prevocational services" means those plans and interventions to assist a waiver participant in acquiring and maintaining basic work and work-related skills. The services are designed to prepare the waiver participant for unpaid or paid employment, but are not job task oriented. Prevocational services have habilitative objectives rather than explicit employment objectives.

(2) Prevocational services include:

(a) Training the waiver participant to follow directions, adapt to work routines, and carry out assigned duties in an effective and efficient manner;

(b) Helping the waiver participant to acquire appropriate attitudes and work habits, including instruction in socially appropriate behaviors on and off the job site;

(c) Assisting the waiver participant to adjust to the productive and social demands of the workplace;

(d) Familiarizing the waiver participant with job production and performance requirements;

(e) Providing transportation between the waiver participant's place of residence and the workplace when other forms of transportation are unavailable or inaccessible;

(f) Providing mobility training, including the use of public transit and para-transit systems; and

(g) Instructing waiver participants in appropriate use of job-related facilities such as break areas, lunch rooms or cafeterias, and restrooms.

(3) Prevocational services are covered by the Program if:

(a) The waiver participant previously resided in a State residential center or nursing facility and has a demonstrated earning capacity of less than 50 percent of the federal minimum wage, as determined in accordance with certification standards promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor;

(b) The services are an essential component of the waiver participant's IHP;

(c) Work productivity is a secondary or tertiary goal of these services, subordinate to the acquisition and retention of work and work-related skills;

(d) The provider's program is certified by the U.S. Department of Labor as a "work activity center", in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, §14(c); and

(e) The waiver participant is engaging in compensable work as a necessary but subordinate part of the receipt of habilitation services.