Sec. 10.22.12.12. Admission to and Discharge from DDA Community-Funded Services

A. Exception. This regulation does not apply to family services or low intensity support services.

B. General Requirements for Assigning Vacancies or Providing Support Services.

(1) Only those individuals seeking DDA-funded services and who have been deemed eligible by the DDA in accordance with Regulations .05-.10 of this chapter may be served by community service providers in DDA-funded vacancies or with DDA-funded support services.

(2) Each provider shall report all DDA-funded vacancies to the appropriate regional office in accordance with a DDA-approved procedure, as soon as the potential vacancy is known to the provider.

(3) The DDA shall authorize all admissions to or discharges from DDA-funded services in advance of these actions by providers.

(4) In addition to a final determination of eligibility before authorizing the admission of an individual to a funded vacancy, the DDA shall also determine that the:

(a) Individual is in need of the type of service to be provided;

(b) Service is appropriate and is to be provided with the least restriction on the liberty of the individual; and

(c) Individual wishes to be served by the particular provider or, at a minimum, agrees to accept the service from that provider.

(5) If the individual does not qualify under Category I, the regional director shall determine that there is no one in that category who would be more appropriate for the vacancy or service.

(6) If an appropriate vacancy exists, but the provider refuses to serve an individual whom the DDA has identified as qualified to receive services, the regional office may not authorize the provider to fill the vacancy. The funding for the vacancy may be transferred to another provider that offers an appropriate service and is willing to serve the individual.

C. Specific Criteria for Assigning Community Program Vacancies or Providing Support Services.

(1) The DDA shall develop a Statewide list of eligible individuals to fill a vacancy in a community program. The list should be organized according to priority ranking and according to the criteria for those categories. From this list:

(a) The first eligible individual in the county where that vacancy exists who is appropriate for the service may be served;

(b) Any other eligible individual whose name appears on the list before that of the individual described in §C(1)(a) of this regulation, may be served if appropriate for the service; and

(c) The regional director shall define appropriateness for the service and shall consider the compatibility of residents for multi-person residences.

(2) Individuals eligible under Category I, Crisis Resolution, as specified in Regulation .07B, may be served on a priority basis in an appropriate community program vacancy created by the movement of any client except a:

(a) Client receiving services under the auspices of the Title XIX 1915(c) waiver;

(b) Knott class member;

(c) Grabau class member; or

(d) Former SRC client who has been returned to the SRC.

(3) Vacancies created by the movement of a waiver-eligible individual shall be filled by another client who is eligible for services under the waiver criteria as specified in COMAR 10.09.26.

(4) Vacancies created by the movement of a Knott class member shall be filled in the following manner:

(a) By another member of the Knott class;

(b) If there is no Knott class member in need of that vacancy at the time that the vacancy occurs, the vacancy is to be filled by:

(i) A member of the Grabau class,

(ii) An individual eligible under Category I, Crisis Resolution, or

(iii) An individual eligible under Category II, Crisis Prevention.

(c) If the vacancy is filled by anyone other than a Knott class member, the Director may use funds provided for community expansion to create an equivalent placement for a Knott class member.

(5) Vacancies created by the movement of a nonwaiver Grabau class member shall be filled in the following manner:

(a) By another member of the Grabau class;

(b) If there is no Grabau class member in need of that vacancy at the time that the vacancy occurs, the vacancy is to be filled by:

(i) A member of the Knott class,

(ii) An individual eligible under Category I, Crisis Resolution, or

(iii) An individual eligible under Category II, Crisis Prevention;

(c) If the vacancy is filled by anyone other than a Grabau class member, the Director may use funds provided for community expansion to create an equivalent placement for a Grabau class member.

(6) Vacancies created by the movement of an institutional client out of a community day program shall be filled in the following manner:

(a) By another institutional client;

(b) If there is no appropriate institutional client at the time the vacancy occurs, the vacancy may be filled by an individual under Category I, II, or III in that order;

(c) The regional director shall define "appropriate client", taking into consideration the behavior of the client and the day program available; and

(d) If the vacancy is filled by anyone other than an institutional client, the Director may use funds provided for community expansion to create an equivalent placement for an institutional client.

(7) When filling vacancies for a multi-person community residence, such as an ALU or an IFC home, all available vacancies shall be filled through the procedures set forth in §B(1) of this regulation.

(8) Vacancies for community expansion shall be filled in the order in which the individual's name appears on the Statewide eligibility list. When selecting individuals for multi-person community residential programs, the second and all subsequent individuals shall be selected as set forth in §C(1) of this regulation.

D. Transfers to and from Community Program Vacancies.

(1) Individuals currently enrolled in one provider's program may request a transfer to another provider by submitting a request in writing to the service coordinator or to the regional office.

(2) The service coordinator shall review the request and make a recommendation to the regional director.

(3) The regional director may authorize the request if an appropriate vacancy exists.

(4) If an appropriate vacancy does not exist, the individual shall be placed on the region's waiting list for transfers based on the date of approval of the transfer. The individual on the transfer list shall have priority over those individuals in the Current Request priority category, but may not have priority over those individuals in the Crisis Resolution or Crisis Prevention priority categories.

(5) Individuals requesting transfers outside the region shall have their requests forwarded to the appropriate regional office.

(6) The individual has the right to an informal hearing to appeal the decision in accordance with COMAR 10.22.16.