I am the parent of a child who receives services through the CCC Plus Waiver, and I strongly oppose the Proposal of #2 to eliminate Services Facilitation as a standalone service and replace Service Facilitators with Support Brokers through the Fiscal/Employer Agent. 

My concern is based on our family's actual experience with this system. We currently us PPL as our Fiscal/Employer Agent, and dealing with PPL is already one of the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of managing my son's waiver services. I can call PPL twice with the exact same question, speak with two different representatives and receive two different answers. Phone calls can take a significant amount of time and resolving even relatively simple issues can become unnecessarily complicated. 

I do NOT want to depend even more heavily on PPL for something as important as Services Facilitation.

Our Service Facilitator, Linda, provides something that cannot simply be replaced by moving her responsibilities into a large fiscal-management organization. She knows my son, Owen. She knows our family, understands his needs, understands his services and knows the history of the case. When she comes into our home, she is not starting from scratch. We have developed a relationship with her and that CONTINUITY MATTERS.

Linda is also incredibly responsive and knowledgeable. She stays on top of what needs to be done, communicates with me and helps me navigate a Medicaid system that is already complicated enough for families. Instead of calling a customer-service line and hoping the person answering understands my question, I have someone who knows our situation and can help us navigate it. 

That is especially important for families caring for people with significant disabilities. We already spend an enormous amount of time coordinating care, managing attendants, completing paperwork, dealing with insurance and Medicaid, attending appointments, communicating with schools and providers and advocating for our children. A good Service Facilitator reduces that burden. The proposed change appears likely to add nother layer of bureaucracy rather than make the system more person-centered.

I am also deeply concerned about the loss of CHOICE and CONTINUITY. Consumer-directed services are supposed to give individuals and families greater control over their care. Taking away our ability to work with an independent Service Facilitator whom we know and trust seems contrary to that principle.

I understand that systems sometimes need to change to administrative or financial reasons. But efficiency on paper should not come at the expense of the people these waiver programs exist to serve. My son is not an account number or a case to be processed. He is a person. Relationships, consistency, trust, and knowledge of the individual matter.

Before eliminating independent Services Facilitation, I urge DMAS to listen to the families who actually use these services. Please preserve the ability of CCC Plus Waiver members and their families to choose and maintain independent Service Facilitators. At a minimum, families should have the option to continue working with their existing Service Facilitator rather than being required to receive this support through PPL or another Fiscal/Employer Agent.

Please do not eliminate a part of the waiver system that is working well for families in order to move even more responsibility into a system that many of us already struggle to navigate.