The New Jersey Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) serves individuals 21 years of age and older. Please read the important information below sent out by DDD on April 10, 2017. 

The email addresses three items:
Posted by DDD on 4.10.17

Hello Division Constituents and Community Partners,
 
Following the recent announcement of the approval of the Community Care Waiver renewal by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Division is preparing to move forward with system-wide implementation of the fee-for-service system. Please review and  share this important information below.
 
Thank you,
  
Elizabeth M. Shea
Assistant Commissioner
New Jersey Department of Human Services
Division of Developmental Disabilities
 
 
FINAL CALL for Completion of Mandatory NJ CAT
 
As you know, the Division is in the process of transitioning to a fee-for-service system. To access services in that new system, every individual who currently receives or is eligible to receive Division-funded services must have a completed NJ CAT (NJ Comprehensive Assessment Tool).
 
Beginning in 2015, the Division undertook a massive outreach effort to ensure that all individuals receiving or eligible to receive services were notified about the need to complete the new NJ CAT. This included five mailings from January 2015 through August 2016; targeted one-to-one outreach from case managers and support coordinators; and numerous announcements distributed by the Division.
 
While the NJ CAT has now been completed for the majority of individuals, there remains a small number of individuals who still do not have a completed NJ CAT.
 
REMEMBER: the results of the NJ CAT establish an individual's tier; each tier has a corresponding budget; and the budget is used to fund needed services. So, without a completed NJ CAT, an individual will not have a tier or budget - and therefore will not be able to access services in the new fee-for-service system. This is why it is imperative, now that we are moving closer to full implementation of the fee-for-service system, that the NJ CAT be completed for everyone served by the Division.
 
The Division will soon be mailing a  final NJ CAT notification letter to individuals who have not completed the NJ CAT.
 
Please distribute this communication  to and among your networks; post the NJ CAT deadline on your websites and social media accounts; and check that any individual you serve or care for has completed the NJ CAT.  It is imperative that people act now so that services are not discontinued.
 
Any individual whose Division-funded services are discontinued can come back through DDD Intake at any point to  re-establish DDD and Medicaid eligibility ,  and  complete the NJ CAT to access needed services.

 
 
 
The Division has developed a Projected Timeline for the Shift to Fee-for-Service. Please note that, other than ensuring the NJ CAT has been completed, there is nothing that individuals/families need to do at this time. The Division will contact individuals as they are identified to enroll into fee-for-service. The projected timeline includes suggestions that can help individuals/families become familiar with the transition process and prepare for eventual fee-for-service enrollment.
 
Providers of residential and in-home individual support services that have not yet added the "Individual Supports" service to their Combined Application to Become a Medicaid/DDD Approved Provider should do so within the next few weeks. The application can be accessed via the  Provider Portal . In addition to the completed Combined Application, providers offering Individual Supports (residentially and/or in-home) must submit the Attestation for Provider of Individual Supports Service document available on the same webpage as the application.

 
Release of Community Care Waiver (CCW) Policy Manual
 
The Division is pleased to release the draft Community Care Waiver (CCW) Policies and Procedures Manual. Please note that while it is being released in draft form to give stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback, the CCW policies and procedures will be in effect immediately for the small pilot cohort of CCW participants shifting into fee-for-service this spring. Comments and feedback regarding the CCW policy manual can be directed to  [email protected] .
 
The updated Supports Program Policies and Procedures Manual is expected to be released later this week.