Options and Advocacy for McHenry County

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Options and Advocacy for McHenry County

• Who We Are and What We Do

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A brief history

• Options Advocacy was incorporated in 1991
• We opened our doors in 1994 providing
  pre-admission screening and case coordination
  services to people with developmental
  disabilities
• We had 2 full-time and 2 part-time staff
• Our initial budget was 125,889

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We grew

• Bogard Service Coordination
• Home Based Support
• WRAP Service Coordination for children with
  severe mental illness
• Waiver Case Coordination, now known as ISSA
  (Individual Services and Support Advocacy)
• Project Success

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July 2000

• The addition of the Child Family Connections
  program expanded our staff and the focus of
  Options and Advocacy to provide services through
  the lifespan
• Child Family Connections is the State of
  Illinois Early Intervention System for infants
  and children under the age of three

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Today

• We have 28 employees
• Our budget is 1,200,000
• We own our building
• We have 4 programs Child Family Connections
  for children under 3yrs with delays, Community
  Access Coordination 3yrs with life long
  developmental disabilities, Epilepsy Support
  Program the Autism Support Program- any age
  with those specific diagnosis.

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The mission of Options and Advocacy is to build
resiliency in the individuals and families that
we serve.
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Child and Family Connections (CFC)

• System point of entry to the state early
  intervention system
• For children experiencing a delay in their
  development or who have a diagnosis known to lead
  to developmental delays
• Families can access up to 16 different services
• Services are delivered in natural environments
• Last year we served 1,400 children in this program

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CFC Goals

• Families learn to integrate activities that
  promote typical development
• Families learn how to effectively participate in
  the development of service plans
• Early intervention services diminish the need for
  school based interventions

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Community Access Coordination (CAC)

• Educational Advocacy
• Provided to those families who need help in
  accessing services within the school system
• Promotes positive relationships between families
  and school districts
• Models effective communication

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Bogard Service Coordination

• Serves members of the Bogard class action lawsuit
  which provides services for individuals who live
  in a variety of settings
• Currently our 3 remaining individuals all live in
  nursing homes

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Pre-Admission Screening

• Determines potential eligibility for state funded
  services
• Provides screening for individuals hospitalized
  or placed in nursing homes for short term
  rehabilitation
• Individuals found eligible are given a variety of
  service options

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Individual Services and Support Advocacy (ISSA)

• Monitors health, safety and services for people
  in residential and community settings
• Participates in the development of individual
  service plans
• Annually completes state database information or
  PUNS (Priority of Urgency of Need for Services)
• Currently 260 people are in this program

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Current Challenges

• Access to state funds for all supports, community
  and residential, is limited to crisis situations
• Young adults transitioning from special education
  to no services
• No increase in funding to address rising cost of
  doing business

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At Options Advocacy

• Every individual service plan developed for our
  clients is person centered
• This plan promotes self advocacy, self direction,
  community inclusion and choice
• We believe that every individual has the right to
  live, work and play in the community of his or
  her choice

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Community Connections

• McHenry County Behavioral Healthcare Network
• McHenry County Local Interagency Council
• Child Adolescent Local Area Network
• Human Service Network
• Illinois ARC
• McHenry County Transition Committee
• Illinois Association of Independent Service
  Coordination Agencies

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Extra! Extra!

• Parent Conference
• Play groups in collaboration with NISRA
• Monthly Developmental Screenings
• Monthly Hearing Screenings
• Vision Screenings
• Holiday Party for CFC Families
• Community training opportunities for
  professionals
• Holiday gifts for our families experiencing
  financial challenges
• Sibshops
• Support Groups

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Our Challenges

• Illinois ranked 51st in how it supports persons
  with disabilities
• Fee for service environment
• Recruiting and retaining quality staff
• Increased demand for services
• Diminishing resources
• Competition for public fundraising dollars

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Strengths

• Knowledgeable and dedicated staff
• Supportive Board of Directors
• Collaborative Community Relationships