MONROE, La. (PRWEB)
December 15, 2022

Northeast Delta Human Services Authority (NEDHSA) announces the opening of its state-of-the-art Department of Developmental Disabilities Office, a facility with staff members dedicated to serving the region as the single point of entry into the developmental disabilities system for Louisiana. The department is responsible for programmatic oversight of the numerous programs offered through the Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD) and the implementation and support of local initiatives developed by NEDHSA. The new Department of Developmental Disabilities Office is located at 2324 Armand Connector in Monroe.

NEDHSA Executive Director Dr. Monteic A. Sizer said the agency is committed to creating and providing the resources and innovations to help persons with developmental disabilities thrive and live their full human potential. He said this facility increases “our capacity and infrastructure to support their needs.”

“I promised staff and the hundreds of clients and families who depend on our care that we would improve overall client outcomes regionally,” Dr. Sizer said. “Our new facility will further expand Medicare and Medicaid behavioral and primary healthcare services and continue to reduce negative social determinants of health.”

Through a partnership with OCDD, NEDHSA offers the Individual and Family Support Program, which may provide funding assistance to purchase goods and services to qualified recipients such as: respite care, personal care assistance, specialized clothing, dental and medical services, equipment and supplies, communication services, crisis intervention, specialized utility costs, specialized nutrition, travel costs associated with extensive distance for medical care\treatment, and family education. These services are provided when there are no other resources available to provide them with the intent of allowing people with developmental disabilities to live in their own homes.

The Flexible Family Fund Program is also a part of this funding, providing a monthly stipend to families of eligible children with severe and profound developmental disabilities from birth to age 18 to help their families meet extraordinary costs.    

NEDHSA also offers access to Medicaid home and community-based Medicaid waiver programs that allow clients greater flexibility to choose where they want to live and use services and supports that best suit their needs. Services are provided in the home or the community. Current waiver programs include: New Opportunities Waiver, which supports and provides services to people age three and older based on individual need, allowing recipients to remain in their own communities rather than in an institutional setting; Children’s Choice Waiver offering supplemental support to children through age 21 who currently live at home with their families or with a foster family; Supports Waiver, focused on individualized vocational services to people age 18 and older, and; Residential Options Waiver, which offers people of all ages services designed to support them to move from ICFs/DD and nursing facilities to community-based settings, and to serve as an alternative to institutionalization.

NEDHSA’s Director of Developmental Disabilities, Jennifer Purvis, said we are “thrilled to have all of our Developmental Disability staff in one location where we can work together more efficiently across various programs that support individuals and families throughout our entire region.”

“The space we now have provides easier access to the community both inside and out,” Purvis said. “We can accommodate all our staff and other groups within our service system and the community for on-site meetings, training, and more.”

Purvis said the location is easy to find also because it is close to city bus routes and on a high-traffic, centralized street giving maximum exposure to the office.

“We are thankful and proud of our new space for many reasons, but most importantly, we are hopeful that people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and their families see us and inquire further so that we may assist them in any way possible,” Purvis said.

Now that the department is centralized, offering services will be more efficient. Additional services offered within the DD Department include: eligibility determinations, certification on behalf of Medicaid into community homes, determination decisions for nursing home admissions, level of care determinations for the ACT 421 (TEFRA) Medicaid program, court activities, and public support coordination for accessing resources and referrals with service planning that is person-centered.

Dr. Sizer said the agency is committed to continuous improvement and increasing overall population health in the region “through integrating once fragmented prevention and wellness, developmental disability, and behavioral and primary health care services.”

“We will meet people where they are,” Dr. Sizer said. “We will be innovative and continue to use multiple population health strategies to help improve behavioral and primary health outcomes in Louisiana’s Delta.”

To apply for services at NEDHSA’s Department of Developmental Disabilities, call 318-362-3396.

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