The Intellectual Disabilities System in Pennsylvania (formerly known as the mental retardation system) can be challenging to navigate. Supports Coordination Organizations, like CMU, can help individuals and families understand and navigate this system. We can help you make informed choices about supports and services that will both meet your needs as well as help make Everyday Lives a reality for you! While the path to that objective is not always an easy one, CMU will do our very best to help you on your journey.

If you already have a Supports Coordinator…Congratulations! – You have already completed the first step!

If you do not have a Supports Coordinator…you may not be registered and/or determined eligible. Please Click Here to learn more about how to request an intake at CMU. The intake process will determine your eligibility for services. If you are not a resident of Dauphin County, we will direct you to the county of your residence when you call. Locate the MH/MR Program in your county Here.

Not sure? Call (717.441-7340) or e-mail our Intake Department. We will help you get started.

When determined eligible, individuals have the opportunity to choose their Supports Coordinator as well as their Supports Coordination Organization.

Your Supports Coordinator is an important partner who will help you to navigate the system.

Your Supports Coordinator is responsible for the key functions of locating, coordinating and monitoring supports and services through the Intellectual Disabilities System.

CMU is a qualified Supports Coordination Organization for both the Office of Developmental Programs/Bureau of Services to Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and to the Dauphin County Mental Health / Mental Retardation (MH/MR) Program. CMU is a non-profit, conflict-free agency. We are a willing provider of Supports Coordination services for individuals who are residents of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania and who are determined Eligible For Intellectual Disabilities Services.

CMU is open for business Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. To best serve individuals on their caseload, Supports Coordinators spend much of their time out of the office and with people. CMU provides a "Back-up" Supports Coordinator. This person is on duty every day to help with immediate needs. Learn more about our "Back-Up" system Here.

Dauphin County Crisis Intervention is available for emergency situations that may occur when CMU is closed. A CMU representative may be contacted through Crisis Intervention on a 24/7 basis for emergency needs.

Learn more about Supports Coordination Here.

You may click Here for CMU’s Staff Directory. This directory includes the direct telephone number and e-mail address for each of our Supports Coordinators and Supports Coordination Supervisors.

Now that you have a Supports Coordinator, it’s time to gather your Circle of Support and begin the planning process.

Your Supports Coordinator will assist you with this process. They can facilitate your planning meetings, help you to do that yourself or team up with you to facilitate your meetings together! The Supports Coordinator will use a planning document called the Individual Support Plan (ISP). The ISP is designed to incorporate person centered planning into a statewide, standardized planning format.

You can use your Individual Support Plan (ISP) to let everyone supporting you understand what is important to you and what supports and services you need. The plan documents the services that you are receiving and the services that you need but not receiving yet because funding may not be available.

Please see the following links for resources about the Individual Support Plan process;

Click Here for a guide for individuals and families titled, Family Guide to the Individual Support Plan in Pennsylvania. An Individual Support Plan (ISP) form is available that you can review to prepare for your planning meetings. Your Supports Coordinator will provide a copy of your individual Support Plan (ISP) to you when it is completed. (The ISP form is available in English and in Spanish.)

Click Here is information about person-centered planning. It’s a method of planning that focuses on what’s important to you!

The Individual Support Plan (ISP) process helps to identify your needs. Your Supports Coordinator will discuss the types of supports and services that may be available to help with those needs.

Supports and services can come from many sources;

• Family, friends, neighbors and other informal supports.
• Faith communities, community resources, non-profit organizations and other generic supports.
• Formal supports/services provided with funding through the Office of Developmental Programs.

Your Supports Coordinator will help to locate, coordinate and monitor the supports and services that you need.

There are times when your Supports Coordinator cannot arrange formal supports and services immediately due to the lack of available funding through the Office of Developmental Programs. When this happens, your Supports Coordinator will assist you to complete the PUNS (Priority of Urgency of Need for Services)…This document records your unmet service need. It will help your Supports Coordinator and County MH/MR Program understand and plan for your needs. The county and the state use the information to create their upcoming annual budgets and service plans. It also tells the Office of Developmental Programs the types of supports people are waiting for in each county and identifies gaps in services and supports in specific areas. The PUNS can also be used to report needs that are not immediate, but will be needed within five (5) years and will become important to you within that period.

Please see the following links for some resources about PUNS;

Click Here for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about PUNS.

The PUNS Manual is used by Supports Coordination Organizations. It tells us how and why PUNS are used and provides instructions for how the PUNS process is to be completed.

A copy of the PUNS form is available in both English and in Spanish

If you disagree with your PUNS category or PUNS service needs, you may submit a request for review using the PUNS Disagreement Form.

The Supports Intensity Scale©, an instrument developed and copyrighted by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), is used to assess your needs.

The SIS© was developed to:

• Assess support needs of individuals aged sixteen (16) and older;
• Determine the intensity of the need; and
• Over time to monitor individual progress and evaluate outcomes.

The intent of the SIS© is to focus on the level of support needed by a person instead of evaluating deficits in skills. Some areas measured are: home living, community living, lifelong learning, employment, health and safety, social activities, and protection and advocacy. Activities are ranked according to frequency, amount, and type of support within the SIS© Scale. Ultimately, a Supports Intensity Level is established based on the Total Support Needs Index. The Total Support Needs Index is defined as the standard score generated from scores on all the items tested by the Scale. However, the score does not drive the development of the Individual Support Plan (ISP). The ISP is developed by the team. The team uses all available information, including the SIS© and the PA Plus to plan for your needs.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has contracted with an independent organization to complete the SIS© and PA Plus Assessments. That organization is Ascend Management Innovations LLC of Nashville, Tennessee. Your Supports Coordinator will attend your SIS© Assessment meeting if at all possible, but the assessment meeting will be facilitated by a trained SIS© & PA Plus interviewer from Ascend. The SIS© meeting should include the individual, if at all possible, and anyone who knows them well and can help talk about their capabilities as well as areas where they need support. People who attend the SIS© & PA Plus meeting to help provide information are referred to as Respondents. Click Here for helpful information about choosing respondents for your SIS© & PA Plus meeting.

Your Supports Coordinator shares the finalized SIS© report with you, and together, you will use the information from the SIS© and any other assessments to complete your Individual Support Plan (ISP). Your ISP documents a plan to meet all of your assessed needs;

• Many times, these needs may be met by the help you receive through the informal support provided by your family, friends and community.
• Sometimes, assessed needs are met through the use of generic resources in the community. Generic resources are the types of services and supports that may be available to anyone in the community. (An example of a generic resource may be a food bank).
• You may also need formal services and supports through the public Intellectual Disabilities System (Office of Developmental Programs), and those are the services and supports that your Supports Coordinator will help arrange, pending the availability of funding.

There is much more information about the SIS© and PA Plus available to you through The Training Partnership.

Funding is the money provided through the Federal, State and/or County government that is needed to pay for the formal supports and services that you need. Funding is required in order for your Supports Coordinator to arrange Formal Supports And Services for you. Your Supports Coordinator can help arrange Informal Supports and Generic Community Resources for you without waiting for the type of funding described below.

When formal services are funded through the Office of Developmental Programs, one of the following types of funding will be needed;

• Base
• Person/Family Directed Supports (PFDS) Waiver
• Consolidated Waiver

Base funding is State & County money. It is used for services such as Family Driven Support Services & services that support employment outcomes. It is a relatively limited source of funding, so most people who receive base funded services have needs that don’t require a significant amount of funding.

Waiver funding is Federal & State Medicaid money. In Dauphin County, it is used for many individuals who currently use formal supports and services. There are also Level of Care and financial eligibility requirements that must be met by individuals who receive waiver funding.

Many people who have a Supports Coordinator and who need services do not have funding available to them for some time. The Supports Coordinator will help you to identify your needs through your Individual Support Plan (ISP). Your needs will then be documented in the Priority of Urgency of Need for Services (PUNS). This allows CMU, Dauphin County MH/MR Program, and the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) to know that you are waiting and can plan for you when funding becomes available. Your Supports Coordinator will try to help as much as possible, but cannot arrange formal supports and services until funding becomes available.

To learn more about waivers and waiver funding, please Click Here.

Formal supports and services are those that are provided with funding through the Office of Developmental Programs (Base or Waiver funding). These services are planned to meet your needs as identified through your Individual Supports Plan (ISP) and Priority of Urgency of Need for Services (PUNS).

The Office of Developmental Programs issues Approved Service Definitions that are used by our Supports Coordinators for planning purposes. The Approved Service Definitions are also used by the County/Administrative Entity when reviewing plans to approve and authorize the services proposed by the Supports Coordinator and ISP team in the Individual Support Plan.

The Approved Service Definitions are usually issued each fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) by the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP). They define the types of services that can be funded as well as the rules, conditions and sometimes, the limitations of those services. For some services, there may be different rules depending on factors such as the type of funding used, who is providing the service or where the service is provided. Your Supports Coordinator will help you to understand the types of services available to meet your needs as well as all the things you need to know when planning for those services.

Many types of services are available. They include;

• Home and Community Services
• Respite Services
• Employment Services
• Transportation Services
• Residential Services
• ...and many more!

For more details, please check out the following resources;

ODP Bulletin #: 00-11-02: Service Definitions for the Pennsylvania Mental Retardation Program, Effective July 1, 2010. Service Definitions are updated periodically. The current bulletin will always be available at www.dpw.state.pa.us and www.thetrainingpartnership.org.

You may also use the Services and Supports Directory provided by the Office of Developmental Programs to locate information about services and service providers available in Dauphin County and across the state. (You may search for information in several ways at this website: by county, by service or by service provider name).

When funding is available for formal supports and services, your Supports Coordinator will provide information to help you make a choice of willing and qualified providers when referring you for services.

You have choices about how you arrange your services;

• Traditional Providers (These include direct service providers who have staff that provide the service you need.).
• Person Directed Services (These are options for you to self-direct your services by using a state approved Financial Management Service to pay Support Service Workers (SSW’s).
• There are two types of Financial Management Services)
  • Agency With Choice (UCP Central PA for Dauphin County)
  • Vendor Fiscal/Employer (Acumen - statewide)

Your Supports Coordinator will help you to understand your choices. You may also learn more about your choices by clicking on the links below;

To learn more about the different options available to you, please Click Here. The PA Guide to Person Directed Services will help you learn more about self-directing your services through either Agency with Choice Financial Management Services or Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent Financial Management Services.

• To visit the website for Acumen, Click Here.
  • Monthly Progress Note form for employees hired through Acumen
• To visit the website for UCP Central PA, Click Here.
  • Monthly Progress Note form for employees hired through UCP

A description of Supports and Services is available at the Department of Public Welfare (DPW), Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) website: www.dpw.state.pa.us/fordisabilityservices/mrservices/

Here is a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document titled: How Do I Choose a Provider for the Supports I Need?

CMU’s Mission Statement expresses our belief in the right of all individuals to make decisions about their own life or self-determination.

We support your right to self-determination and encourage self-advocacy in your relationship with your Supports Coordinator and with CMU as your Supports Coordination Organization (SCO).

There are opportunities available for you to express yourself and participate in self-advocacy groups locally. A couple that are available to you right here in Dauphin County are:

Speaking for Ourselves (SFO) – Central Pennsylvania Chapter.

SFO is an independent, grassroots advocacy organization run by and for people with developmental disabilities.

SFO’s Mission is to be an independent community organization controlled by people with disabilities who help us:

• Find a voice for ourselves.
• Teach the public about the needs, wishes, and potential of people with disabilities.
• Speak out on important issues.
• Support each other through sharing, leadership development, and helping and encouraging each other.
• The Central PA Chapter of SFO meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 1100 South Cameron Street; Harrisburg, PA 17104. For more information, please call (717) 441-7036.
• To learn more about Speaking for Ourselves, you may visit the statewide organization’s website at: www.speaking.org.

The Aktion Club

Aktion Club is the newest member of the Sponsored Organizations and Programs at Kiwanis International. Aktion Club is a community-service group for adult citizens who live with a disability. The mission of Aktion Club is:

• To provide adults living with disabilities an opportunity to develop initiative and leadership skills.
• To serve their community.
• To be integrated into society.
• To demonstrate the dignity and value of citizens living with disabilities.

Aktion Club members strive to return to their communities the benefits, help, and caring they have received, as well as develop important skills in the process.

A local chapter of the Aktion Club is available through the ARC of Dauphin & Lebanon Counties. For more information, visit www.arcofdc.org or call The Arc at (717) 920-2727.

Please also check out our website’s General Links page for an extensive list of information & resources!

The Training Partnership

Office of Developmental Programs (ODP)

Dauphin County Mental Health/Mental Retardation Program

The Arc of Dauphin and Lebanon Counties

Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Health Law Project

Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL)

PA Department of Education (Office of Child Development and Early Learning)

Education Law Center