Rule 37.34.602 - FAMILY SERVICES: GENERAL DEFINITIONSThese definitions apply to all family services.
(1) "Children's community home" means a licensed, home-like living arrangement in which 2 to 6 children with developmental disabilities who are between 5 and 22 years of age and have intensive needs, reside under the general care and supervision of community home staff.(2) "Children's community home services" means residential services for children with developmental disabilities who have intensive needs and who are unable to reside with their families or with a foster family. Children's community home services provide children with physical care, guidance, resource and service coordination, and direct instruction based on developmental models and principles of normalization. Children's community home services include: (a) providing a community-based residential alternative to natural and foster homes;(b) helping children with disabilities reach their maximum developmental potential;(c) coordinating the provision of individualized services for children such as special education, day services, recreation, and other community-based services; and(d) assisting children with disabilities to increase their level of personal independence, move on to less restrictive settings, and lessen their reliance on the service system.(3) "Children's summer day services" mean day services occurring during the summer that provide both formal and informal functional education and training and leisure and recreational activities designed to promote development, independence, and acquisition of individual skills. Training is provided in such areas as self-help, social, language, pre-academic, academic, motor and prevocational.(4) "Core services" means those services available to all children and families based on needs identified in the individual family service plan (IFSP). Core services include evaluation and assessment, individualized family service plan, support coordination, information and referral, and procedural safeguards.(5) "Evaluation and assessment" means a process for determining a child's initial and continuing eligibility for services. The evaluation process is a responsive and individualized set of procedures for completing the eligibility determination process in a fair and timely fashion.(6) "Family" means natural parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, grandparents, guardians, stepparents or others with whom a child lives, and persons who are legally responsible for the child's welfare.(7) "Family education and support services" means types of services that provide resources, supports and assistance designed to assist a child and to enhance the capacity of a family to promote the development of a child. The family, in partnership with program staff, establishes priorities and assists in the development, implementation and evaluation of the IFSP. Family education and support services include: (a) helping children with disabilities reach their maximum potential;(b) keeping children with their families in their home communities;(c) assisting families in maximizing their skills and abilities to utilize generic and specialized resources; and(d) helping families avoid unnecessary reliance on the service delivery system.(8) "Family services" means family education and support services, children's community home services, and children's summer day services.(9) "Family support specialist" means a person employed by a family services contractor to deliver support coordination services.(10) "Individual educational program" (IEP) means, as defined at ARM 10.16.1207, a plan of outcomes and objectives which address a child's educational strengths and deficits.(11) "Individualized family service plan" (IFSP) means a written plan for organizing and directing the delivery of family education and support services to a child and the child's family. The plan includes information regarding a family's concerns and priorities for resources, supports and assistance. The plan helps each family establish and achieve its goals. The plan is part of a dynamic planning process undertaken by an interdisciplinary team. The family is the primary member of the team and is the final decision maker.(12) "Information and referral" means assistance by contractor staff in informing families not currently served of program criteria, evaluations, and providing direction to the most appropriate available resources which may meet their needs. Information and referral includes investigating the availability and appropriateness of various resources, explaining the options available to the family, and contacting the agencies on behalf of the family. Information and referral also includes the provision of information requested by families previously served.(13) "Parent" means a natural parent, guardian, or a person acting as the parent of a child, or a surrogate parent who has been appointed in accordance with federal statute. The term includes grandparents, stepparents, or others with whom a child lives, and persons who are legally responsible for the child's welfare. The term does not include the state.(14) "Procedural safeguards" mean measures to provide a child and family with appropriate involvement in the planning, development, and provision of services and to provide due process concerning decisions that they believe adversely affect the provision of services.(15) "Resource and support wrap-around services" means items or services obtained or provided for the purpose of accomplishing IFSP objectives. These services may include assistive technology, audiology, support coordination, family education, counseling, home visits, health, nursing, nutrition, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, social work, special instruction, speech-language pathology, transportation, and vision services. The component services of resource and support wrap-around services for purposes of state-funded family education and support services and for federally funded Part H family education and support services are defined in ARM 37.34.604. The component services of resource and support wrap-around services for purposes of federally funded intensive family education and support services are defined at ARM 37.34.901, et seq.(16) "Support coordination" means assistance and services provided by a family support specialist or an intensive support coordinator to assist and enable a child and the child's family to receive the rights, procedural safeguards, and services that are provided through the family education and support services programs. Support coordination includes: (a) assisting a family to access or modify existing community resources, both formal and informal;(b) assisting a family to gain access to, facilitating the timely delivery of, and coordinating and monitoring the resources and services identified in the IFSP;(c) coordinating all activities associated with the development, implementation, and evaluation of an IFSP;(d) maintaining a record of support coordination activities in each child's record;(e) coordinating the performance of evaluations, assessments and family information gathering activities;(f) coordinating and monitoring the delivery of available resources;(g) informing the family of legal rights related to special services;(h) informing families of the availability of advocacy services;(i) coordinating with medical and health providers when requested by the family;(j) facilitating the development of a transition plan to other services; and(k) completing referral information when the child is ready to move to a new service.Mont. Admin. r. 37.34.602
NEW, 1995 MAR p. 1136, Eff. 6/30/95; TRANS, from SRS, 1998 MAR p. 3124.Sec. 53-20-204, MCA; IMP, Sec. 53-20-205, MCA;