(a) An emergency case involves an eligible person who calls for immediate action or an urgent need for waiver services, including placement in the least restrictive and most appropriate environment necessary to maintain the person's vital functions because of one of the following criteria: - (i) An immediate threat, or a high probability of immediate danger to the life, health, property, or environment of the eligible person or another individual because of the eligible person's medical, mental health, or behavioral condition.
- (ii) A loss of the person's primary caregiver due to death, incapacitation, critical medical condition, or inability to provide continuous care. A caregiver is defined as any person, agency, or other entity responsible for the care, both physical and supervisory, of a person because of:
- (A) A family relationship;
- (B) Voluntary assumption of responsibility for care;
- (C) Court ordered responsibility or placement;
- (D) Rendering services in a residential program;
- (E) Rendering services in an institution or in a community-based program; or
- (F) Acceptance of a legal obligation or responsibility of care to the person.
- (iii) Homelessness, which means a situation where, for a period of thirty (30) days, a person lacks access to an adequate residence with appropriate resources to meet his or her support and supervision needs, and without such support, there is evidence of serious harm to the person's life or health.
- (iv) A case involving a person removed from the home due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, exploitation, or self-neglect substantiated by the Department of Family Services (DFS), Protection & Advocacy System, Inc., or law enforcement.
- (v) A residential service request for a waiver participant or a person on the wait list not receiving 24-hour residential services, whose health or safety is at significant risk due to extraordinary needs that cannot be met in the current living arrangement because of one of following criteria:
- (A) A substantial threat to a person's life or health that is either corroborated by the Department of Family Services, Protection & Advocacy System, Inc., or law enforcement;
- (B) A situation where the person's health condition or significant and frequently occurring behavioral challenges poses a substantial threat to the person's own life or health, or to others in the home;
- (C) A situation where the person's critical medical condition requires ongoing twenty-four (24) hour support and supervision to maintain the person's health and safety that cannot be met in the current living situation; or
- (D) The loss of the eligible person's primary caregiver due to death, incapacitation, critical medical condition, or inability to provide continuous care.
(b) Any person who requests that the Division consider an emergency case shall be directed to work with the person's chosen case manager, the Division, and other community resources to review options for emergency services. The case manager shall submit the request for emergency services on behalf of the person.
(c) Emergency cases shall be referred to the ECC pursuant to Section 13 of this chapter.
(d) An individual who has not been deemed eligible for waiver services may complete the eligibility process and request emergency services. No emergency services may be provided to ineligible persons.
(e) Emergency placement in waiver services shall not be made as an alternative to incarceration or jail.
048-46 Wyo. Code R. § 46-12