Home & Community Options, Inc.

Winona, MN support and residential services to individuals with developmental disabilities

  

Achieving Independence

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Eric GrassrootsWhen Eric first began receiving services from Home and Community Options, he moved in to a 24 hour residential home with roommates. He flourished with the support he received, and decided that his long term goal was to be able to move out and live on his own some day. Eric worked hard to build skills of independence, and was later able to transition to a semi-independent living program that utilizes remote monitoring on site.

HCO’s remote monitoring programs offer opportunities for increased self-sufficiency and are a great service to transition individuals to more independent living settings. Individuals who live in remote monitored programs do not have staff during overnight hours and utilize call buttons, alarms, and other various devices to receive the assistance they need. After becoming more independent, Eric was able to move into a single apartment and his support needs continue to decrease as he adapts to living on his own.

 

There’s something you should know:

The impact of Eric’s transition to independent living affects more than just him. Eric’s move provided the opportunity for another individual to move in to the remote monitoring site he left, and they now can continue to work towards their own goals of increasing independence. That opened up another opportunity for a third individual to begin receiving support at a different residential program. This domino effect continues to occur as more and more individuals build skills and work towards reaching their long term goals.

2016-17 Bills Watched and outcomes

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Best Life Alliance:
SF 669| HF 873

Description: There are currently 8,700 unfilled caregiver positions in Minnesota. Failure to maintain community-based disability services will lead to more costly scenarios, like hospitalizations or mental health crises. This bill gives 4% wage increases in 2017 and 2018 to help address current workforce issues and build long term solutions for funding health insurance for direct care workers.

2017 Legislative Session Outcome:
The Best Life Alliance proposed a wage increase of 4% in 2017 and 4% in 2018 for Direct Support Professionals. Unfortunately, the proposed legislation was not passed this year, resulting in no immediate increase for DSPs.

 

Disability Waiver Rate System:
SF 727 | HF 814

Description: Unfunded mandates and dramatic changes in reimbursement rates are having a profoundly negative impact on providers. This bill addresses unfunded mandates impacting service providers, reforms unit based service reimbursement, and minimizes drastic rate changes, giving providers more capability to adjust and plan for staffing impacts or level of services.

2017 Legislative Session Outcome:
The final Health and Human Services Omnibus bill contained many of the proposals from the DWRS. Changes include: 

  • Addition of a 7th year of banding (contingent on Federal approval)
  • Tying the sleep staff rate to minimum wage (effective 2019)
  • Tying the RN and Supervisory rate to the BLS (effective 2019)
  • New language on a provider cost audit
  • Moving respite to a market based service

Managing Challenging Medical Needs: Mat and Cristina

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We’d like you to meet Mat and his staff, Cristina. Mat has profound autism. He is non-verbal, and experiences many cycles of high behavior.

Cristina’s 8 hour scheduled shift became a 14 hour shift as a result of an emergency medical situation. While eating dinner, Mat had a Grand Mal Seizure and became ill. As Cristina supported Mat, various staff split duties calling 911, taking other individuals in the home to a safer location, and notifying Mat’s guardian. When the ambulance arrived, Mat became combative, refusing both medical attention and transportation to the hospital. Mat had a second seizure while paramedics were on site, during which time they were able to administer a heavy chemical sedative and anti-seizure medication to ease transporting him to the hospital. Though these meds were helpful, he still had to be placed in 4 point restraints for transport. Paramedics requested that Cristina accompany Mat in the ambulance to keep everyone safe. Upon arrival, Mat became violently ill again. Cristina assisted the nurses to keep him calm through a variety of medical procedures.

Mat’s neurologist determined that his seizures were the result of extended periods without sleep. Insomnia is one of Mat’s various cycles that dramatically spike when he loses long term staff.

Cristina has cared for Mat for the past 3 1/2 years. She recently left her full time position with HCO for a different job that can provide higher pay and better hours. Cristina is just one of 5 long term staff that Mat has lost in the past 6 months.

 

Want to share your story? Contact us!

Family Focus – Kristin Luhmann

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“My husband and I have been married for 19 years. We have utilized the services of Home & Community Options for 3 of our children over the past 11 years. Respite provides a moment for parents to catch their breath. Raising Special Needs children is like being in a war zone. At one point, I was prepared to divorce my husband because I didn’t want him to have to endure this life. Above caring for our kids, HCO provides suggestions, resources, emotional support, and encouragement to the families. I fear we would no longer be together if we didn’t have the ongoing support for our children.

The consistency of staff is crucial to the success of my children. The adjustment period where trust and boundaries are established lasts between 4-8 weeks when a new staff begins. During this time, no new skills are being learned and there is often regression. I feel that this position used to be sought after, but it is now viewed as a low paying job that can be extremely difficult and has a lot of expectations. Currently, 2 of my children are not able to receive coverage that Winona County determined was appropriate. There aren’t enough applicants to meet the demand of those needing support.”

– Kristin Luhmann
on the impact of staff turnover and need of consistent support

 

Want to share your story? Contact us!

Our Program is a Family

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Get to know what’s important to us:

When asked about the role HCO staff play in their lives, the guys at this program were quick to list just a few of the various things staff help them with:

•  handling challenging medical needs
•  menu planning and groceries
•  shopping for supplies they need
•  transportation to events in the community
•  assisting with appointments

One gentleman from this program, Troy, was especially eager to share about all the ways that staff help him increase his independence and employment opportunities.

 

Get to know what’s important to our staff:

•  Bethany has been supporting these gentleman for the past 2 years. Her and her dog, Dobby, have become like family. While working full time to provide the best opportunities possible for them, she also attends school part time and is dealing with the challenge of paying back her student loans.

•  Jonathan has spent the past 5 years working with these great guys. He and his wife have been looking to buy a home for the last 2 years. They are still unable to afford it, despite having two incomes. They revisit this goal every 6 months, in the hopes of one day owning a home.

 

Want to share your story? Contact us!

Terri Gjerdrum awarded Arc SE’s Self Advocacy Award

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HCO is proud to announce that Arc of SE Minnesota recently acknowledged Terrianna Gjerdrum with their Self Advocacy Award. Here’s a few things that Arc had to say about Terri during their recent ceremony:

Terrianna lives in Winona and is an active member of Winona’s People First Self-Advocacy group. She continues to develop her leadership skills by taking on more responsibilities within that group, including: leading the meetings, bringing issues to the table, and planning for events and activities. She is actively involved in creating flyers announcing various activities the group plans, like the annual picnic, bowling events, and the holiday party where the group collects donations for the local food shelf.

She attended the recent state conference of The Arc Minnesota and is a strong voice for the upcoming Minnesota State Self-Advocacy Conference. She is also an active member of the Home and Community Options (HCO) Grassroots Advocacy group, attending monthly meetings and plays a key role in projects that the team plans. She actively participates in Disability Day at the Capitol, and has visited the Capitol numerous other times – each time sharing her story with area legislators. 

Terrianna serves as a board member for Home and Community Options, and also serves on both HCO’s Personnel and Quality Assurance Committees. She is well respected and has developed strong relationships with other board members. She takes her responsibilities very seriously: she arrives early, is prepared, always professionally dressed, and regularly engages in meeting discussions. She is also actively involved in HCO’s annual musical production, which takes place at St. Mary’s University and raises money for HCO.

Terrianna has developed strong self-advocacy skills and she encourages her peers to become active the the movement as well.

Congratulations to Terrianna for this wonderful award!

Consumer Focus: Interviewing Britt

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“Please help me keep my staff. I like my staff!” – Britt

 

How long have you lived in your home with HCO? What do you like about it?

“I moved in 2007. I like playing board games with my housemates.  I like my staff.  I like shopping, swimming, exercising, cooking dinner, reading books, playing math games on my IPad, going to baseball games and doing laundry with my staff.”

 

You assist with interviewing new staff by giving them tours of your home and asking them questions.  After they’re hired, you assist with their training by telling them about yourself and your home.  What is your favorite part about interviewing new staff?

“It’s hard to know new staff.  I ask them if they like to cook, and look at magazines for recipes and exercise.”

 

You are known for saying, “My choice” about a variety of things.  What types of things do you make independent decisions about?

“Menus, recipes, looking at cookbooks, things I like to do, listening to CDs, watching TV, Vikings decorations in my bedroom, and books from the library.”

 

A longtime member of HCO’s Grassroots Advocacy Task Force, Britt is very passionate about
keeping high quality staff to help support her and her roommates

 

Did you know?

  • Providing fair wages and benefits to caregivers means reducing turnover, and also means keeping staff who can offer consistent quality care to the people they support.
  • Minnesota is dedicated to reforms that promote choice, independence, and individualized options for people with disabilities. Acheiving these goals require an experienced and skilled caregiver/DSP workforce.

Want to share your story? Contact us!

Staff Focus: Marcus

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“I was born with Leukemia, but was blessed with remission in my teen years. I know how it feels to have limitations and to have someone care for you day in and day out. I can understand what the individuals we care for go through everyday. Because of this, I care for them like I would care for my family – with love, respect, and understanding. I currently work 2 jobs: I work 40 hours a week at my full time job as a Program Assistant, and I used to work close to 40 hours a week at my part time job as a job coach – both in disability services. It’s hard living on what we get for wages, and it’s hard to pay the bills. Due to health issues I had to cut my hours at my part time job, greatly reducing my rate of pay. I was offered two opportunities for different employment just 2 years ago, but I chose not to take them – my heart lies here with the individuals I care for at HCO. Being the only source of income in the home is hard – it’s extremely difficult, but I do it. I do it with a smile, because I know where my heart lies.”

– Marcus Tyler
on the importance of improving a rate increase for HCBS employee wages

 

Why support a rate increase?

  • Between 2006 and 2015, provider rates that pay for caregiver wages increased only 10.5% while inflation rose 21%.
  • An increase will impact 99,000 caregivers and Direct Support Professionals.
  • With Minnesota at less than 3% unemployment, providers are continuing to have difficulty staffing current services. There are currently an additional 8,000 direct care openings in Home & Community Based Services.

Want to share your story? Contact us!

Contact

Home & Community Options
66 East Third Street
Winona, MN 55987
(507) 452-1021 Phone
(507) 452-1504 Fax

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