This guidance was updated on June 29, 2020.

As the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) responds to coronavirus (COVID-19), supports for Ohioans with developmental disabilities and their families are evolving to meet identified needs in new ways. Providers of Adult Day Support, in collaboration with county boards of developmental disabilities, can now deliver these supports in a variety of innovative ways.

Service Description and Expected Outcome

Adult Day Support includes services and supports that enhance skills, community membership, and independence, as well as personal choice, all in order to attain or maintain maximum potential and community engagement. The expected outcome is development of skills that lead to greater independence, community membership, relationship-building, self-direction, and self-advocacy. 

In response to COVID-19, this service will look different, including supporting people in new ways within their home, with an emphasis on health, safety, wellness, and leaving home only for essential reasons. The remote service delivery option for ADS is only available to people who are not in receipt of any other authorized residential support services during the daytime hours when the person is typically at a non-residential service setting site. 

What Adult Day Support Can Look Like during State of Emergency

• In-person at a person's residence
  • ADS providers can deliver supports in-home. 
  • Examples of this kind of delivery of service can include
    • supporting the exploration of new interests via conversation, technology, and instruction,
    • assisting the person to connect with family and friends via telephone or technology,
    • training in self-determination, including assisting the person to develop self-advocacy skills,
    • and developing an in-home curriculum to support learning around cooking, art-making, and other interests, as well as going outside for walks in the neighborhood or other areas, with social-distancing and other practices always in mind.
• In groups of 10 and under (including support staff) in confined spaces
  • ADS providers can continue using their facilities to provide supports, tailoring services to smaller numbers, and using the time to investigate new interests via technology, training in self-determination and self-advocacy, and developing new ways to connect virtually with the community, friends, and family (keeping social distancing guidelines and practices in mind). 
• On behalf of
  • ADS providers can support people and families through telephone calls to discuss and implement supports, developing activity kits around skill-building, discovering new interests, and delivering them to homes. That can include all the materials and other items needed to implement. 
• Connecting via technology
  • ADS providers can use a variety of social-media platforms to connect with people they serve, matching their programming with the platform that makes the most sense to their needs. Virtual ADS can be delivered in a variety of ways, including using an already established in-house curriculum, developing new programming specific to virtual tours (like museums and zoos), or establishing new ways to discover opportunities around interests. Virtual ADS, like all other variations, can support people through their fears and help them stay connected to comforting routines.
• Review
  • Guidance: Day Support Service Options for additional information.

Authorization

These services may be authorized via phone call or email before updating individual service plans (ISPs). Formal ISP revisions can be completed as time permits to reflect the needed changes retroactively. The ADS provider cannot start offering On Behalf Of or Virtual ADS without authorization from the county board to deliver services in this new way.

Documentation

ADS providers should continue documenting supports in the way they currently have been but will need to alter some of the services and documentation based on what is needed and available during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Documentation should also include how the services were provided: in-person, on behalf of, or via technology. When ADS services are delivered via technology, documentation requirements include verification of the length of time participant was logged into the activity, as well as content of the activity.

Billing

Services authorized through electronic means (by telephone, email, etc.) will be reimbursed without being reflected in DODD’s Payment Authorization for Waiver Services (PAWS) system. County board of developmental disabilities should document the authorization locally through TCM case notes when possible, or by any other means available. 

Please see Guidance: DODD Billing Concessions for additional information. Rates are not being changed during this time.