FY 2006 POLICY PRIORITY PROPOSAL

Department(s): Department of Human Services

Policy Priority: Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities Case Manager (1.0 FTE)

An additional Case Manager (Client Service Specialist) is needed to meet increases in State-required documentation as a result of a new mandate that Mental Retardation Case Management Services Programs be licensed.

In July 2003, the state of Virginia mandated that Mental Retardation Case Management Services be licensed. Together with significant federal Medicaid documentation requirements, this requires significantly more paperwork for each case. Arlington's MR/DD Case Management Program became licensed in February 2004. Since that time, in order to meet licensure and other documentation requirements, each Case Manager has averaged 65 hours of overtime monthly. During the ten months since licensure, $41,477 in overtime has been paid to Case Managers. If overtime continues at the current level, $63,269 will be paid in FY 2005, exceeding the cost of a new Case Manager position. Benefits from increasing staff include reducing time-and-a-half overtime, increasing staff retention, allowing required state licensure documentation to be completed within a normal work week, meeting Medicaid documentation requirements that impact reimbursements, and increasing the time that Case Managers can spend on working with clients.

Presently, the staff to client ratio is 1 to 30. By comparison, the standard recommended by the national accreditation agencies for this service is 1 to 25. For FY 2005, 8.0 FTE Case Managers will provide Case Management Services for 243 clients. In addition, the Case Management Unit provides information and referral services and eligibility screening to an average of 50 persons per year. Failure to meet state mandated documentation requirements could result in loss of licensure, Medicaid funding loss and paybacks. If an additional position is not approved, cost containment efforts to control overtime expenses would include establishing a waiting list for new clients needing case management services.

Performance Measures

Funding Information