Community Crisis Support/Crisis Assistance

Community Crisis Supports/Crisis Assistance are for participants in DHW's developmental disabilities services who are in an unanticipated and at-risk situation, such as the following:

• Losing housing
• Losing employment or income
• Incarceration
• Physical harm to self or others
• Family altercation
• Hospitalization: crisis services may be provided in an emergency room (ER) during the ER evaluation process if the goal is to prevent hospitalization and return the consumer to the community

DHW may authorize Community Crisis Supports/Crisis Assistance if there is a documented need for immediate intervention and no other means of support are available.

Community Crisis Support/Crisis Assistance Rules

• The crisis supports need to be able to rectify the crisis.
• Community Crisis Support/Crisis Assistance is limited to a maximum of 20 hours during any consecutive five-day period.
• Support is used to help a participant access community resources to resolve a crisis and does not include crisis counseling, transportation to emergency service providers, or direct skill-building services.  
• Authorization for crisis assistance hours may be requested retroactively as a result of a crisis.
• Crisis assistance hours are only available if a participant’s service coordination benefits have been exhausted for the rolling plan month in which the crisis occurred and no other means of support is available to the participant.   
• Community Crisis Support/Crisis Assistance may be provided before the completion of the assessment and plan of service.  
• Services are not reimbursable after the person  has been admitted to the hospital.