The Intake and Resource Program is the gateway to services within REACH, connecting families and individuals with resources in their community.  The Resource Team assists individuals and families with applying for services, including Tefra and short-term financial assistance, to individuals seeking developmental disabilities services. REACH provides case management, advocacy, technical assistance, and care coordination.  See below for information on eligibility for services.

REACH Intake and Resource Services

• Short-Term Assistance and Referral (STAR) Program – The STAR program is a grant funded project that supports the Intake and Resource Team activities.  Services focus on linking families to other resources and helps families avoid crisis by providing short-term financial assistance to meet a variety of needs including healthcare, therapeutic services and equipment, developmental products, transportation, access to social, cultural, recreational activities and much more depending on the individual need.

• Respite – Providing short-term care so that families or caregivers can take a break from the routine of caring for a person with a disability.

• Care Coordination – Helping clients and their families access services matching their needs and choices and monitoring those services for quality of delivery.

• Advocates for people on the AK Developmental Disability (DD) registry – Once determined to be eligible, to be placed on the registry for services funded through the Medicaid waiver, a person must complete a DD Review and Registration Form.

• Facilitates person-centered plans – Friends, family, staff and other interested parties are involved in determining each individual’s strengths, interests, and in developing goals with them.

• Assists with problem-solving challenging situations

• Provides information/advocacy in school settings

• Manages Core Services – Core Services is an annual grant of $3,000 to an individual on the Alaska Developmental Disability registry.  Funds are flexible as follows:

Core services will pay for

• Support services like respite or supported employment
• Training , consultation or classes to enhance independence
• Dental, medical or therapies
• Specialized and adaptive equipment
• Home Modifications
• Vocationally related materials
• Transportation to gain access to community services or activities
• Travel if related to family unification or for short-term training
• Recreational/cultural/leisure activities or recreational and leisure equipment and tools   needed to participate in an activity  (If all other needs are met)

Core services will not pay for:

• Cars and insurance
• Ongoing rent and utility payments
• Food/ groceries not related to the nutritional needs due to the disability
• Non-disability or non-safety related household furnishings/supplies
• Computers unless used as the primary educational and communication tool for the individual (needs prior approval)
• Daycare

TEFRA care coordination -TEFRA is a Medicaid program for children up to age 19 who meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. The child must be living at home
2. The child must meet an institutional level of care (the child needs frequent monitoring due to a chronic physical condition. If direct specialized care is not provided, the child would need to be institutionalized for their health and safety.)
3. The child’s resources and income are counted (not the parents). Resources must be less than $2,000.
4. It must be feasible and safe for the child’s care to be delivered in the community.
5. The cost of care in the home must be less than the cost of care in the institution.

Eligibility

To be eligible for REACH services an individual must have a mental or physical impairment that meets the following specifications:

1. This impairment must have existed before age 22.
2. Because of this impairment, the individual has substantial functional limitation (high level of difficulty) in three or more of the following areas:
   • Self-care – requires an excessive amount of time and/or supervision and/or human assistance on a regular basis to perform at the level of one’s non-disabled peers in two or more areas: eating/drinking, toileting, grooming, or dressing.
   • Receptive and expressive language – requires human assistance on a regular or continuing basis and/or presents such difficulty as to take an unusually long time as compared with peers
   • Learning – limited in the ability to acquire new knowledge or transfer knowledge and skills to new situations and performs well below peer level, even when specialized intervention is used.
   • Mobility – assistance to maintain ambulation and mobility using fine and gross motor skills, requiring an unusually long time and/or human assistance on a regular or continuing basis and/or a barrier free environment is required.
   • Self Direction – assistance to initiate and/or maintain an age-appropriate level of personal relationships, socially acceptable behavior or judgment requires supervision on a regular basis and/or human assistance.
   • Independent Living – unable to maintain performance at peer level in at least one of these four areas: using community resources, household maintenance, personal and family roles and responsibility, or time and money management.
   • Economic self-sufficiency – fully dependent on external sources of money as a result of limited ability to find and keep adequate employment.
3. Because of the individual’s limitations, special care, treatment or other services are needed that are of extended duration and individually planned and coordinated.

NOTE: These eligibility requirements do not apply to the Infant Learning Program

For assistance and access to services contact:

In Juneau (907) 586-8228

In Haines (907) 766-3457