Post by junebug060609 on Jan 30, 2015 19:45:34 GMT -5
I know by DS qualifies and we are on the wait list (have been for months...I actually should call them back and see what's up).
I guess I'm just wondering how it works. Would they be able to watch DD as well? How do they determine the #of hours? I vaguely remember them describing the matching process, but I'm curious about that as well. Just general questions.
Hmmm, I had typed a response to this and it either didn't "take" or I forgot to hit reply or something. Oops. Are you waiting for respite through EFMP or ECHO? Mine is through the EFMP so I can tell you the process I went through but I have no idea what the process is through ECHO. I am PCS'ing this summer and where we are going I've already been told by EFM out there that they do not have respite services but you can sign up through ECHO but the services are very limited. I guess I will be learning what the ECHO process is. :-)
First things first: if you DD is not an EFM then the respite provider cannot watch her. You would have to hire a babysitter for her while respite cared for your son.
The process I went through: I met with EFMP (through the ACS office I believe; I know it wasn't through the EFMP at the hospital) and they interviewed me. That interview amounted to a bunch of questions with multiple choice answers (this was the initial interview). Each answer carried so many points. At the end the points were added and it gave me a number of hours that I qualified for monthly. Note: hours do not roll over. You either use them during the month or you lose them. Yearly, EFMP (again through I believe ACS) interviews me again to basically update their records and to see if the hours change. Now, I went through this recently and it was a just a conversation interview and there were no multiple choice type answers. I suppose depending on the answers you could have hours reduced or increased and mine stayed the same. They are basically just making sure that the hours you qualify for are still considered sufficient. They verified what adaptive equipment was used, support system, etc.
Oh, and for the initial interview (where the questions with multiple choice answers were asked) when I was done they submitted it to SRI which I believe is the national provider (and then they contract out to local providers). Get a copy of the paperwork that states the number of hours and level your EFM qualified for. Then I was either given a list of people to contact or people started contacting me. You interview them until you find someone that you are comfortable with and their schedule matches yours for what you need. And yes, respite is more of a scheduled service not a babysitter type service where you simply call them when you need them....or at least this has been my experience. My current schedule is generally 1 night per week and a couple of hours on Saturday but I only use about half of the hours I am qualified for.
Post by junebug060609 on Jul 31, 2015 19:03:59 GMT -5
Update: Our number came up with Respite care in April. Since then I've been through the interview process twice, and had a lady coming for a couple months. I went on a trip with the kids for much of this month...and came back to said lady not returning my messages and such. So, we're on to interview process #3. I didn't have a back up in place because the other names they gave me either didn't seem like a good match for our family or their schedules didn't jive with ours.
Lets hope the third time is a charm! Just looking for someone reliable to help me out until DH retires at years end!
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