Agency With Choice

What Exactly Is Agency With Choice?

Agency With Choice is a service delivery option in which individuals with intellectual disabilities (ages three and up) and/or their representatives self-direct their services leading to greater choice and control over where, when and how support services are delivered. As a managing employer the individual/representative assumes additional responsibility while the Agency With Choice assists in reducing the administrative employer-related burden and to a limited extent, worker issues.

Vendor Service Available

Keys to Agency With Choice

• Key #1 A co-employment relationship
• Key #2 Working as a team is instrumental in helping an individual reach for the stars and believe that their dreams are possible.
• Key #3 Agency With Choice will assist the individual/representative in increasing their skills as a "managing employer" to achieve maximum benefit of the self-directed service option.

Agency With Choice Roles/Responsibilities

Services may include, but are not limited to:

• Home and Community Habilitation
• Respite
• Companion
• Supported Employment
• Supports Broker
• Homemaker/Chore

Providing an array of fiscal and supportive services, including:

1. Being the common law employer of the support service worker.
2. Managing the employer-related tasks, particularly payroll, and ensuring collection of federal, state, and local employment taxes, as well as worker's compensation insurance.
3. Ensuring tax and labor rules and regulations are met.
4. Assistance with planning, budgeting, and managing services and supports.
5. Assistance with the individual budget.
6. Acting as a "bank" receiving and disbursing funds in accordance with individuals' approved budget.
7. Monitoring spending of funds in accordance with the individual's approved budget.
8. Monitoring spending of funds in accordance with the individual's approved budget.
9. Assisting the individual/representative in providing skills training to their support service worker. This training will be specific to the individual they are supporting, as well as mandatory trainings such as Blood borne Pathogens, HIPAA, Incident Management Reporting; as well as other trainings by request if available.
10. Maintaining record confidentiality and security, according to HIPAA regulations.
11. Issuing periodic reports to the government agency and the individual/representatives.
12. Reviewing direct service work documentation when submitted according to established timeframes to ensure outcomes, services, and supports are being met effectively according to the Individual's Support Plan.
13. Assist the individual/family in establishing a process for ensuring an emergency back-up system is in place.
14. Process support services worker's time sheets and payroll checks.
15. Broker and process the payment of worker's compensation and other benefits.
16. Process and pay invoices for goods and services included in individual budgets.
17. Establishing worker wage rate in compliance with federal and state labor laws (ensuring equal pay for work at all times).
18. Providing training to individuals/representatives related to employer-related tasks such as recruiting, hiring, training, managing and discharging support service workers.
19. Reviewing direct services work documentation when submitted according to established timeframes to ensure outcomes, services, and supports are bing met effectively according to the individual's Individual Support Plan.

Individual Representative Roles & Responsibilities

By being the managing employer of his/her worker, duties include, but not limited to:

1. Recruting, selecting or hiring his/her support service worker. The hiring process will be done in conjunction with Pathways of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Inc. as the employer of record.
2. Training of his/her support service worker.
3. Determining his/her support service worker's duties and work schedule.
4. Directly supervising his/her support service worker.
5. Reviewing the performance of his/her support service worker.
6. Disciplining and/or retraining the service worker as necessary, in conjunction with Agency With Choice.
7. Terminating services from his/her support service worker, when necessary, in conjunction with Agency With Choice.
8. Monitoring the spending of his/her approved waiver budget.
9. Responsible for support services worker's time sheets.
10. Maintaining record confidentiality and security, according to HIPAA regulations.
11. Ensure training is taking place that makes the individual/representative an active participant in the training and can correlate back to related outcomes, services, and supports as listed in the Individual's Support Plan.
12. Ensure support service workers complete appropriate forms at each time the support or service is delivered to ensure outcomes, services, and supports are met and co-signing each form to verify the work is done. As well as ensuring this documentation is submitted according to established timeframes to Agency With Choice.
13. Ensure an emergency back-up system is in place by recruiting and training of emergency back-up workers.
14. Ensure all worker injuries are reported to Agency With Choice on the appropriate forms and in the appropriate timeframes.
15. Representative/Individual agrees to participate in the county established Incident Management procedures.
16. Ensure weekly face-to-face contact between the Individual and the support service worker.
17. Ensure at least bi-monthly contact with the Individuals' Support Coordinator concerning the provision of the Individuals' service and supports.
18. Communicate concerns or satisfaction with Pathways of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Inc. regarding the Individual's services, when appropriate.