Request for Services Overview

Request for Services Related Topics

People who have the types of disabilities DSPD serves retain them for their entire life.  In some cases, the person can learn to function relatively well in the community with the level of support prescribed in their Person Centered Support Plan (PCSP).  Even so, as the person ages, their natural ability to cope with the disability tends to degrade.  For some, the medical conditions that accompany their disability worsen over time.  For others, their natural care givers age and either pass away or reach the point where they can no longer care for the person.  As a result, the array of services used to support the person in their PCSP must change in order to adapt to the person's new needs.

When the person's needs change, it often accompanies allocating more funding in the PCSP to address them.  DSPD's policy is the PCSP must contain the exact amount of services and dollars required to satisfy the person's needs.  If additional funding is needed to introduce a new service or to increase the amount of service already prescribed in the PCSP, then the support coordinator is required to submit a "Request for Services" to DSPD before the additional funding can be loaded in the PCSP.

The Request for Services documents two major concepts.  

First, the Request captures evidence about how well the person satisfies the criteria associated with the new service or the increase to the existing service in the PCSP.  The evidence is based on two parts.  Part one concerns a brief narrative written by the support coordinator about how the person satisfies each criterion associated with the service.  Part two concerns the attachment of supporting documentation from a third party source to each criterion that substantiates the claims in the narrative.  

Second, the Request documents how much the new service or the increase in service will cost.

After the Request for Services is submitted to DSPD, it is reviewed by a committee made of DSPD employees who are trained to evaluate and validate the information in the Request.  The first step in the process involves a preliminary review of the Request by a member of the committee.  They assesses the Request's accuracy, completeness and appropriateness.  If the Request lacks sufficient information to render a decision, the reviewer sends the Request back to the support coordinator with documentation about the issues it contains.  If the support coordinator resubmits the Request with the needed clarification, then the reviewer can send it on the committee for a final decision.

Requests that contain less than $5,000 and are determined by the reviewer to be accurate and complete can be immediately decided and finalized by the reviewer (i.e. the Request does not have to be sent on to the committee as a means to expedite its decision.).  

However, if the Request contains more than $5,000 or is less than $5,000 and contains a controversial issue, then the reviewer forwards the Request to the committee for a final decision.

1. The reviewer / committee can approve the Request if they determine it is accurate, complete and appropriate for satisfying the person's needs.

2. The reviewer / committee can deny the Request if they determine it is not accurate, not complete or not appropriate for satisfying the person's needs.  

3. Lastly, if the reviewer / committee determines that the person does satisfy the conditions of the service code's criteria and they truly need the service, but the amount of the service is in question, then the reviewer / committee can return a counter proposal to the support coordinator regarding the service's dates, rate or units in the Request.  

• In response to the committee's counter proposal, the support coordinator can choose to accept it, rescind the service code from the Request, or submit another alternative to the committee's change in the service's dates, rate or units.  If the support coordinator accepts the reviewer's / committee's proposal, then the amount of the service proposed by the reviewer / committee in the Request is considered to be approved and ready to be finalized.  

• If, however, the support coordinator chooses to rescind the service from the request, then it is immediately closed and removed from consideration by the reviewer / committee.  

• Finally, if the support coordinator chooses to submit another alternative to the dates, rate or units change made by the reviewer / committee, then the reviewer / committee can choose to accept the alternative as specified by the support coordinator or deny it outright.  Regardless of which decision the reviewer / committee makes in this case, (i.e. the approval or denial of the support coordinator's alternative) the decision is finalized.  No further debate will occur.

A Request can contain more than one service.  The ultimate approval or denial of services in the request is done line by line, service by service.  Consequently, each service in the Request can be either approved or denied independently of the others.  If the service is approved, funding for it will automatically flow into the Pro Forma Budget based on how the dates, rate and units are loaded in the Request.  If the service is denied, then the matter is closed and a Notice of Agency Action (NOA) is sent to the person regarding the justification for the denial.