Once upon a time, there was a nice family by the name of Steinerman who lived in Brooklyn, somewhere in the ambiguous neighborhood between Boro Park and Flatbush. The Steinermans raised their seven wonderful children in Brooklyn and married off the first six, all of whom settled in Lakewood and the surrounding areas.
Left at home with just their beloved youngest — a personable young man with Down Syndrome named Yehoshua — and two and a half bedrooms in which to host the marrieds (the half was the living room, which had accordion doors and a couch which could open as a bed), spending time as a family was becoming increasingly difficult for the Steinermans.
It was only natural that when Mr. Steinerman retired, they decided to relocate to a new, spacious home in a quiet retirement community near the kids in Lakewood. Yehoshua would come along.
In Brooklyn, Yehoshua takes advantage of the services available to him through OPWDD. The Steinermans set out to discover what the equivalent would be in New Jersey, and here’s the information they received:
DDD
The Division of Developmental Disabilities, better known as the DDD, is the New Jersey Medicaid waiver program for adults who have developmental disabilities. Through the DDD, Yehoshua would be able to receive similar services to what he was getting in New York, such as Day Hab, Respite, and Support Coordination (the equivalent of New York’s Care Management).
Additional services provided by the DDD (depending on the specific needs of the individual) include assistive technology, therapies (such as Speech, OT, and PT), prevocational training, transportation, home and vehicle modifications, and supported employment, among others.
Who is eligible?
The eligibility requirements for DDD are simple enough.
The individual in question must:
Be over age 21 (One can apply from age 18, but services don’t begin until 21)
Be a US citizen and NJ resident
Be enrolled in Medicaid
Have a documented developmental disability that:
a. Began before age 22
b. Is expected to be lifelong
c. Impacts their ability to care for themselves and live on their own
Yehoshua is over age 21, a US citizen, and he meets the disability requirements, but the Steinermans aren’t moving to New Jersey for another two months.
Yehoshua’s parents began the process by completing DDD’s application and gathering the necessary documents, but they can’t submit the application until:
They change their legal address to New Jersey
Yehoshua switches to New Jersey Medicaid (which can only happen once the address has been changed.)
Which documents are needed?
The Steinermans began by reviewing the application from NJ.gov and making sure that they had all the necessary documents.
They put together copies of Yehoshua’s documentation of disability, including his genetic testing results, most recent psychological report, and other evaluations from over the years. They made copies of his birth certificate and social security card to prove his age and US citizenship, and added copies of the guardianship order and his SSI Award letter to the pile.
Then, they put the pile on the side, because they needed to wait for the legal address change before they could get Yehoshua a NJ State ID and NJ Medicaid card.*
* Refer to pages 3-4 of the application for a full list of necessary documents
Even after the Steinermans make the address and Medicaid changes and submit the application, there will be an unavoidable gap in Yehoshua’s services, as he can no longer utilize his OPWDD services after he legally moves to New Jersey and switches to New Jersey Medicaid, but it could still take several months for DDD to process his application.
NJCAT
After the DDD processes Yehoshua’s application (which always takes a while, but it can be shorter or longer, depending on the time of year), and they’ve made sure they have all the documentation needed, they’ll reach out to the Steinermans to schedule a New Jersey Comprehensive Assessment Tool, better known as an NJCAT. At the meeting, they’ll ask a bunch of questions about Yehoshua to determine which services are needed.
Yehoshua’s parents plan to review a sample of the NJCAT questions beforehand so that they know what to expect and are prepared to answer in a way which will fully reflect Yehoshua’s needs.
Within 2-3 weeks of the NJCAT, Yehoshua will be assigned a Tier, which will determine his allotted DDD budget (there are 10 tiers; the higher the needs of the individual, the bigger the budget they receive). All DDD services which Yehoshua qualifies for will be funded through his budget.
The DDD intake worker who does the NJCAT will give the Steinermans a form to fill out in which they can choose which Service Coordination Agency (SCA) they would like to use. The SCA will assign a Service Coordinator for Yehoshua, whose job it will be to make sure that all of Yehoshua Steinerman’s needs are being met through the available services in New Jersey.
With much appreciation to the staff at Yahalom NJ for sharing their time and expertise with us. Yahalom NJ is available to guide families through the DDD application process and to answer any DDD-related questions.
They can be reached at 732-456-6322.
Yanky, a good-natured 16-year-old bachur with ASD, got into a good yeshiva which could accommodate his needs, but it was located in a different state. Traveling back and forth would be impossible, so plans were made for him to board with a local family. Yanky’s father had several questions about insurance and guardianship, and Ezreinu answered all of his questions, providing him with clear information and the necessary forms so that Yanky would be able to access the services he needed while away from home. ⬛
The Hochmans were struggling to provide round-the-clock care for their 10-year-old daughter with medical needs. They reached out to Ezreinu, received guidance for obtaining home care services through insurance, and were put in contact with a reputable home care agency which had staff available to begin servicing their daughter that same week! ⬛
Identifying details have been changed to protect client confidentiality.
Liked this post?
Get bi-weekly updates to your inbox.