Case Management
The Waiting List
Individuals who are eligible for services will be assessed and assigned a Category of need. These needs are: Crisis, Urgent, Active and Deferred.
Crisis
The person needs services immediately for one of the following reasons:
1. Homeless.
- The individual is currently homeless
- The individual will be homeless within 90 days
2. Death, incapacitation, or loss of the primary caregiver and lack of an alternate primary caregiver
- The primary caretaker died
- The primary caretaker became mentally or physically incapacitated (permanently or expected to last more than 30 days)
- The primary caregiver serves as the primary caregiver for one or more other individuals with serious mental, physical, or developmental disabilities and is unable to provide an acceptable level of care for the enrollee
- The primary caregiver must be employed to provide the sole or primary income for the support of the family
3. Serious and imminent danger of harm to self or to others by the individual.
- The individual’s current pattern of behavior poses a serious and imminent danger of self-harm which cannot be reasonably and adequately managed by the caregiver
- The individual’s current pattern of behavior poses a serious and imminent danger of harm to others which cannot be reasonably and adequately managed by the primary caregiver
4. The person has multiple urgent issues that are likely to result in a crisis situation if not addressed immediately and the person meets two or more of the following criteria:
- Aging or failing health of caregiver and no alternate available to provide supports
- Living situation presents a significant risk of abuse or neglect
- Increasing behavioral risk to self or others
- Stability of the current living situation is severley threatened due to extensive support needs or family catastrophe
- Discharge from other service system (e.g. Department of Children's Services, mental health institute, state forensics unit) is imminent
Urgent
The person meets one or more of the following criteria:
- Aging, or failing health of the caregiver and no alternate available to provide supports
- Living situation presents a significant risk of abuse or neglect
- Increasing behavioral risk to self or others
- Stability of the current living situation is severely threatened due to extensive support needs or family catastrophe
- Discharge from other service system (e.g. Department of Children’s Services, mental health institute, state forensics unit) is imminent
Active
The person or the person’s family or guardian/conservator is requesting access to services but the person does not have intensive needs which meet the urgent or crisis criteria above.
Note
Enrollment in the Self Determination Waiver program will be prioritized and offered first to persons in the Crisis category, then to individuals in the Urgent category, and then to persons in the Active category up to the number of persons approved to be served in the program each year.
If you believe your Category of Need is incorrect, you can ask the Regional Office to re-evaluate your needs. If you disagree with their final decision you can request a determination by the DMRS Central Office staff by submitting written information to:
Paula McHenry
Andrew Jackson Building, 13th Floor
500 Deaderick Street
Nashville, TN 37243
615-532-6545
Paula.mchenry@state.tn.us
The DMRS has made a commitment to enroll 600 individuals into the Self Determination Waiver by January 1, 2006. An additional 900 individuals will be enrolled into the Self-Determination Waiver by January 1, 2007.
