Our Services

Family Support Services Program (FSSP)

  • What is it?

    Family Support Services is designed to keep families together. All people with developmental disabilities have the right to live in a stable home; building relationships with parents, siblings, and friends as they enrich each other’s lives.

     

    Children and adults with developmental disabilities have the best opportunity to grow and develop within a loving family environment. With the help of Family Support Services, families can purchase necessary equipment and services thus easing some heavy expenses while increasing the self-sufficiency of a family member with disabilities.

  • What are eligibility requirements?

    Families are eligible for Family Support Services if their household includes a child or adult with a developmental disability. The person must be determined eligible by the Butler, Clermont, Greene, Hamilton or Montgomery County Boards of DD, depending on the legal residence of the person. If they are determined eligible, but are not receiving services from the County Board of DD, a family may still be eligible for this program.

     

    The disability must have become apparent before the age of 22 with the likelihood of it continuing indefinitely. For young children, there are more liberal state eligibility definitions because early intervention can lessen the effects of disabilities on a child’s future.

     

    Individuals living in a foster home, licensed or certified residential facilities, group home, semi-independent or independent are not eligible to receive funding from the Family Support Services Program. Anyone also on a waiver is not eligible for Family Support Services.

     

    It is important to note that Family Support Services must determine a family’s eligibility and approve their services before any expenses can be processed. Expenses that occur before a family becomes involved with Family Support Services are not covered because all expenses must be prior approved.

  • How to apply?

    Butler County Eligibility 513-785-4683


    Clermont County Eligibility 513-732-4831


    Greene County Eligibility 937-562-6500


    Hamilton County Eligibility 513-559-6990


    Montgomery County Eligibility 937-258-1446

  • Examples of Covered Expenses (Varies by County)

    • Respite Care
    • Summer Camp
    • Adaptive Equipment
    • Diapers
    • Special Diets
    • Therapy/Training and Counseling
    • Home Modifications
    • Limited emergency assistance
  • How does it work?

    Once a referral is received from the county board by the Family Support Service Coordinator, a welcome  packet will be mailed to the family. The packet will include guidelines, instructions and forms to complete.

  • Forms

Financial Services

SWOCOG provides member county boards with fiscal operation services. This includes payment services for: FSS, one-time costs, waiver match, locally funded programs, emergency support, provider support, community services, transportation assistance, adaptive equipment, technology purchase assistance, adult day, supportive living, specialty contracts, administrative support and more. SWOCOG also holds contracts on behalf of county boards. These contracts provide a multitude of specialty services to those that county boards support.




Environmental Accessibility Adaptation or

Specialized Medical Equipment & Supplies

Also Known As: Home Mods/Adaptive Equipment

Seeking information on how to request an Environmental Accessibility Adaptation or Specialize Medical Equipment and Supplies?


If you or someone you know are interested in an environmental accessibility adaptation or specialized medical equipment and supplies, a discussion with your county board of developmental disabilities is the first place to start. Please click the following links to inquire about qualifying for an environmental accessibility adaptation or specialized medical equipment and supplies for an individual with developmental disabilities. Serving: Butler, Clermont, Greene, Montgomery and Warren Counties.

**Please note: SWOCOG must receive the request referral directly from a county board of dd. No outside requests will be considered.

Start Here
  • First steps to an approved referral

    Swocog will work with individuals, families and caregivers to determine recommendations to meet the needs of an individual. In order for these types of services to be considered via Medicaid/Count Board funds, they must be medically necessary, tied back a diagnosis and/or meet criteria for DODD waiver funding. Oftentimes, determining that requires the opinion of a medical, credential professional.


    1. An in-home visit will be scheduled with one of the credentialled professionals on staff at SWOCOG. During this visit, the Individual and/or Caregivers will discuss the needs that were outlined in the referral sent from the County Board of DD with the medical professional. It’s from there the medical professional will determine recommendations to meet the need, which also meet medical necessity or any other qualifying factors for funding.


    2. Those recommendations will be sent to the referring county board of dd. At this time, the county board will review the recommendations and potentially meet with the individual to share the recommendations. SWOCOG will await a directive to move forward with the process. It’s important to note, at this step, it’s not an approval of the service, rather just an approval to move on to the next step of the process.


    (Depending on the recommendation, next steps vary. Environmental Accessibility Modification or Specialized Medical Equipment and Supplies, see below on next steps.)

  • Important things to note.

    1. Timeframes in each of these steps can and will vary. For all updated information on timeframes, questions of the project or just general information – always reach out to your SWOCOG team!


    2. During the bidding process SWOCOG will work with all parties involved to make sure all needs are met while adhering to cost limitations.


    3. Home modifications, are designed around needs and should not be considered home remodels.

Environmental Accessibility Modification Process and Expectation Environmental Accessibility Adaptation Rule View Some of Our Home Modifcations Specialized Medical Equipment and Supplies Process Specialized Medical Equipment and Supplies Rule How to become a Provider

Multisystem Coordination

Multisystem Coordination (MSC) is a regional effort on the part of five Southwestern Ohio counties to develop a stronger, more effective response to youth and adults with complex needs. Our umbrella of support includes the following components:

SCORE Resource Network: This stands for Support, Coordination, Opportunities, Resources, and Education. This is a team of local supports and professionals, working together to provide a fresh set of eyes for complex cases, and to make referrals to specialized care. Click here to learn more!

Regional Resource Database: When we started working on this project, we realized how hard it is to keep up on the ever-changing landscape of services, supports, and resources for families and individuals with disabilities. We developed this public database to allow our community to look at their options. You can search by county, service type, or agency. We even included the information you will need to get started to enroll in services. Check it out!


**If you are part of an organization, agency, or program that would like to be added to this database, you can join here

Specialized Services: While there are many robust supports in each county for individuals with developmental disabilities, sometimes they are not enough. Our five counties worked together to start identifying the best resources for these complex cases. We have developed some supports already, like Respite for Resilience and Parent Support/Education. Click here to learn more about the specialized services and how to qualify.

Program Design and Development: As mentioned above, we know that there are additional supports that could be helpful to families. We are maintaining an internal database of clients (their needs and the supports that help the most) and requests from families. This will help us to know what is working well and what we need to change. Feel free to reach out to resource@swocog.org if you would like to share your thoughts on programs or supports that we should consider!

Accreditation Reviews

SWOCOG is able to assist County Boards to prepare for their DODD accreditation review by offering mock accreditation reviews. SWOCOG will review as many areas in the review tool as the CB requests. The CB will receive a report with findings so they can make any improvements prior to their accreditation review by DODD.

Services and Support Administration

A Service and Support Administrator (SSA) is the primary point of contact for individuals receiving services through a County Board of Developmental Disabilities. A SSA is responsible for writing Individual Service Plans and coordinating services, as well as maintaining contact with natural supports and providers and monitoring services.


SWOCOG can contract with County Boards to provide SSA services.

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