Respite Care, Intellectual Disabilities Medicaid Waiver

The Loudoun Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services' offers Consumer Directed (CD) respite services for people who receive the Intellectual Disabilities Medicaid Waiver. The program provides assistance and supports to the unpaid caregiver, for example, family members. The caregiver gets time to do things that they need to do for themselves or for other members of the family. A respite worker assists the individual at home and in the community with things the family or caregiver normally helps with, giving the family or caregiver a break.



Individuals who receive services through the Intellectual Disabilities (ID) Medicaid Waiver can select Consumer Directed (CD) Services or agency-directed services, or a combination of the two, when developing plans to help them live successfully in their communities. Consumer Directed Services allow the individual to be the employer. As the employer, the individual is responsible for hiring, training, supervising, and terminating his or her employees. When services are consumer-directed, the individual and sometimes his or her family decide what service is needed, who will provide it, when it will be provided, where it will be provided, and how it will be provided.



The amounts and types of supports and services that individuals receive from caregivers vary greatly from person to person due to individual circumstances and preferences. The program is coordinated through a service facilitator who oversees the contract, develops and monitors individual service plans, supervises caregivers to ensure effective and appropriate delivery of services to the consumers, and responds to parents, families, or guardians' needs and concerns.