§ 6350.22. Family aid.
(a) This service shall provide relief lasting less than 24 hours in any one time period. This resource is available to families who previously have not been able to obtain ‘‘sitter’’ type service because the family member has an intellectual disability.
(b) Each family aide shall be approved by the county mental health and intellectual disability office after successful completion of a training program before working as a family aide.
(1) A portion of Family Resources Services (FRS) money may be set aside for basic training for those persons who will function as family aides.
(2) Follow-up training must be provided no less than once a year.
(3) The family aides may be paid while attending training sessions.
(4) The training program must be approved by the county mental health and intellectual disability office.
(c) If the county mental health and intellectual disability office contracts with another agency to provide this service, the following applies:
(1) The agency shall provide a training program approved by the County MH/ID Office.
(2) Each family must provide the Base Service Unit with information necessary for determining liability.
(d) Family aides should be recruited and screened.
(e) A list of approved aides will be kept in the County MH/ID Office or its designee, or both.
(f) Families must contact the County MH/ID Office, Base Service Unit, or the contracting agency to request the service. Unless the County MH/ID Office or its designate has made the appropriate arrangements, the family aide will not be eligible to receive payment with FRS funds.
(g) The family aide will be responsible for the care of every family member left in his charge. If any siblings are to be cared for other than the individual with an intellectual disability, the aide must be so advised before being given the assignment. The County MH/ID Office or its designate will determine the additional charge, if any, for the care of other siblings.
(h) At the end of each care period, the aide must submit to the County MH/ID Office or its designate a written report which should include remarks about any significant events, incidents, and the like, that occurred during the care period and which may prove beneficial to other aides when and if the family receives FRS in the future. Such reports must be treated within the context of the rules of confidentiality and privacy so as to protect the rights of the service recipients.
(i) Aides may not accept gifts from families for whom they are providing family aid.
(j) The maximum time allowed for family aid service will be 24 hours per session. This may be overnight but shall not exceed the maximum time limit.
(k) A recommended maximum of four sessions should be allowed per family per month. This may be adjusted by the County MH/ID Office based on individual needs and resources at a given time.
(l) This service shall not take the place of day programming for the individual with an intellectual disability.
(m) Family aid shall not be provided daily unless authorized in writing by the County MH/ID Administrator.
(n) Family aid can be provided in the individual’s with an intellectual disability own home or place of residence, or the home of a family that the County MH/ID Office has approved.
(o) If there is an expressed need, this service should be made available on a group as well as an individual basis within a home or appropriate facility.
Authority The provisions of this § 6350.22 amended under sections 201(2) and (8) and 202 of the Mental Health and Intellectual Disability Act of 1966 (50 P.S. § § 4201(2) and (8) and 4202).
Source The provisions of this § 6350.22 amended June 17, 2016, effective June 18, 2016, 46 Pa.B. 3177. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (247850) to (247851).
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