Guidance for Requesting a CAS Assessment
Who requests a CAS (Coordinated Assessment System) Assessment? Care Managers are the primary party requesting the CAS. In some circumstances an Intermediate Care Facility Qualified Intellectual Disabilities Professional (QIDP) staff or OPWDD Regional Field Office Staff will be the appropriate party to request a CAS.
State laws and regulations require that an assessment must be used to review and record a person’s strengths and needs, as a condition of receiving OPWDD services. The CAS team is currently working to ensure initial and routine reassessments are completed for people who are OPWDD eligible. However, certain situations require the care planning team to request an assessment prior to when the person/family would be contacted by the OPWDD CAS assessors for routine assignment. Some examples of these include the following:
- Person is newly eligible/actively in the Front Door process
- Person is seeking Residential Services in Facilities Certified or Operated by OPWDD
- Person is seeking Intensive Behavior Services
- Person is transferring from another waiver to the OPWDD waiver
- Person is seeking waiver enrollment (CAS request should be submitted prior to waiver application)
- Person requires a Service Amendment (CAS request should be submitted prior to the Service Amendment Request Tool)
- Person is new to Adult Services
- The person has experienced a significant change in condition* since their last assessment (specific to reassessments)
- Significant Change in Condition– Accident or event resulting in serious personal injury
- Significant Change in Condition– Major medical event
- Significant Change in Condition– Major psychiatric event
- Significant Change in Condition– Significant improvement in behavior or physical functioning
How to make a request:
Requests should only be submitted if a person does not have a current CAS or CANS on file. Requests for a CAS can be submitted by the Care Coordination Organization (CCO) intake department, admissions, care management, or by the OPWDD Developmental Disabilities Regional Field Office (DDRFO) if the person is not connected with a CCO. If you are a person in need of an assessment or the Legal Guardian/natural support of a person that needs an assessment, please coordinate this request with those noted above.
Once the CCO or DDRFO have identified an assessment is needed for a person, please complete the CAS/CANS-NY request form and email the form to [email protected].
Please ensure that all information on the form is filled out entirely and accurately to assist the OPWDD assessment team with prioritizing assignment and completion of assessments.
Guidance for Requesting a CANS Assessment
Who requests a CANS (Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths) Assessment? Care Managers are the primary party requesting the CANS. In some circumstances an Intermediate Care Facility Qualified Intellectual Disabilities Professional (QIDP) staff or OPWDD Regional Field Office Staff will be the appropriate party to request a CANS.
State laws and regulations require that an assessment must be used to review and record a person’s strengths and needs, as a condition of receiving OPWDD services. The CANS-NY team is currently working to ensure initial and routine reassessments are completed for people who are OPWDD eligible. However, certain situations require the care planning team to request an assessment prior to when the person/family would be contacted by the OPWDD CANS-NY assessors for routine assignment. Some examples of these include the following:
- Person is newly eligible/actively in the Front Door process
- Person is seeking Residential Services in Facilities Certified or Operated by OPWDD
- Person is seeking Intensive Behavior Services
- Person is transferring from another waiver to the OPWDD waiver
- Person is seeking waiver enrollment (CANS-NY request should be submitted prior to waiver application)
- Person requires a Service Amendment (CANS-NY request should be submitted prior to the Service Amendment Request Tool)
- Person is new to Adult Services
- The person has experienced a significant change in condition since their last assessment (specific to reassessments)
- Significant Change in Condition– Accident or event resulting in serious personal injury
- Significant Change in Condition– Major medical event
- Significant Change in Condition– Major psychiatric event
- Significant Change in Condition– Significant improvement in behavior or physical functioning
Youth who have previously worked with a Health Home Care Management Agency (HHCMA) may have completed a CANS-NY with their Health Home Care Manager. If the CANS-NY was completed within the last year and the person was under the age of 18 at the time the CANS-NY was completed, OPWDD can utilize the assessment while it remains current. If a current CANS-NY completed by a HHCMA is discovered by the Bureau of Assessment Oversight and Coordination (BAOC) team, they will relay the information to the Children’s Liaison team. The Children’s Liaison team will then complete the necessary steps to make the assessment available to the CCO.
How to make a request:
Requests should only be submitted if a person does not have a current CAS or CANS on file. Requests for a CANS-NY can be submitted by the Care Coordination Organization (CCO) intake department, admissions, care management, or by the OPWDD Developmental Disabilities Regional Field Office (DDRFO) if the person is not connected with a CCO. If you are a person in need of an assessment or the Legal Guardian/natural support of a person that needs an assessment, please coordinate this request with those noted above.
Once the CCO or DDRFO have identified an assessment is needed for a person, please complete the CAS/CANS-NY request form and email the form to [email protected].
Please ensure that all information on the form is filled out entirely and accurately to assist the OPWDD assessment team with prioritizing assignment and completion of assessments.
Guidance for Requesting a Significant Change in Condition Reassessment
A Significant Change in Condition (SCIC) reassessment is conducted when a significant improvement or decline in a person’s behavior, medical condition or functioning has occurred since the last assessment and before the scheduled reassessment. Some SCIC reassessment qualifying events include:
- Accidents or events resulting in serious personal injury
- Major medical events or prolonged illness
- Major psychiatric events resulting in extended inpatient psychiatric hospitalization
- Significant improvement in behavior or physical functioning that may be related to an improvement in an acute medical condition, recovery from prolonged illness or stabilization resulting from psychiatric and/or medical intervention
SCIC reassessment qualifying events will not typically be resolved without intervention by staff. These events usually impact more than one area of the person’s health or behavioral status and require professional review or revision of the person’s care plan. They often result in a newly identified need for reduced or enhanced support to maintain health and safety. If it is believed that a person has experienced a significant change in condition, the Care Manager or QIDP must submit a request for SCIC Reassessment, as outlined below.
Process for SCIC Reassessment Request:
- The Care Manager/QIDP requests the SCIC reassessment by sending the OPWDD CAS/CANS-NY Request Form and required information via “Secure:” email to [email protected]
- The following information is required when a SCIC reassessment request is made:
- Date of most recent CAS/CANS assessment
- Supporting documentation that identifies the change in condition, as well as how this change is impacting the person’s support needs (hospital paperwork, evaluations, Life Plan or plan addendums, Individual Plan of Protective Oversight, IEP, etc.)
- Any additional information that may be an important consideration in the review of the SCIC reassessment request
- Central Office determines if the supporting documentation provided was sufficient and if the event qualifies for reassessment outside of the routine reassessment parameters
- [email protected] notifies the Care Manager/QIDP who initiated the request of the outcome and next steps
- If the documentation is appropriate/sufficient and the event qualifies for a SCIC reassessment, the assessment is assigned, the documentation is shared with the assessing organization, and the Care Manager/QIDP who initiated the request will receive assessing organization contact information
- If there is disagreement with request outcomes, the Care Manager/QIDP who initiated the request may be asked to provide additional documentation for Central Office consideration