A2423

An Act concerning the self-directed services program and supplementing P.L.2008, c.128 (C.30:6D-12.1 et seq.).

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. A fiscal intermediary contracted with the Department of Human Services to provide administrative and payroll support for individuals who receive services via the agency with choice self-directed employee model within the self-directed services program, as established pursuant to P.L.2008, c.128 (C.30:6D-12.1 et seq.), shall be authorized to pay a self-directed employee for services provided in excess of 40 hours per week, provided that:

a. the self-directed employee has been hired by the fiscal intermediary to provide self-directed services to the individual or individuals who received the services;

b. the services rendered are approved and authorized in each individual’s individualized service plan;

c. the payment for services is aligned with the authorized service hours set within each individual’s weekly budget; and

d. each individual who received the services, or the individual’s family or guardian, can demonstrate that the payment for services is supported by the individual’s annual budget.

A fiscal intermediary shall pay a self-directed employee for services provided in excess of 40 hours per week at the employee’s regular rate and in accordance with federal and State law.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill authorizes the payment for services rendered in excess of 40 hours per week under the agency with choice (AWC) self-directed employee model within the self-directed services program.

Specifically, the bill authorizes a fiscal intermediary contracted with the Department of Human Services to provide administrative and payroll support for individuals who receive services via the AWC self-directed employee model within the self-directed services program to pay a self-directed employee (SDE) for services provided in excess of 40 hours per week, provided that:

1) the SDE has been hired by the fiscal intermediary to provide self-directed services to the individual or individuals who received the services;

2) the services rendered are approved and authorized in each individual’s individualized service plan (ISP);

3) the payment for services is aligned with the authorized service hours set within each individual’s weekly budget; and

4) each individual who received services, or the individual’s family or guardian, can demonstrate that the payment for services is supported by the individual’s annual budget.

A fiscal intermediary is required to pay a SDE for services provided in excess of 40 hours per week at the employee’s regular rate and in accordance with federal and State law.

Easter Seals of New Jersey currently manages the AWC self-directed employee model within the self-directed services program in the Department of Human Services. The self-directed services program provides funding to individuals with developmental disabilities who are living in their own home, in the home of a family member or guardian, or in another similar living situation, or to their fiduciaries, for the purposes of supporting the needs of the individual with a developmental disability by allowing the individual, or the individual’s family or guardian, or both, to determine the nature and scope of services to be provided in lieu of the department placing the person with a developmental disability in a residential program. Under this model, Easter Seals manages the individuals’ budgets, hires the SDE to provide services to the individual, is the employer of record, and pays all taxes and wages for the SDE.

Currently, a SDE, under any circumstance, cannot work more than 40 hours per week for the employer of record, even if the services are provided to multiple individuals. It is the sponsor’s goal to allow for overtime compensation of AWC SDEs for services provided within the scope of the recipient’s ISP and budget.