MR Waiver Program - Sophie's Place

Residential Based Supportive Community Living Program (RBSCL)-MR Waiver Program

This program serves boys ages 12-17 who are on the MR Waiver program with a RBSCL slot through the State of Iowa. The program provides services to children who are under the age of 18 and may not be able to live in their own family setting due to the complexity of their behaviors or disabilities. Children must reside outside the home in a residential-based supported community living environment furnished by the residential-based living service provider. The services eliminate barriers to family reunification or develop self-help skills for maximum independence.

Allowable service components include the following:

• Daily living skill development – These are services to develop the child’s ability to function independently in the community on a daily basis, including training in food preparation, maintenance of living environment, time and money management, personal hygiene, and self care.

• Social skill development- These are services to develop a child’s communication and socialization skills, including interventions to develop a child’s ability to solve problems, resolve conflicts, develop appropriate relationships with others, and develop techniques for controlling behavior.

• Family Support development – These are services necessary to allow a child to return to the child’s family or another less restrictive service environment. These services must include counseling and therapy sessions that involve both the child and the child’s family at least 50% of the time and focus on techniques for dealing with the special care needs of the child and interventions needed to alleviate behaviors that are disruptive to the family or other group living unit.

• Counseling and behavior intervention services- These are services to halt, control, or reverse stress and social, emotional, or behavioral problems that threaten of have negatively affected the child’s stability. Activities under this service include counseling and behavior intervention with the child, including interventions to ameliorate problem behaviors.

  • RBSCL services must also address the ordinary daily living needs of the child, excluding room and board, such as needs for safety and security, social functioning, and other medical care.RBSCL services do not include services associated with vocational needs, academics, day care, Medicaid case Management, other case management, or any other services that the child can otherwise obtain through Medicaid.

  • Room and Board costs are not reimbursable as RBSCL services.

  • The scope of service shall be identified in the child’s service plan.

  • RBSCL services shall not be simultaneously reimbursed with other residential services provided under an HCBS waiver or otherwise provided under the Medicaid program

  • A unit of service is a day.

  • The maximum number of units of RBSCL services available per child is 365 daily units per state fiscal year, except in a leap year when 366 daily units are available.