Client Forms

Appeal Form PDF

Appeal Form (online submission)

Power of Attorney PDF

Minnesota PCA Assessment Guide PDF

Incident Report Form PDF

Care4All Client Policy Manual PDF

PCA Choice vs Traditional PCA 

In order to receive home care services in the state of Minnesota, individuals must work with a PCA provider agency that is enrolled with the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS). Then they need to decide whether they will work with a PCA Choice or Traditional PCA Agency. While this process helps to ensure that people have choices in how their services are delivered, it can also be rather confusing. We here at Care4All provide educational tools to make it easier to understand the complexities of home care. Below is an overview of the two kinds of PCA provider options available to Minnesotans:

PCA Choice

The PCA Choice option gives people more control of their at-home care than the Traditional PCA model. People on the PCA Choice model receive less frequent qualified professional or nurse visits, as they are the ones primarily responsible for their care. PCA Choice recipients are also responsible for:
Hiring, training, supervising, and scheduling their staff
Maintaining a written agreement with their PCA Choice provider agency
Working with their PCA to make sure their health and safety needs are met
Developing their own home care plan
Providing their own backup staffing in case of an emergency

Traditional PCA

Under this option, the provider agency (either a Personal Care Provider Organization or a Medicare-certified Home Health Agency) is responsible for the administrative tasks surrounding the personal care assistant providing care. People on the PCA Traditional model receive more frequent qualified professional or nurse visits so the agency can be sure services are meeting care plan goals. The agency is also responsible for:
Hiring, training, supervising, and scheduling staff
Monitoring and evaluating PCA staff to ensure care plan goals are being met
Developing a care plan to meet the goals identified at the nurse assessment
Maintaining backup staffing in case of an emergency

NOTE: Under either the PCA Choice or Traditional PCA models people are entitled to have a caregiver of their choosing. Meaning whether you are PCA Choice or PCA Traditional you get to choose your caregiver, and can have that caregiver be your close friend or relative.

What is the PCA Agency Responsible for?

Home care agencies have several responsibilities whether they are a Traditional or PCA Choice agency. All Minnesota PCA agencies must:

Perform criminal background checks on PCAs
Ensure workers have completed proper PCA training
Provide qualified professional supervision
Pay and withhold taxes for PCAs
Bill the State for completed services
Maintain written agreements with clients and PCAs
Maintain documentation of services including timesheets
Maintain enrollment with the Department of Human Services

Care4All is proud to be a PCA Choice and Traditional PCA provider agency. We’ve helped hundreds of people find the home care solutions they need and we look forward to helping you! Contact our home care professionals to learn more about PCA Choice and Traditional PCA options and find which one is right for you.

Client Onboarding Form PDF

245D Basic Waivered Services

How do 245D Basic Waivered Services Work?

Care4All is a licensed provider of 245D basic services including Individualized Home Supports Without Training (IHS), Night Supervision, Homemaking, Respite, and Individual Community Living Supports (ICLS). For each service, you select a trusted worker who best suits your needs and maintains control of how your workers provide services by scheduling hours and providing them direction on your specific day-to-day support needs.

Our staff partners with you and your case manager to initiate services, develop and implement your support plan and work to ensure you are receiving high-quality of care. We also provide your worker with 245D training to help both you and your worker feel comfortable and confident in their abilities. Connect with our staff today to learn more about our 245D services!

MAKE A REFERRAL

RESPITE
HOMEMAKING SERVICES
INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITY LIVING SUPPORTS (ICLS)
NIGHT SUPERVISION
INDIVIDUALIZED HOME SUPPORTS WITHOUT TRAINING

Why Choose Care4All 245D Services

Eligibility How to Get Started

245D Staff Training

Why Choose Care4All

We use a human-centered approach to our work, with clients and employees at the heart of everything we do
We provide a high standard of care through prompt onboarding, responsive service, and respectful treatment of clients, employees, and their support team
We partner with clients and their support teams to develop and maintain a detailed support plan for services
We offer competitive wages and benefits for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs)
We provide the statute-required 245D training to DSPs both during orientation and annually
Our agency staff have extensive knowledge of 245D services and the statute and licensing requirements for 245D

Respite Services

This short-term care service is provided when the person’s primary caregiver is absent or needs temporary relief from caregiving duties. Respite provides the level of supervision and care that is necessary to ensure the person’s health and safety and can be provided in the person’s home or at the caregiver’s home.

This service is available under the Home and Community-Based Waiver programs.

Homemaking Services

These are services that help a person manage general cleaning and household activities. There are three
homemaker services:
Homemaker/cleaning
Homemaker/home management
Homemaker/assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs)

Homemaker/cleaning services include light housekeeping tasks and laundry services. Homemaker/Home management includes light housekeeping and assistance with laundry, meal prep, shopping for food, clothing, and household supplies, simple household repairs, and arranging transportation. Homemaker/assistance with ADLs includes light housekeeping and assistance with walking, bathing, dressing, grooming, eating and toileting.

These services are available under the Home and Community-Based Waiver programs.

Individual Community Living Supports (ICLS)

This service provides support in the areas of active cognitive support, adaptive support service, activities of daily living (ADLs) support, household management assistance, health, safety, and wellness, and community living engagement. Individual Community Living Support can be provided in the person’s own home, family’s home, or in the community, either in person or remotely.

This service is available under the Elderly Waiver (EW) and the Alternative Care Program (AC).

Night Supervision

This service provides overnight assistance and monitoring by an awake staff in the person’s own home and includes carrying out a person’s positive support programming and transition plans, reinforcing independent living skills training and other skill development supports, and assisting with instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs).

This service is available under the Brain Injury Waiver (BI), Community Alternative Care Waiver (CAC), the Community Access for Disability Inclusion Waiver (CADI), and the Developmental Disabilities Waiver programs.

Individualized Home Support without Training

Services that provide support in the areas of community participation, health, safety and wellness, household management, and adaptive skills for people who live in their own home or their families.  Individualized home support can be provided in the person’s own home, family’s home, or in the community, either in person or remotely.

For questions about family caregiving or whether you’re eligible to receive 245D Waivered services, contact Care4All today!

 
- PCA Services

Facts About PCA Services

The State of Minnesota has several programs designed to help older adults and individuals living with a disability to remain in their community rather than relocating to a facility. The Personal Care Assistance (PCA) Program, administered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services, is one such platform. Established in 1978, the PCA Program began after Minnesota amended the state’s Medical Assistance Program to include personal home assistance.

PCA SERVICES is a form of HOME CARE ASSISTANCE that supports individuals living in Minnesota with non-medical, health-related needs and daily activities. The goal of PCA services, as with other homecare options, is to help individuals live independently in their homes and community, as opposed to a facility.

Available to individuals of all ages with special healthcare needs, PCA services are a paid benefit under the MEDICAL ASSISTANCE OR MINNESOTACARE PROGRAM and may be provided through the fee-for-service program; Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver programs; or through prepaid health plans (UCare, Etc.).

How PCA Services Help Loved Ones

When you choose PCA services to support your lifestyle or that of a loved one, you can expect the following homecare services:

Assistance with performing daily activities, including eating, toileting, grooming, dressing, bathing, transferring, mobility, and positioning.
Assistance with performing instrumental daily tasks, including meal planning and preparation, managing money, shopping for essential items, performing essential household chores, communicating by telephone and other media, and getting around and participating in the community.
Assistance with performing health-related functions, including range of motion exercises, seizure intervention, or ventilator suctioning.
Assistance with performing redirection and intervention for behavior, including observation and monitoring.

What are the Home Care Options Under the PCA Program?

TRADITIONAL PCA OPTION (PCPO): Under this program, clients receiving PCA services obtain a personal care assistant through a PCA agency, like Best Care, that hires, trains, pays, and schedules the hours for care.

To allow more flexibility and meet the changing and varying needs of individuals who receive care, Minnesota’s PCA program also allows for home care services to be provided through other delivery models described below:

PCA CHOICE OPTION: In the PCA Choice program, individuals in need of homecare services are able to independently hire and train a PCA to provide care. The PCA Choice option gives the client a greater level of responsibility in managing their care, and the PCA agency handles employment and management-related functions. In Minnesota’s PCA Choice program, the agency is the employer of record for the PCAs.
SHARED CARE OPTION: The Shared Care Option allows one PCA worker to help two or three individuals living in the same setting.
FLEXIBLE USE OPTION: Under the Flexible Use Option, clients can use their approved PCA hours flexibly within a service authorization period to accommodate their varying needs and schedules.

Who is Eligible for PCA Services?

To be eligible to receive PCA Services, you must:

Live in the state of Minnesota
Be eligible to receive MEDICAL ASSISTANCE OR MinnesotaCare (i.e. pregnant women and children under 21 years of age)
Be able to make decisions about your care or have someone who can make decisions for you
Be able to meet with a Public Health Nurse (PHN) from your county to perform a required PCA ASSESSMENT
Be in need of “constant supervision” or “hands-on assistance” to complete at least one Activity of Daily Living (ADL) or have Level 1 Behavior

What’s a PCA Assessment?

At a PCA ASSESSMENT, a Public Health Nurse (PHN) will ask you questions and evaluate your needs to determine your eligibility for PCA services. As mentioned above, in order to qualify for services, you need to be “dependent” in at least one ADL or have Level 1 behavior. If you need assistance with several ADLs, you will get more help than if you require assistance with one or two ADLs. Wondering if you might qualify? TAKE OUR PCA SELF-ASSESSMENT.

If you require assistance with critical ADLs (e.g. eating, transfers, mobility, and toileting), you’ll receive more help than if you need assistance with Non-Critical ADLs (e.g. grooming, dressing, bathing, positioning).

Can I Choose My PCA?

In Minnesota, you have the option of choosing your own caregiver, which may include a friend or family member. If you would like to hire a friend or family member to be your PCA, trust Best Care to help you navigate through the process.

How Do I Get Started?

Getting PCA services started is simple! Contact Care4All, so we can determine your program eligibility and help you evaluate your homecare options. We’ll provide you the phone number to request a PCA assessment and once it’s determined that you meet all homecare requirements, we’ll train and hire the caregiver of your choice.

To learn more about PCA services and whether this home care option is right for you, contact us today!

 
- CFSS (Community First Services and Supports)

What is CFSS?

The Minnesota Department of Human Services is preparing to transition from personal care assistance (PCA) to community first services and support (CFSS). Both PCA and CFSS provide support to people to help them remain independent in the community and are similar in many ways.

Additionally, CFSS will expand people’s choices about how they receive their services, including who can provide services, additional support for writing plans, more self-direction options, and the ability to purchase goods to aid a person’s independence.

How are CFSS and PCA SIMILAR?

The eligibility requirements for CFSS will be the same as PCA. The person must:

Live in his or her own home
Be able to direct care or have a representative who can direct care on his/her behalf
Be on one of Minnesota’s healthcare programs
Have an assessment that determines he/she is eligible.

CFSS will cover the same main services as PCA:

Activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing, grooming, and transferring
Health-related tasks
Instrumental activities of daily living, such as shopping, cooking, laundry, and assistance with medications
Observation and redirection of behavior.

How are CFSS and PCA DIFFERENT?

People who use CFSS will have more options and supports:

Unlike PCA, in CFSS a person’s spouse or the parent of a minor may serve as that person’s support worker.
People may choose to purchase goods to aid in their independence.
The CFSS budget model allows people to choose to be the employer of their support workers.
The state provides a budget that the provider agency or the person may use to train workers on the individual needs of the person.
The consultation services provider will provide education and support in writing the person’s plan.

What are the delivery models for CFSS?

CFSS will have two service delivery models, the agency provider model and the budget model. In both models, the person:

Directs care
Has a say in selecting his/her worker, including the person’s spouse or the parent of a minor
Writes the plan with assistance from the consultation services provider as desired
May purchase goods.

In the agency provider model, the person selects an agency that serves as the workers’ employer. This means the agencies will recruit, hire, train, supervise, and pay CFSS support workers.

In the budget model, CFSS participants are the employers of their own support workers. They will have a budget rather than service units. Participants will recruit, hire, train, and supervise their support workers. The person will select a financial management services (FMS) provider to help the person comply with applicable laws.

How do I Learn More?

Minnesota DHS has an FAQ PAGE with additional information about CFSS as they prepare for the transition. DHS has also created an INTERACTIVE VIDEO that helps explain CFSS.