The Bost Waiver Program currently serves over 300 children and adults with developmental disabilities in Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Cleburne, Conway, Crawford, Faulkner, Franklin, Garland, Grant, Hot Springs, Howard, Johnson, Logan, Madison, Marion, Montgomery, Newton, Perry, Pike, Polk, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Scott, Searcy, Sebastian, Sevier, Stone, Van Buren, Washington, and Yell counties.

Statewide, approximately 3850 persons were receiving ACS Medicaid Waiver Services as of May 2009. Bost is one of the largest providers of ACS Medicaid Waiver services in Arkansas. Applications are made through the Arkansas Department of Human Services. www.arkansas.gov Unfortunately, State funding for this program is limited which has resulted in a waiting list for the program.

The following services are available:

• Supported Living Services : Provides direct care staff to work in the individuals home and community on goals and objectives desired by the individual that were identified in the MAPS (Multi-Agency Plan of Service). Supported Living helps individuals to develop and keep and/or improved the self-help, socialization and adaptive skills necessary to live successfully in their home and community, with their family or in an alternate living residence or setting.
• Community Experiences : Provide services where individuals work towards goals that reflect their interests. They are used to help improve community acceptance, employment opportunities and general well-being.
• Respite Services : Provided to or for any waiver individual who is unable to care for themselves on a short-term basis. This may be due to the absence of or need for relief of non-paid individuals who normally provides care. Non-paid individuals may include parents of minors, primary caregivers and spouses of participates, grandparents, friends and relatives.
• Non-Medical Transportation : Enables individuals to gain access to Waiver and other community services, activities and resources. Activities and resources planned for must be identified and specified in the plan of care.
• Supported Employment : This service is designed for individuals for whom competitive employment at or above the minimum wage is unlikely. It is also designed for individuals who, because of their disabilities, need intensive ongoing support to perform in a competitive work setting.
• Case Management : A system of ongoing monitoring of the provision of services included in the waiver participant's multi-agency plan of care. Case managers initiate and oversee the process of assessment of the individual's level of care and the review of plan of care at specified reassessment intervals.
• Consultation : Assists individuals, parents and/or guardians and/or responsible individuals, community living services providers and alternative living setting providers in carrying out an individual's service plan.
• Organized Health Care Delivery System (OHCDS) : Allows waiver providers to sub-contract any service for which they are DDS enrolled. A written contract is required. It is the responsibility of the provider to line up sub-contractors, bids and bill for the service. These services must be prior-approved by DDS.
• Adaptive Equipment : Provides for the purchase, leasing and repair of adaptive, therapeutic and augmentative equipment. This equipment must be required for the individual to increase, maintain or improve their ability to perform daily life tasks.
• Environmental Modifications : Adaptations to the individual's place of residence (structure). They must be to ensure the health, welfare and safety of the individual or enable the individual to function with greater independence.
• Specialized Medical Supplies : Items necessary for life support and the supplies and equipment necessary for the proper functioning of such items. Non-durable medical equipment not available under the Medicaid State Plan may also be provided.
• Supplemental Supports : Assist an individual to live in the community and participate in leisure, recreational, social and educational activities that make a positive difference their life.
• Personal Care Services: Personal care includes hands-on assistance with bathing, bladder and bowel requirements, dressing, eating, incidental housekeeping, laundry, personal hygiene, shopping for personal maintenance items, medication, and mobility/ambulation.
• Community Transition Services:  Non-recurring set-up expenses for individuals who are transitioning from an institutional or another provider-operated living arrangement to a living arrangement in a private residence where the person is directly responsible for his or her own living expense.

Medicaid Waiver Facilities

Bost's Waiver Facilities include three facilities, two apartment programs, and Follow-Along Services. The locations are:

• Van Buren Waiver Facility which serves 10 women
• Barling Waiver Facility which serves 8 individuals
• Fort Smith Waiver Facility which serves 10 men
• Lifebridge Apartments which serves 14 individuals
• Magic Circle Apartments which serves 15 individuals.

Services to individuals within these Waiver facilities are provided care seven days a week, 24 hours a day with staff on continuous duty.

For more information about the Medicaid Waiver Program contact:

Sharon DeWitt

Waiver Services Director
Bost, Inc.
PO Box 11495
Fort Smith, AR 72917
 (479) 478-5598 (479) 452-0651 Fax

sdewitt@bost.org