Frequently Asked Questions

CDPAS stands for Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Services, and is also known as CDPAP or CDPA. The CDPAS program enables severely disabled and chronically ill individuals to hire, train and supervise the Personal Assistant home care worker of their choice. This revolutionary home care program allows severely disabled individuals to live independently, with freedom and dignity.  Further, CDPAS is administered at a lower cost than a traditional home care program, saving New York State Medicaid millions of dollars per year.

Check out Concepts video testimonials from some of our founding members to learn about the impact that CDPAS has over individual lives.

To be a Concepts Consumer, you must be a Medicaid-eligible person; and you must also be a person with a disability.

• As a Concepts Consumer, you can employ as many Personal Assistants as you need to satisfy your lifestyle choice, keeping within the amount of hours you've been authorized by Medicaid.
• You can direct and supervise your Personal Assistants yourself, enabling you to live an independent life.
• You can receive care that otherwise would be required to be completed by a registered nurse.

Contact a Concepts representative at 844-NY-CDPAS (844-692-3727) to learn how to enroll in the Concepts CDPAS program. Once you are approved, you can begin to interview potential Personal Assistants. After the individual you select has completed an enrollment package and passed a medical exam, you will be able to train and employ him or her as your PA.

As a Concepts Consumer, you have complete control in who you hire as your Personal Assistant. The person you hire does not need to have any special certifications. You can learn more about where to find a PA from one of our Peer Counselor Tutorial videos. Additionally, as a Concepts Consumer, you can sign up for a website account which gives you access to a database of Personal Assistants who have worked with Concepts before and are seeking more work. You can search this database by schedule, location, skills, and language. Sign up for a web account here.  Remember you must be a Concepts Consumer to have an account.

After an eligibility period has been completed, your Personal Assistants will receive a competitive salary along with a full benefit package, including:

• Competitive pay with differentials
• Paid annual leave and holidays
• Access to a comprehensive health care plan
• Life insurance program

• Recruit, interview, train, and schedule the Personal Assistant of your choice.
• Manage your own care plan within the authorized hours given to you by your managed care plan (or the Local Department of Social Services, depending on which entity authorizes your care), and inform Concepts staff of any changes that may affect your service authorization.
• Direct the timely and accurate completion of your PA's time sheets, employment documents, and annual health assessments.
• Keep Concepts informed of any changes in status of both Consumer and PA such as address, telephone number, and incidents of hospitalization.
• Develop an emergency backup system that can manage emergency schedule changes, vacation days, and holidays.
• Maintain a safe and suitable work environment.
• Treat the PA with the respect and consideration with which you would like to be treated.

In cases where the Consumer is non-self-directing, their roles and responsibilities (the best crossbow described above) can be taken on by a legal guardian or responsible adult, known as a Designated Representative.

The consumer is the person who receives the personal assistance services. A designated representative is a person who agrees to accept all of the responsibilities for a consumer who either wants additional help running his / her program or cannot assume the responsibilities needed to do so. This means that the designated representative would then take on all of the responsibilities outlined within the Consumer Participation Agreement.

• Promote Consumer independence.
• Serve as the fiscal intermediary between the Consumer and Medicaid by billing Medicaid based on the Consumer’s authorization.
• Administer a comprehensive wage and benefits program for Personal Assistants.
• Provide a variety of ancillary services to the Consumer or the Surrogate assisting them, including: compliance monitoring, recruitment assistance, emergency preparedness.

• Determine if the Consumer is eligible to participate in Concepts’ CDPAS.
• Notify all Medicaid-eligible long-term care service recipients of the chance to participate in CDPAS.
• Define the level and amount of services required for each Consumer through their locally-approved home care authorization procedure.
• Authorize reimbursement for PA services as prescribed by the New York State DSS.
• Terminate services for any Consumer deemed not appropriate for CDPAS, and if suitable, transfer Consumer to another program.
• Provide Consumer with a fair hearing notice

• Provide Concepts with all employment documents prior to hire, and get an initial physical exam and an annual physical exam while employed.
• Complete all designated assignments of the Consumer (or the Designated Representative of the Consumer) to enhance the Consumer’s ability to live independently.
• Complete a timesheet with actual hours worked at the end of each day.
• Respect the Consumer’s health, well-being, privacy, and property.
• Comply with the policies and regulations of Concepts of Independence.
• Report to Concepts any possible instances of Medicaid fraud.
• Notify Concepts when a Consumer gets admitted to the hospital, long-term care facility or is on vacation.

A Personal Assistant must be hired by a Concepts Consumer directly, and:

• Be at least 18 years of age.
• Be legally eligible to work in the United States and have a valid Social Security number.
• Be interviewed and hired by a Concepts' Consumer.
• Provide all necessary information to the Consumer to facilitate enrollment in the payroll and insurance systems.
• Complete all required documents, in the manner prescribed by Concepts, with the assistance and direction of the Consumer.
• Complete an annual health assessment including all locally required laboratory tests.

Personal Assistants who are currently working for Concepts and need more hours (or who have worked with Concepts within the past three years) can sign up for an online profile that will place their name, information and skills into a database for Concepts’ Consumers. Fill out this form to apply to be in the database. Please know that this is only for Personal Assistants who have already worked with Concepts within the past three years. If you are seeking work but have never worked with Concepts before, one resource that may be assistance is Consumer Directed Services, Inc.