Adult Services

Elderly and disable citizens need access to an integrated health and social service system that encompasses the entire continuum of care from home and community-based services to long-term care services. Adult Services helps meet this need through programs designed to promote independence, choice and self-sufficiency.

Adult Protective Services

Adults with disabilities may be vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation. Greene County Departments of Social Services receive and evaluate reports to determine whether disabled adults are in need of protective services by:

• Receiving reports and evaluating the need for protective services
• Planning with the disabled adult, family or caregiver to identify and prevent abuse, neglect or exploitation
• Reporting evidence of mistreatment to the District Attorney and various regulatory agencies
• Initiating court action as necessary to protect the adult
• Mobilizing essential services on behalf of the disabled adult

Disabled adults reported to be abused, neglected or exploited and in need of protective services are eligible to receive this service regardless of income. If you suspect that a Greene County resident who is disabled of being abuse, neglected, or exploited call Greene County Department of Social Services at 252-747-5932 between 8am and 5pm Monday through Friday and for after hours and weekends call the Greene County Communications Department at 252-747-8000

Community Alternatives Program for Disabled Adults (CAP/DA)

The Community Alternatives Programs for Disabled Adults (CAP/DA) is a special Home and Community Based Service waiver. It makes care at home a real possibility for many who face nursing home placement. CAP/DA grew out of a desire to offer home care as an alternative to those facing care in a nursing facility. With good case management, a complete package of wrap around services, and reliable informal support from family and friends, some individuals may remain safely at home. CAP/DA exists to supplement rather than replace the formal and informal services and support already available to an individual. The program’s goal is to allow individuals to return to or remain in the community and live as independently as possible.

When a Greene County resident is considered for CAP/DA the individual’s strengths and needs are assessed by an Independent Assessor. Their assessment is then sent to the local Case Management Entity, which is Greene County Department of Social Services in this county. A case manager develops a plan of care which builds on the client’s strengths. In addition to case management, the CAP/DA beneficiaries may be considered for the areas listed below depending on the availability of resources in our county:

• Adult Day Health
• In-home aide Services
• Meal Preparation and delivery
• Institutional respite services
• In-home aide respite services
• Personal Emergency Response Services
• Specialized medical supplies
• Training, education and consultative services
• Case Management
• Equipment, technology and modification*
• Participant goods and services*
• Community transition and integration services*
• Coordinated caregiving*
• Personal assistant under consumer-directed services
• Financial management services

 *Recently added services

In addition to the CAP/DA services, the client also may receive regular Medicaid services under the guidelines for those services. The total Medicaid cost of services in the home must be within the CAP cost limit.

Special Assistance In-Home

The State and County Special Assistance In-Home Program for Adults (SA/IH) provides a cash supplement to low income individuals who are at risk of entering a residential facility.  SA/IH provides additional support services and income to individuals who would prefer to live at home. Case managers at the Greene County Departments of Social Services conduct comprehensive assessments to identify how certain factors would affect a Greene County resident’s ability to live at home. Primary factors include:

• The functional status of the client and need for care and services.
• Availability of family, friends and neighbors to provide care and services.
• Availability and access to care and services from agencies and other formal service providers.
• Ability to pay for housing.
• Availability of affordable and safe housing.

The services assessment is needed to determine whether an applicant/recipient could remain safely at home and what services would be needed to assure that the applicant’s needs are met. The case managers work directly with the recipients, families and other caregivers to develop a care plan that enables the recipient to live at home. The case managers, working with the recipient, establish the amount of the SA/IH payment and determine how the payment will be used.

In-Home Aide

This is a non-Medicaid funded service program that provides personal care services for those Greene County residents age 60 and over who require assistance to maintain their independence in their home, but don’t have the means (such as Medicaid) to maintain these services otherwise. In-Home Aide services help individuals who have functional, physical or mental impairments to accomplish their daily activities. Personal care assistance includes:

• Bathing
• Dressing
• Toileting
• Feeding
• Ambulation

Personal care services must be provided by home care agencies licensed by the Division of Health Service Regulation. Some individuals may require home management assistance to be able to remain safely in their home settings. Home management assistance includes:

• Cooking
• Cleaning
• Laundry
• Shopping

Guardianship

Guardianship is a legal relationship in which someone (the guardian) is authorized by the clerk of superior court to be a substitute decision maker for an incompetent adult (protected persons). Incompetence is determined in a court proceeding and means an adult is unable to manage his or her own affairs, or is unable to make important decisions. Guardianship Services are provided to Greene County residents who are alleged to be incompetent or adjudicated incompetent by the court. Greene County Departments of Social Services often serve as guardians for adults who have been adjudicated incompetent by the court when a person with vested interest, such as family or friends, cannot be identified or are not willing to become that individual’s guardian. Guardianship services include:

• Assessing an individual’s need for guardianship
• Locating the appropriate person(s) to serve as guardian(s)
• Petitioning or assisting the individual’s family for the adjudication of incompetence and the appointment of a guardian
• Ongoing casework when the agency director or assistant director has been appointed as guardian

Responsibilities of the Guardian Include:

• Making decisions about where the individual will live
• Authorizing medical treatment, managing the individual’s finances
• Filing status reports and accountings with the court

The guardian resigns

• The ward’s competence is restored
• The clerk of superior court removes the guardian from his position
• The ward dies

Representative Payee

This program is intended to assist persons who can’t manage or direct the management of his or her Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income. This includes money management, along with providing protection from financial abuse and victimization. The program ensures the beneficiary’s funds are used to pay for current and future needs of the beneficiary, and properly save any benefits not needed to meet current needs.  Any Greene County resident that is considered in need of a representative payee by the Social Security Administration may request that Greene County Department of Social Services provide that service.

Special Needs Registry

Greene County Department of Social Services maintains a Special Needs Registry for Greene County residents that helps identify individuals in Greene County needing more help during a disaster due to physical or medical problems.  Participation is voluntary and the information kept confidential and shared only with Emergency Management during a manmade or natural disaster. Registration forms are available at this site or call Greene County Department of Social Services.