Developmental Disabilities Administration By Laws

By-Laws: The Developmental Disabilities Administration and its Providers

These by-laws govern the conduct of service providers working with the DDA to offer institutional or waiver services to individuals with developmental disabilities within the District of Columbia.

Article 1: Name and Purpose

Section 1. Name: The agency’s name is the Developmental Disabilities Administration (abbreviated as DDA).

Section 2. Purpose: The DDA is tasked with coordinating and maintaining oversight for all supports and services offered to persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities within Washington State. The mandate of the DDA is to support individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities to have the most control, choice, and independence to live fulfilling lives in the community. To realize this mandate, the DDA partners with service providers who offer an array of community and residential services to promote wellness and health, thus ensuring that individuals with such disabilities lead a high quality life.

Section 3. Legality: Title 7 -771.02 of the Code of the District of Columbia establishes the Department of Healthcare Finance (DHCF) as a cabinet-level agency within the state government’s executive branch (Council of the District of Columbia, n.d.). The DHC delegates the day-to-day duties of providing services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to the DDA via a Memorandum of Agreement that spells out the DHCF’s oversight role.

Article 2. Level of Care for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Section 1. HCBS Waiver Programs: Individuals enrolled in HCBS waiver programs will receive the same level of care as those enrolled in institutional settings. Institutional levels of care will be assessed using a standard method and criteria. As part of ensuring adherence to quality standards, each provider will subject themselves to an annual evaluation by DDA personnel to determine how well their levels of care meet required institutional standards.

Section 2. Continuous Improvement: Providers must submit regular reports on their levels of care to the DDA. Problem areas identified in the annual evaluations must be remediated. The provider will be required to report to the DDA the individualized remediation strategies undertaken to address problem areas. For performance indicators below the 80 percent threshold, providers will be required to initiate a quality improvement project (QIP) that brings together all relevant stakeholders to determine ways of improving levels of care before they can obtain certification from the DDA.

Article 3. Service Plan: Services are only funded by Medicaid if they are authorized and provided (Department of Disability Services, 2019). At the same time, the DDA commits to offering personalized services that meet the needs of each individual. In this regard, providers are required to fill out an Individual Support Plan (ISP) for each individual in their care. The ISP outlines the individual’s needs and goals as identified in the planning meeting between the provider’s staff and the individual, as well as the type, scope, and frequency of services offered. Providers are to update the ISPs at least once annually or as the individual’s needs and goals change.

Article 4. Qualified Providers: Providers must ensure that their programs and staff at all levels meet licensing and certification standards to handle individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Providers will be required to make arrangements to build the capacities of their staff through training and also maintain proper oversight to ensure that staff comply with policy and regulations at all times.

Article 5. Health and Welfare: Providers have a duty to ensure that all individuals under their care are protected from abuse, exploitation, and neglect. Providers must carry out risk assessments on all individuals in their care to identify their risk of abuse and take mitigation steps as outlined in the DDA system of reporting. They must offer annual training to ensure that all the staff and individuals in their care understand the DDA system of reporting, investigating, tracking, and resolving cases of abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Providers must take steps to protect individuals in their care by ensuring that incidents are reported, investigated, and measures taken to prevent re-occurrence.