CDPAP for Children with Developmental Disabilities

The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) is a well-known program among the senior community in New York State. Many have gravitated toward CDPAP instead of traditional home care because it gives the individual more control over who provides their care and how it is provided.

However, seniors are not the only population that CDPAP is meant to help!

Children with developmental disabilities can utilize CDPAP, and there are many families that are not aware of this option. Unfortunately, the parents of children under 21 years old are not permitted to be the personal assistants (caregiver) in CDPAP, as they are considered the guardian and decision makers. Should a child be 21+ and able to make their own decisions, parents can actually get paid to be the full time caregiver! For cases where the child is younger than 21, the grandparents and other relatives are allowed to be the personal assistants. This help from other relatives relieves stress and burnout of the parents. Many times relatives are already helping the child, and CDPAP allows for them to be paid for the time they are caring for them.  Parents also have the option to hire and train personal assistants from the community.

Many parents are still not aware of the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, which is unfortunate because they deserve these services.

A great aspect about CDPAP is the personal assistants don’t need any certifications or experience, the parents decide on the qualification and factors of the screening process. The parents are the ones in sole control over the management process once qualified horus are determined by the Managed Long Term Care. This includes hiring, training, scheduling and if necessary, firing of any and all personal assistants providing care. For a comprehensive list of tasks that can be performed by a personal assistant, check out our blog CDPAP Allows a Wider Scope of Practice from a Personal Assistant.

Many families are also not aware that CDPAP can be used to supplement other programs in the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). Programs in OPWDD have different purposes, but none allow caregivers to perform any tasks from indirect activities of daily living to skilled nursing tasks such as feeding tubes, medication administration, tracheostomy care, etc. Many children with special health care needs require skilled nursing tasks to be done. Parents who help their children on a daily basis are well versed in their son or daughters care, and are perfect representatives to teach and train CDPAP personal assistants to help their child.

CDPAP is a great program that has truly filled many voids in home care for children with special health care needs. For more information about how we can help you get started - check out our website or give us a call 866-720-0124.