Catching up with Louisiana, post hurricanes Katrina and Rita

The devastating effect of the “two wicked stepsisters” as they say in Louisiana’s developmental disability circle—referring to hurricanes Katrina and Rita—may have created a slippery launch for the Supports Intensity Scale (SIS) in 2005 in a state slammed with natural and financial disasters. However, it did nothing to dampen the spirits of the SIS Louisiana project staff and over 250 support coordinators. Despite being cordoned off from the New Orleans area for 3 months and facing logistical nightmares, the staff worked full throttle from March through June 2006 to complete 3,500 SIS assessments with citizens with intellectual disabilities.

“It was amazing we got the SIS assessments done under such circumstances, but what kept us going was our faith in its implications for an equitable allocation of resources to our citizens living with an intellectual disability,” says Scott Meche, Project Director for SIS/Louisiana Plus (In Louisiana, the Supports Intensity Scale is administered along with some additional items in the behavioral and medical areas, and the system is referred to as SIS/Louisiana Plus). “The people we interviewed everywhere were so happy that their needs, and not deficits, were being assessed.” Meche also adds that going out and meeting people in various settings—from group homes to developmental centers—helped identify an extensive array of services and consequently, new waivers are being developed.

A year since completing the initial SIS assessments, the state has come a long way. With the initial hurdles conquered, Louisiana is well underway toward developing a resource allocation model and is currently in the midst of completing 900 more assessments to gain data for building a stronger statistical model. Further, the state is in the midst of integrating the Supports Intensity Scale into a sophisticated Individualized Service Plan (ISP) system complete with electronic triggers that would cue support coordinators to include critical needs in the plan. A training program is also being launched in three regions across Louisiana to get professionals familiar with the SIS/Louisiana Plus system. “The SIS is becoming a very important face in the service delivery system of Louisiana—from conducting assessments to determining resource allocation for people with intellectual disabilities,” explains Meche.

There is no doubt in Meche’s mind that SIS/Louisiana plus, especially with the in-built trigger system, contributes to more effective person-centered plans and service planning for an individual. “When we compared SIS/LA Plus assessment results with older plans done, we found that we would have seen better plans if the SIS assessment had been done before. In one instance, an assessment indicated that a person had diabetes and that was found nowhere in the plan. That’s an important issue and had the SIS/LA plus assessment taken place, it would have been triggered and would have been addressed in the person’s plan.”

The state is also conducting data analysis to identify cost predictors for individual resource allocation “The future plans for SIS/Louisiana Plus is to develop a realistic budget model using the tools and we want to make sure we are monitoring assessors to make sure we are getting valid and reliable results,” says Meche. “We are hoping to implement the resource allocation model by year 2009.”