Heritage Christian Services expands reach as CDPAP facilitator

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One of the Rochester region’s largest nonprofit organizations has taken on a new statewide role that will help expand its reach and deliver better homecare service to residents across New York.  

Heritage Christian Services is now an approved facilitator for the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), which is overseen by the state Department of Health.  

The new designation is helping Heritage Christian Services work toward its goal of assisting at least 5,000 more people before the year end. 

Julie Owen, vice president of customized supports, said Heritage Christian Services wants to strengthen its support of the CDPAP community across New York and has already expanded to serve people in 29 counties. 

“Compassionate and helpful customer service is key to CDPAP families,” Owen said. “We’re excited to deliver Heritage Christian’s high-quality supports to families across the state.” 

Heritage Christian Services is one of 42 facilitators offering client specialists who help older adults and people with disabilities navigate the transition to PPL, the new statewide fiscal intermediary for the CDPAP program.  

Additional Rochester-based organizations that are program facilitators include Angels in Your Home, Center for Disability Rights and Companion Care of Rochester. 

Facilitators provide support for tasks such as registering with PPL, ensuring compliance with program requirements and providing ongoing customer service.  

They essentially act as a point of contact and guide for individuals participating in CDPAP, helping them navigate its complexities and ensure they receive the necessary support to manage their care. 

Proponents call the CDPAP program a commonsense effort that provides better care and better service at a better price. The state DOH estimates it will save taxpayers some $1 billion annually by reducing wasteful administrative spending and help prevent Medicaid fraud. 

The program is a state Medicaid service that provides options for long-term care.  

Consumers, or their designees, can hire family members, friends, neighbors or other people over 18 who they trust to be an attendant.  

In many cases, people already providing these supports can now be paid for doing them. Spouses and designated representatives, however, cannot serve as CDPAP attendants. 

An attendant can perform all the tasks usually assigned to a home health aide, such as assisting with bathing, eating, dressing and bathroom needs.  

They can also perform tasks that nurses usually perform, such as administering medication, cleaning wounds, suctioning tracheotomies, giving insulin injections and administering oxygen to a person on a ventilator. 

Owen said Heritage Christian Services has the infrastructure in place to support its new facilitator role.  

The biggest challenge, Owen noted, is helping people navigate the changes to the CDPAP program and helping to ease any concerns they may have about those changes.  

For example, moving from hundreds of fiscal intermediaries to one, PPL, created enrollment delays for program participants and has resulted in a deadline extension so they have time to make the transition.

Heritage Christian Services is holding regular informational sessions about the program and more details can be found on its website.  

Among the opportunities from the new role is the chance to share information about the work Heritage Christian Services does with a larger population, Owen said. 

Heritage Christian Services employs more than 4,000 people at over 100 physical sites across the Greater Rochester and Buffalo-Niagara regions, generating an annual service revenue exceeding $160 million.  

The organization provides support to over 1,500 people with development disabilities and offers high-quality childcare. 

Serving as a CDPAP facilitator further demonstrates the organization’s mission to give people equity and access to services and complements its reputation as a premier provider of supports for those it serves, she added.  

“As a not-for-profit provider, this program speaks to our mission,” Owen said.  

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