FAQs
Support Service Brokerages are private organizations providing case management, in-home and community-based services to adults that experience Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (I/DD). Brokerages have been serving Oregon since 2001 and presently support nearly 8000 people with I/DD with living independently in the community. All brokerages are governed by boards/advisory groups comprised primarily of people with I/DD and their families. More information regarding the function and purpose of the brokerages can be found below.
Brokerages support adults that experience intellectual and/or developmental disabilities to choose, arrange, and monitor the supports they need to live on their own or in their family homes within the community. Brokerages help inform individuals, and their families, about their rights and options as adults, which allows individuals to make better decisions about how they live their lives and take responsibility for their choices. Brokerages were founded on the principles of self-determination: What would you like on your plan? What services do you need? What services do you prefer? Who would you like to provide those services? Where would you like your services We offer self-directed, person-centered services. Brokerages serve about 8,000 people statewide. No matter where you live in Oregon, there is a Support Services Brokerage available to serve you. In some areas, there are as many as five choices.
The K Plan is a Medicaid state plan option authorized under the Affordable Care Act.
You can find more information about the K Plan by visiting the K Plan homepage.
Access to Brokerage Support Services
Access is through local County Developmental Disability Programs. Service Coordinators in these programs determine eligibility for support services and make referrals to the agencies that help develop and monitor the actual support services provided.
Questions about obtaining support services can be directed to the appropriate program below.
When you look up the word “Brokerage”, the definition is the business or service of acting as a broker. A “broker” is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. We are not financial brokers; we are disability services brokers. This means that in addition to basic case management, our Personal Agents help connect people to resources that fit their needs. The funding you get through Support Services is a social benefit, through state and federal funding sources. This means that your service funds are tax-payer dollars, and while it is important that we are good stewards of these funds, it will not cost you anything to access them.
A Personal Agent, or PA, is the main contact for customers at the Brokerage. Their job is to work with individuals to identify what supports they need and will assist in finding a way to meet these needs. In order to do this, they will work with the customer and any key people in the customer’s life to develop a Individual Support Plan, or ISP. The customer decides the best way to spend their money and who will be supporting them to reach these goals. The PA will help their customers find providers and agencies to interview, connect with community resources, offer advice about effective ways to spend plan dollars, and stride to insure that they are satisfied with the people they hire, and any other supports they purchase.
Brokerages are the result of a lawsuit several families brought against the State of Oregon at the end of the 1990s. They deemed the community-based supports and services available at the time of institution closures to be inadequate. Over 5,000 people had been on waitlists for community-based services for many years with no end in sight. The lawsuit (Staley v. Kitzhaber) resulted in the Staley Agreement. It expanded home- and community-based case management support for children and adults experiencing a developmental disability.
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Federal Funding of Brokerage Support Services
The support services offered at Creative Supports Inc. are provided under a federal Medicaid waiver as an alternative to placement in an institution or Intermediate Care Facility for Persons with Intellectual and/ or Developmental Disabilities. You can read more about it below.
The supports that are Medicaid eligible are determined by the state of Oregon. If you have been qualified and enrolled in brokerage services, your plan that you develop with your Personal Agent may include the following services:
- Chore Services
- Community Inclusion Supports
- Community Living Supports
- Environmental Accessibility Adaptations
- Family Training
- Homemaker Services
- Non-Medical Transportation
- Occupational Therapy Services
- Personal Emergency Response Services
- Physical Therapy Services
- Respite Care
- Special Diets
- Specialized Medical Equipment & Supplies
- Specialized Supports
- Speech & Language Therapy Services
- Supported Employment
Where can I find more information?
Further information regarding the qualified Medicaid Supports can be found below.