Guest Blog: Developing the STAR Kids Screening and Assessment Instrument
Darcy McMaughan, PhD
Texas A&M University Program on Disability Research and Community Based Care
April 8, 2016
You may remember Senate Bill 7 (SB 7) from the 2013 Texas Legislative session, which redesigned health care for Texans with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Among many other things, SB 7 directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to establish the STAR Kids program. STAR Kids would be a mandatory, managed health care program to provide Medicaid benefits to children and youth with disabilities in several waiver programs*.
Now that SB 7’s changes are rolling out, there are a lot of questions, particularly, about how it will affect some 180,000 children who will be transitioning into STAR Kids.
As part of establishing the STAR Kids Medicaid Managed Care Program, HHSC tasked the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Program on Disability Research and Community Based Care (PDRCC) with creating and testing the STAR Kids Screening and Assessment Instrument (SK-SAI).
The SK-SAI contains trigger items that may advance children and youth into additional services, such as personal care services and nursing services The SK-SAI also contains flags for further follow-up by the Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) on issues such as the need for Durable Medical Equipment (DME), Behavioral Health Services, and other Therapies.
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The development of the STAR Kids SAI has been journey for all of us. The process itself was community based and included participation from families of children with disabilities and their care providers. We feel that the ultimate product is a holistic assessment that represents all aspects of the child’s life. Throughout the assessment, whenever possible, the child is addressed and given the opportunity to contribute.
It has been a lengthy albeit rewarding process. We are grateful to have been given the chance to work with so many advocates and we sincerely hope that this assessment functions to represent the needs and better the lives of children with disabilities in Texas.
*These waiver programs include:
- Medically Dependent Children Program (MDCP)
- Home and Community-based Services (HCS)
- Community Living Assistance and Supports Services (CLASS)
- Deaf Blind with Multiple Disabilities (DBMD)
- Texas Home Living (TxHmL)
- Youth Empowerment Services (YES)
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About the TAMU Program on Disability Research and Community Based Care
The PDRCC’s vision is to create a national center or “locus” of excellence in research on disability and community-based long term supports and services by providing a coordinated focus for both policy-relevant research and evaluations of promising new practices and clinical interventions focused on the provision of care, in the community, for people with complex and chronic health conditions. As part of our vision, the PDRCC acknowledges and promotes an understanding of disability and community-based care that emphasizes disability as a complex interaction between the individual and the social and physical environment. As such, our primary mission is to remove social and physical environmental barriers that adversely affect the health and wellbeing of people with disabilities through applied research in disability and community-based care. Darcy McMaughan, PhD is the Director of the PDRCC.
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