Frequently Asked Questions

Personal Assistance Services (PAS) allow an individual with a disability to live and work in the most integrated setting. PAS can include attendant services, assistance with transportation to and from work, reader services, business travel assistance, or job coaches.

Personal Assistance Services may be paid for in various ways:

• Using your own money
• By the Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS)
• By an employer as a reasonable accommodation

Any Arizona resident living in his or her own home who:

• Currently gets Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS) services
• Does not live in a long-term care facility
• Needs Personal Assistance Services (PAS)

To get public funding for Personal Assistance Services (PAS):

1. Apply for the Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS) at your local ALTCS office.
2. Have a Pre-Admission Screening to see if you qualify for ALTCS benefits.
3. If the screening finds that you qualify for benefits, you will be enrolled for ALTCS services through a Managed Care Organization (MCO).
4. Once you are enrolled, your case manager will visit you at home and work with you to figure out what services you need.
5. If the program agrees that you need PAS, follow their instructions for getting a Personal Care Assistant (PCA).

Your ALTCS-offered Personal Care Assistant can help you with various things:

• Domestic services, such as sweeping, vacuuming, taking out the garbage, wheelchair cleaning and battery recharging, and changing bed linens
• Related services, such as meal preparation, clean-up, laundry and shopping
• Personal care services, such as feeding, bathing, grooming, dressing, toileting, and help with medications
• Limited heavy cleaning
• General supervision for individuals with cognitive behavioral health disabilities

There are many organizations that serve as Personal Assistance Services (PAS) agencies, where you or the program paying for your PAS contacts the agency, which in turn finds an appropriate Personal Care Assistant (PCA) to help you. You can also look for personal assistance from friends, neighbors, relatives, or other people who are recommended to you.

Yes. In most cases you can hire relatives, friends, neighbors, and other caregivers to supply you with Personal Assistance Services (PAS). However, if you are getting your services paid for by the Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS), your relatives, friends, or neighbors may need to be employed by a PAS agency for you to have them supply you with services.

You, or your representative, will need to make sure that the Personal Care Assistant (PCA) does what you need. You may have additional responsibilities depending on whether you get your assistant through an agency or hire the assistant on your own.

If your PCA is funded by the Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS), usually your ALTCS Managed Care Organization will contract for your PCA through an agency. Depending on your preferences, you may know somebody who you would prefer to have as your attendant and this person can become an employee of an agency. Or you may prefer to indicate some preferences in an attendant and let the agency find somebody who has those qualifications.

If you are getting your PCA through ALTCS, you may select the Self-Directed Attendant Care (SDAC) option, which means you could hire a PCA on your own without going through an agency. If you use the SDAC option, or are paying for your PCA yourself, you will have to:

• Prepare an outline of duties for the PCA
• Create the PCA’s schedule
• Make a backup plan in the instance the PCA can’t come as planned
• Train your PCA
• Handle all supervision
• Fire your PCA if you are not satisfied with the job he or she is doing

The number of hours of Personal Assistance Services (PAS) that people need is different from person to person. Some people need a few hours a week, while others need many more. If you get funding through Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS), the program will evaluate your situation and decide how many hours it will pay for each week.

No, you can’t use ALTCS-funded Personal Assistance Services (PAS). If you live in a nursing home or other assisted living facility, you are already getting assistance with personal care needs.

Yes. Personal Assistance Services (PAS) can be used at work if they are needed as a reasonable accommodation. The Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS) will not supply reasonable accommodations for job duties, but can supply PAS for nonrelated work activities, such as during lunch and breaks. For personal assistance with job duties, you or your employer will usually have to pay, though Arizona Rehabilitation Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or Workers’ Compensation may pay for them in some cases.

A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment or modification to a job or workplace that enables an employee to perform the essential functions of the job successfully.

Examples:

• An employee who is blind can request a computer screen reader.
• An employee with a mental health condition can request a flexible work schedule.

No. Unless you are requesting a reasonable accommodation, you are not required to disclose a disabling condition. Even then, employers can only request the documentation that is needed to establish the existence of a disability and the need for a reasonable accommodation. This means that in most situations, your employer cannot request your entire medical record.

No. Reasonable accommodation protections from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) cover employers with 15 or more employees. The ADA also does not apply to employers that are owned and operated by Indian tribes, but Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act may apply if tribal employers accepted federal financial assistance. Some Indian tribes have also adopted laws which are similar to the ADA.

Workplace Personal Assistance Services (PAS) can be used to enable an employee to perform the essential functions of the job. In general, under the ADA an employer must supply workplace PAS if those services are job-related and not primarily for the personal benefit of the employee. If another accommodation would allow you to fulfill the key responsibilities of your job, your employer may offer that accommodation instead of Personal Assistance Services.

Personal assistance in the workplace can help people with:

• Interviewing for a job
• Training that is required by the employer
• Preparation of meals
• Personal care services
• Paramedical services

Personal assistance may or may not qualify as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In general, workplace Personal Assistance Services may be considered a reasonable accommodation if the assistance is job-related and not primarily for your personal benefit.