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The Representative Payee program is for individuals with severe mental disabilities. It is a collaborative financial protective services program, which offers a full range of financial services from payeeship responsibilities to budget counseling. The services are provided to clients with or without their consent based on the written professional opinion of the integrated treatment team. The treatment ream will consist of a doctor, nurse, case manager or other professional involved in the client's plan of care. The program allows for the least restrictive financial services to be provided thus avoiding court-appointed guardianship or conservatorship. The maximum involvement of the client in all decision-making matters is encouraged. Strict adherence to philosophy that encourages client self-determination facilitates independence and avoids all conflicts of interest muse he maintained. The Social Services Division of the Senior Resource Connection has provided representative payee services to elderly and disabled clients of its Adult Protective Service program since 1980. As stated previously, the Division has operated the payee program for severely mentally disabled individuals since 1990. The Division has also been the sponsoring agency for the AARP Volunteer Money Management program in the Miami Valley region since 1991. This program serves primarily a severely mentally disabled population as well. The Division's financial services workers are currently the sole providers offering payee services and budget counseling to those clients who are not capable of adequately managing their financial affairs or meet their basic needs. These clients have no other reliable means of support. With the expertise and knowledge gained over the past 15 years from administering the existing financial services programs, the established Automated Representative Payee Program, along with the firmly established individual and volunteer program, offers comprehensive payee program that meets the needs of a much broader spectrum of the SMD population in Montgomery County. Program Design Any resident of Montgomery County, 18 years of age and older, who is diagnosed as having a severe mental disability, and who is currently receiving services from community mental health centers is eligible for automated financial services. Financial payee services shall he provided without regard to income and with voluntary consent or involuntary consent based on the written opinion of the professional treatment team. Normally, the sources of income for clients on the program will consist of social security disability and/or supplemental security income (SSI). Personnel Qualifications The financial service workers who provide representative payee services minimally hold an associate degree in accounting, bookkeeping, or equivalent experience in a related field and also have experience with computerized accounting methods. The financial service workers are members of the financial services unit contained within the Social Services Division and report directly to the financial services supervisor, me supervisor accepts and assigns all referrals for payee services, conducts monthly case conferences and internal audits of client records, and compiles a monthly status report for the financial services unit for the Vice President of Social Services. The financial services supervisor reports to the Vice President of Social Services. The financial service workers are both bonded and covered by liability insurance. A thorough orientation is provided for the financial service workers by both the supervisor and the Vice President of Social Services. This includes an introduction to community needs and resources, agency and program objectives, and specific job responsibilities. Orientation to the needs of the severely mentally disabled will also he provided in conjunction with the community mental health centers and the integrated treatment teams. Monthly in-service training is provided as well as opportunities for participation in conferences and seminars Operation The financial service workers are employees of the Senior Resource Connection, within the financial services unit of the social services Division. All referrals for the individual or automated payee services are submitted on the appropriate referral form to the working supervisor of the unit. All referral forms are completed in their entirety by the case manager or other designated member of the integrated treatment team of the referring agency. A copy of the case manager' a treatment plan should accompany the written referral form to the financial services supervisor, the representative payee program is marketed to appropriate staff at all community health centers and at the Dayton Mental Health Center through presentations and in-service training programs. Upon the financial service workers serving the maximum number of clients (105), each new client who then is referred will be given a priority rating based upon need and date of referral and placed on a waiting list to be maintained by the financial services supervisor The ADAMHS Board reserves the right to identify specific clients as high priority for the program. These individuals will he served prior to others who may already be on the list. Click Here To Go Back To The Top
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