LTC-Home Community and Family Support Services (HCFSS)

Home, Community and Family Support Services (HCFSS) are:

Customized

We pay close attention to what makes each person we serve special, tailoring the programs and services that are available to suit their individual needs.

Comprehensive

We work with people, from all walks of life, throughout the course of their lives, supporting them from birth, before school, through school, and as adults and seniors.

Community-Based

We go to where the people we serve live, work, learn, and play in order to make receiving services as easy as possible.

Collaborative

We help find the right partners for accurate diagnosis and exceptional care, working closely with families and caregivers along the way.

To get started, click here, or explore the information below.

Navigation and Quality can help determine if someone qualifies for a Medicaid waiver or other services, help them enroll, and connect them to resources in the community. This team assists with Delay and Disability Determination, Intake and documentation, community resource referral, quality monitoring and review, and incident investigation. If you need assistance with eligibility determination, the first step is to contact our Navigation and Quality Program Coordinator to begin the process of completing an application.

Navigation and Quality Program Coordinator
Phone: 719.941.7026 
Main Phone: 719.846.2276 (ext. 7199)
Email: TBD

Intake Service Coordination is also known as Case Management, and is a person-centered, family and community-focused service to build relationships with the people we serve, working with them and their caregivers to write successful service plans and monitor services to ensure needs are being met. This team helps with enrollment in services, individualized service plan creating and monitoring, paperwork completion and submission assistance, goal setting and strategy collaboration, problem-solving and crisis management, and meeting or appointment attendance, if needed.

Our Family Support Services Program builds up a family’s capacity so they can best support their family member with disabilities or delays and ensure their family member remains within the family setting they choose. This team helps care for the caregiver and also assists them with costs that are beyond those normally experienced by other families. Through Colorado general funds, this program provides funding for eligible families, respite through TRE’s Break Time program, parent education, stress intervention, and self-care classes, and community support groups in El Paso County.

Health First Colorado (Medicaid) Waivers provide Home & Community Based Services (HCBS) to low-income individuals needing long term support services. These programs can help individuals remain in their homes by providing non-skilled services.

Individuals requiring nursing facilities or assisted living facilities may be eligible to receive financial aid.

Who is Eligible?

To qualify for Long Term and HCBS support services:

• You must be at least 18 years of age
• You must meet financial eligibility
• You must require long term care for one or more of the following conditions:
  • Elderly, Blind or Disabled
    • If you are between 18-64, you must have a physical disability
    • If you are 65 and older, you must be determined to have a significant functional impairment
  • Mental Health
    • A person experiencing severe and persistent mental health needs that requires assistance with one or more Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
    • Currently has or at any time during the past year leading up to the assessment has a diagnosed mental, behavioral or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM- 5)
    • Has a disorder that is episodic, recurrent, or has persistent features, but may vary in terms of severity and disabling effects
    • Has resulted in a functional impairment with substantially interferes with or limits one or more major activity.
    • It does not include intellectual or developmental disorders or substance use disorders without a co-occurring diagnosis of a severe and persistent mental health need.
  • Brain Injury (BI)
    • Must be 16 years or older
    • Must have a brain injury
    • Brain injury occurred before 65th birthday
    • Your diagnosis must fit within certain categories

Benefits

HCBS may provide non-skilled services to individuals in their home to assist with activities of daily living such as:

• Bathing and dressing
• Managing medications
• Meal preparation
• Light housekeeping

Long Term Care services may cover some of the cost of:

• Nursing facilities
• Assisted living facilities

Eligible recipients must contribute a portion of their income toward the room and board portion of their care when in nursing facility or alternative care facility placements.

View a complete list of Long Term Service and Supports Benefits 

How Do I Apply?

You can apply for benefits in one of the following ways:

• Visit Colorado PEAK to see if you are eligible and to apply online. Applications will be automatically submitted to the Division of Economic Security Service (DESS) at Las Animas County Department of Human Services.
• You may also pick up an application at our office located at 
  Las Animas County Department of Human Services
  219 S Chestnut Street
  Trinidad, Colorado 81082
• Request may request for an application be mailed to you by calling (719)846-2276 (option 1).
• Print an application and return by mail, fax or in person at the Las Animas County DHS office.
  English Application
  Spanish Application
  Large Print Application

You may return the application by fax, mail, or in-person:

• Fax: 719-846-4269
• Mail to or Drop Off: 
  Las Animas County DHS
  219 S. Chestnut Street
  Trinidad, Colorado 81082
  Office Hours are 8:00 am to 4:30 pm

Questions?

Escalation Contacts

1. Shawna Grosso, (HCBS) Lead Case Manager
   shawna.grosso@state.co.us
   719-941-7009
2. Laurie Ringo, (HCBS) Supervisor 
   laurie.ringo@state.co.us
   719-941-7024
3. Marsi Mason, (HCBS-IDD, SLS, OBRA, FSSP) Supervisor 
   marsi.mason@state.co.us
   719-941-9224
4. Hallie Coulter, Adult Services Supervisor (Huerfano County)  
   hallie.coulter@state.co.us
   719-738-2810, ext. 131
5. Robert Bertolino, Deputy Director/CMA Administrator 
   robert.bertolino@state.co.us
   719-422-7091
6. Michael Aragon, Executive Director 
   michael.aragon@state.co.us
   719-941-7016 

Emergency Contacts

1. Shawna Grosso, (HCBS) Lead Case Manager
   shawna.grosso@state.co.us
   719-941-7009
2. Laurie Ringo, (HCBS) Supervisor 
   laurie.ringo@state.co.us
   719-941-7024
3. Marsi Mason, (HCBS-IDD, SLS, OBRA, FSSP) Supervisor 
   marsi.mason@state.co.us
   719-941-9224
4. Hallie Coulter, Adult Services Supervisor (Huerfano County)  
   hallie.coulter@state.co.us
   719-738-2810, ext. 131
5. Robert Bertolino, Deputy Director/CMA Administrator 
   robert.bertolino@state.co.us
   719-422-7091
6. Michael Aragon, Executive Director 
   michael.aragon@state.co.us
   719-941-7016

Become a representative for your community, join one of our many CMA committees:

Community Advisory Committee

The Community Advisory Committee advises the HCFSS - Case Management Agency (CMA) on topics and serves as an independent entity ensuring the protection of the rights of individuals receiving services.

HCFSS is recruiting members for quarterly meetings with lived experience and those eligible for or receiving services from the CMA.

The Community Advisory Committee advises the HCFSS as the Case Management Agency on topics and serves as an independent entity ensuring the protection of the rights of individuals receiving services.

Offer your recommendations on the client's perspectives, service delivery, service quality, member satisfaction, and related programmatic opportunities aimed at overcoming barriers at the local or regional level and overall CMA operations, service delivery policies, resource development, and strategies to address complaints and grievances.

If interested in becoming a member of the committee, complete the CAC Form. 

Family Support Council (FSC)

The Family Support Council is a state-mandated entity, made up of family members and other community partners, that provides guidance and direction to the Case Management Agency at Las Animas County Dept. of Human Services (CMA-LACDHS) about how to administer the state funded Family Support Services Program (FSSP).  The Council determines the number of families to be served with state and county resources, approves the process for identifying families "most in need," and establishes funding limits consistent with the State's rules.  The Council reviews the process each year. Funding limits and priorities are subject to change based on available resources and state guidelines.

Council Composition

The Family Support Council consists of family members of persons with an intellectual and developmental disability, professionals, interested citizens and persons with an intellectual and developmental disability with a majority of the council being made up of family members.

Time Commitment

The council meets quarterly, time and day TBD for each quarter: January, April, July and October.

To Submit an Application

If interested in serving on the Family Support Council, you can complete the FSC Form. 

If you have questions, contact: Marsi Mason: marsi.mason@state.co.us.

The Selection Process

Applicants will be notified that their application has been received. The Family Support Council will review and consider each application and make recommendations to the LACDHS Board of Directors for approval/appointment to the Family Support Council. All applicants will receive communication about their applicant status.