*Some Adult services may be available for 18-21 year-olds. See our Adult services.
Children’s Service Coordination (CSC) provides resources to families who have a child (age 3 to 21) with a developmental disability or chronic health condition. The services provided are initiated by each family and are unique to their specific needs.
The focus of Children’s Service Coordination is to assist the family in accessing services. Our goal is to educate and empower families to identify, access and utilize available resources in ways that are most helpful to them. This is achieved by partnering with a Children’s Service Coordinator.
Children’s Service Coordination (CSC) provides:
The Family Council is an advisory group to the Area Agency, made up of parents and family members of children and adults with developmental disabilities. Learn more here.
Environmental Modifications (E-mods) are physical adaptations to a person’s home that are necessary to ensure the health, welfare and safety of the person. E-mods may also be made to a vehicle if it is the primary source of transportation to a person who receives services. Examples of E-mods include wheelchair ramps and lifts, hand rails, roll-in showers, lifts, automatic door openers and widened doorways and hallways. E-mods enable a person to live with greater independence. For individuals with unsafe wandering and running behaviors, outdoor fencing may be a needed e-mod. E-mods do not include the purchase of a vehicle or improvements to a home or vehicle that are not medically necessary or are not needed for a person’s independence in their home or community.
In-Home Support (IHS) services provides residential habilitation for children or young adults who have a developmental disability and significant medical or behavioral challenges.
These supports, provided with the help of an In-Home Support service coordinator, include personal care and other related services to promote greater independence and skill development for children or young adults to allow them to remain living at home with their family and actively engage with their community.
To qualify, a child must have Medicaid, live at home with their family, and be 0-through age 21 and still in school.
In Home Supports services are intended to help the child and the family develop the skills that child needs to become an independent adult including such activities as:
Project SEARCH provides a comprehensive approach to employment training and career advancement for individuals between 18-34 years of age with developmental disabilities. The program provides real world skills training through a series of internships and classroom learning, all designed to teach marketable skills that will transfer to a variety of employment settings.
Project SEARCH (Students Exploring Alternative Resources Children’s Hospital) began at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati in 1996, to create an opportunity for individuals between 18-34 years of age with developmental disabilities to obtain marketable employment skills. Since then, Project SEARCH has grown to more than 200 sites across the U.S. and in four other countries.
In the Monadnock Region Project SEARCH partners are Monadnock Developmental Services, NH Vocational Rehabilitation, and Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth Hitchcock (CMC/DH), where the program takes place. CMC/DH offers a wide variety of opportunities for employment training, from stocking to housekeeping to food service to office tasks. The program runs on an academic calendar: Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Interested candidates must apply to and be accepted into the program.
The minimum requirements for Project SEARCH applicants:
Graduates work in a variety of jobs. Some work in an office environment, others in retail, manufacturing, environmental services, food service, and recreation. On average, graduates of Project SEARCH earn an hourly wage of $10.41 and work 16.5 hours per week.
Applications for the upcoming session (September 2023 – June 2024) are due March 3, 2023.
Click here for Project SEARCH Presentation
Click here for an Application for Project SEARCH.
Click here for the References Sheet for Project SEARCH.
A transition coordinator is assigned to all young adults nearing the end of their education who will need support services after graduation. The transition coordinator works closely with the student & family, the local vocational rehabilitation agency and schools to help with goal attainment and to prepare for the support the student will need after high school. In partnership with parents, transition coordinators also ensure that all state requirements to transition from Children’s to Adult Services are completed accurately and on time.
In addition to Family Support Services, transition services include assistance with guardianship and its alternatives, applications for social security and Medicaid benefits, participating in the state-required Supports Intensity Scale evaluation, participating in school meetings and coordinating with other agencies in the community such as mental health practitioners and behavioral health wraparound services.
The respite program at MDS allows family caregivers a much needed break, while giving the individual receiving respite care a chance to spend time in the community and enjoy personal interests with a trusted provider. The majority of individuals who receive respite funding have it covered through Medicaid. For those who do not qualify for Medicaid, MDS has additional limited funds available through a variety of grants such as Cheshire County grant and private donations.
Those receiving a respite allocation have a number of options, including:
The family pays out of pocket to cover respite hours, then submits a reimbursement form to receive their payment. They can choose whom they would like for a provider.
The provider applies for the position through MDS. They would have an initial meeting with the family to see if it is a good fit. The family will not need to pay out of pocket; staff complete a timesheet, have the family sign off on it, and submit to MDS.
Rise for Baby and Family provides Family Centered Early Supports and Services (FCESS) for children age birth to three who have, or are at-risk for, developmental delays and disabilities. Anyone can make a referral, after which Rise will provide a developmental evaluation to determine whether your child qualifies for the program. The evaluation, and all services through FCESS, are provided at no cost to caregivers.
After the evaluation, Rise will develop an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) to address your child’s developmental goals within the context of your daily routines in the home and community. Teams of therapists and educators work with families enrolled in the FCESS program to provide transdisciplinary services using a Parent Coaching model.
Rise Services:
Rise for baby and family’s Family Centered Early Supports and Services (FCESS) program uses a transdisciplinary team (TD) team approach, which provides your family with the convenience of one main point of contact and the expertise of the entire team. We provide holistic services that regard each child as an integrated, interactive whole person, who is a part of a family unit. Each child and family is unique and the TD approach recognizes that the multifaceted problems of very young children are too complex to be addressed by a single discipline. At Rise, home visitors exchange information, knowledge, and skills to support families most effectively. Our home visitors/service coordinators work directly with you and your child, through in-person visits and by video or telephone conference. They provide direct service, and also support you in carrying out interventions through daily routines. While home visitors are experts in their discipline and have strong developmental knowledge, you know your child best so it is very important that you work with your home visitor and your child during each session. One of the goals for each home visit is to collaborate and share ideas and resources for ways to best meet your child and family’s unique needs. Since young children learn best through play, our visits are play-based. Home visitors will use the toys and books that you have in your home to help meet the goals in your child’s service plan. Some additional toys/materials may be made available to you to help meet a specific need, either to try out or as a donation.
Service Coordination:
Every child enrolled in FCESS at Rise has a service coordinator, who helps your family access resources in the community and helps coordinate if your family receives more than one service from Rise. Most often, your service coordinator is also the person who provides the direct services to your child and family. Although the whole FCESS staff shares responsibility for development of each child’s service plan, the service coordinator works with you to carry out the plan. Whether your service coordinator is an educator, autism specialist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, family counselor, or any other discipline, you can rest assured you and your child have access to the expertise of the entire Rise team. In addition, all our specialists are available to you for individual consultation.
Additional Services:
Rise has an in-house autism specialist, who is available for consultation and is part of our team approach. Rise offers playgroups and special family events throughout the year. All the families we work with are invited to these events. Rise offers an on-site, fully inclusive child care program for children of all abilities up to age 3½.
121 Railroad Street
Keene, NH
603-352-1304
12 Depot Street, Suite 2A
Peterborough, NH
603-924-4203
Monadnock Development Services (MDS) is an Equal Opportunity Employer
©2023 Monadnock Development Services, Inc.
If you have a concern about anyone who is paid to support you or a family member or your services, you can contact the New Hampshire Bureau of Developmental Services (BDS) or ask your Service Coordinator or other trusted person to help you.
NH DHHS BDS
If your complaint is about abuse, neglect, or exploitation, or people who are not paid to help you, the New Hampshire Bureau of Adult and Aging Services (BAAS) must also be contacted.
NH DHHS BAAS
