As a parent of a child with developmental disabilities, my wife and I faced the question– who will manage the daily life of our family member with special needs providing the attention and care, in place of us, “when I’m gone”; With a daughter on the West coast and a son who lives a distance away from this area, both with their own families and jobs, my wife and I were understandably concerned about our son with special needs. Facing your own mortality is hard — so you get life insurance; have a lawyer write wills, trusts, irrevocable trusts; but what is really going to happen to your son, daughter, or other family member when you are no longer around? And so, twenty years ago, concerned members of the Greater MetroWest community recognized the need to create a unique program for families with a child having a developmental or acquired disability to provide support, planning, and social services assistance. The specific concern to be addressed was, “Who will take care of my developmentally disabled and/or special needs individual when I’m gone?”
What emerged was a program called Coordinated Care of MetroWest (CCM), a not-for-profit entity that operated in close partnership with Jewish Family Service of MetroWest NJ (JFS) and the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater MetroWest (JCF). Since that time, CCM merged with JFS solidifying its recognition within the community that CCM and the services it provides would be sustained in the long term.
CCM provides an array of services to individuals with disabilities and their families in the community. CCM works with an individual’s family/guardian to provide personalized care for both the short and long term. This could entail consultations to help families connect to local resources, support for family members as they deal with day-to-day issues that might arise, case management to assist with more specific needs and provide emotional support. as well as assisting families with future planning to ensure a thorough care plan for their loved one that is forever evolving and changing.
As a family, we chose CCM! One way to describe CCM is that it picks up where the parents leave off. CCM case managers have “the boots on the ground” locally to provide needed oversight. For those families that may already be receiving services provided by our community partners who support individuals with disabilities and their families, CCM works with these agencies while being an additional layer of support for the families. CCM is there for the family to assist them with their decisions in the future regarding housing, finances, and medical care as the family member with disabilities age and his/her life changes. CCM works with families to craft a life plan, so that case managers understand what’s important, and can work successfully with remaining family members and systems to support their adult child.
The challenge for CCM has been helping families understand the need to plan now for the future which they would rather avoid thinking about. These are heart wrenching, but necessary thoughts, for all of us. Fortunately, there is CCM, which may be the solution for your family member with a disability being taken care of and watched over, no matter what happens to you and other members of your family.
Enrolling in CCM gives peace of mind to the families who will know they have a safety net of support when parents or other family members can no longer take care of their loved ones with disabilities. CCM provides case management, community education, information/referrals, advocacy, and support. As CCM understands this may be a difficult concept for one to fully embrace, please contact CCM at Jewish Family Service MetroWest to discuss your family situation. The final thought—remember CCM will always be there for you and your loved ones.
For more information, email coordinatedcare@jfsmetrowest.org or call (973) 765-9050.
Michael Levinson, JFS Board Member
