Newsletter from the Self-Direction Department at PCCS | | Self-Directed Participant Highlight | | |
Lisa B.:
Self-Hired Staff, Ganesh., wrote the following about Lisa. an individual he has been supporting:
"I am a self-hired DSP who has worked with Lisa for 12 years. Throughout those years, Lisa has helped me grow on a professional and personal level. She always inspires those around her to enjoy life, be thankful for the gifts they have and to live life to the fullest. I wanted to highlight her for everything that she does for the community by helping and inspiring the population we service and improve their lives."
Ganesh also shared this story..."Lisa is an accomplished artist inspired by Monet, Van Gogh, Kandinsky and Matisse. She has had 2 books published about her life and artworks. On November 2025, she will have a third book published by the Chou Ta-kuan foundation as well as an art show at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in her native Taiwan.
As a person who loves different activities such as ballroom dancing, piano swimming, bowling, and singing, she is always interested in learning at the highest level to improve her body functions. Known as the “Chinese” Helen Keller across Asia, her life story of overcoming her disabilities has been featured in Queens Tribune, World Journal, Daily News and Fine Press. She was recently filmed as part of a documentary series by Pendragwn Productions in collaboration with Georgetown University and OPWDD on the topic of self-advocacy. She hopes this will give OPWDD and other agencies an insight on how to improve services, programs and collaborations for individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities.
She is a firm believer of giving back to the community and donated to numerous charity causes such as creating her own charity Wishdreamer Foundation and using her artworks to raise $56,000 to The Cerebral Palsy Association of Republic of China, $7,000 to Taiwan University Hospital Work, $8000 to Taiwan Liver Disease Prevention and Treatment Research Foundation and a art charity for Taiwan 88 Hurricane victims.
Currently a fine arts student as Queensborough Community College Lisa continue to advance her artworks through different mediums and techniques. She currently teaches art privately with the intension of helping her student unlock their imagination and potential with each brush stroke."
| | Do you want to highlight an individual who continues to work on their goals? Do you have a Self-Hired Staff that goes above and beyond? Do you want to recognize them? Send an e-mail with bio, and why you want to highlight them to SelfDirect@pccsny.org, with some photos if you have. | | Important Program Reminders | | - Person Centered Care Services needs your help! Take 5-10 minutes to complete our survey on how we can improve your services that you are receiving from us. Are you a Self-Hired Staff? Make sure to complete your survey via Paycom to provide feedback on what we can do regarding your Employee Relations to PCCS.
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- Effective Immediately, all Self-Hired Staff MUST adhere to all the policies within OPWDD and Person Centered Care Services. If issues, arise we will work with you and your Self-Hired Staff on the next course of action. This includes if not following policy being written up within Paycom, and can eventually lead to termination if continues. Please review our Employee Life Cycle policy found in Paycom, or request a copy from the assigned Fiscal Intermediary Coordinator.
- Always follow the Chain of Command, and adhere to the 24-hour (1 business day) response time protocol. Please allow the first person you contact 24 hours to respond. If they do not respond within 24 hours, please feel free to contact their direct supervisor. Direct Supervisor information can be found in all email signatures.
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Self-Directed Participant/Designee Information:
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Self-Hired Staff Hours MUST be reviewed/approved every Sunday by 11:59 PM to ensure there is no delay in payment. Please refer to the Payroll Calendar if more information is needed.
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Are there changes to your Self-Hired Staff Status (i.e. Inactive, terminated, or resigned)? Are you increasing or lowering their hours? Make sure to complete a Self-Hired Staff Status form.
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Self-Hired Staff Community Habilitation Monthly Summary Notes are due by October 10th, 2025 for services rendered in September, 2025.
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If you wish for a Community Class to be reviewed, please make sure to provide your Fiscal Intermediary Coordinator with the “Community Class" form and all additional corresponding documents” for approval. If this class is already an approved vendor, please make sure you still contact your Fiscal Intermediary Coordinator for approval. Class approval is per person, per class.
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Are you looking for your Self-Hired Staff to work over 40 hours within one week? You and/or your Self-Hired Staff have to complete the "Overtime Reporting Template" before the shift for pre-approval. If not received, this will prevent OT from being paid out to your Self-Hired Staff, alongside a potential write-up for not following policy.
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Do you need resumes? You can view resumes at the link below or contact Elise Crumbley at ECrumbley@pccsny.org for more information:
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Are you looking to hire Self-Hired Staff? Make sure to complete the Self-Hired Staff Information Sheet. You can then e-mail this to Carin James at CJames@pccsny.org.
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All invoices for reimbursement should be entered into eVero by the 10th of the following service month.
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Support Broker Information:
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Kindly review the updated Support Broker MOU and return to Michelle Toye @ MToye@pccsny.org. This was sent out on 09/05/2025.
- PCCS Fringe rate is NOW 24% effective 05/01/2025.
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Self-Direction Budgets are reviewed weekly per schedule of the assigned Fiscal Intermediary Coordinator. All budgets must be signed and completed by the Support Broker, and Self-Directed Participant/Designee prior to the FIC reviewing. Starting this month, we will not be pushing Self-Direction Budgets unless the entire plan is incompliance (i.e. Life Plans, Staff Action Plans, Developmental Disability Profile, and more.)
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As of 09/01/2025, if a finalized Staff Action Plan is not within the eVero system then Self-Hired Staff will be unable to work. See above for the MEMO.
- We are currently reviewing SAPS that are due November 1st. Please review your eVero portal to ensure that all SAPs are up to date and signed for review in eVero. As a reminder, all brokers are also required to submit two meeting minutes per year.
- All Support Broker Service documentation must be created contemporaneous.
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Self-Hired Staff Information:
- Make sure to follow all OPWDD & PCCS policies, and ensure open communication about difficulty of working the hours scheduled, running into Overtime, or completing the paperwork in the eVero system. Moving forward, the FI Dept., will be review this in more detail and will have deeper conversations with you that can lead to write-ups.
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All of your Attendance Roster should be reviewed/approved by the SDP/Designee prior to the FI processing for Payroll. Please make sure to review the Payroll schedule. If an error occurs, where a shift was entered incorrectly or a mistake happened, please complete the Missed Service Delivery Form to your Fiscal Coordinator within 24 hours. This MUST be provided to the assigned FIC within 24-hours of the error happening to ensure there is no delay in payment.
- When using PTO, please note that the total number of hours in a single workweek including both worked hours and PTO — must not exceed 40 hours.
- Per the Department of Health (DOH) and Person Centered Care Services (PCCS), we are requesting that all Self-Hired Staff have the location "ALWAYS ON, and eVero app open" when they are working and providing SDS-CH and SDS-Respite services.
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If you provide SHS, Community Habilitation Monthly Summary Notes are due by October 10th, 2025 for services rendered in September, 2025.
| | Meet the Self-Direction Team | | | | |
Allison Knapp:
Allison Knapp has been with PCCS for the past 2.5 years and was recently promoted to Program Manager of Fiscal Intermediary Supports. Inspired by her younger sister who has an Intellectual Disability, Allison's passion starting at a young age was to help the Special Needs community live the life they want and deserve.
Prior to transitioning into the Self-Direction field, Allison spent eight years as a Special Education teacher within the NYC DOE. During that time, she also gained hands-on experience as a Direct Support Professional while pursuing her master’s degree in Students with Disabilities (Grades 1–6). To further strengthen her expertise, she recently obtained her broker license, allowing her to expand her ability to provide support brokerage services across New York State and deepen her knowledge in Fiscal Intermediary services.
Outside of her professional role, Allison is busy navigating motherhood with her 2 younger daughters, Stella (4) and Sienna (3). In her (very rate) spare time, you can catch her binging a reality TV show or reading a new fiction book that just hit Reese's Book Club Picks of the month.
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Haim Levi:
Hi, I’m Haim Levi, one of the new the Program Managers of Fiscal Intermediary Supports at Person Centered Care Services. I’ve been with PCCS for a little over a year, though I’ve had the pleasure of working with the organization in the past as well.
I hold a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and am currently pursuing my Master’s in Healthcare Management. What truly motivates me is the gratification I feel when I’m able to help someone—it’s what drives my passion for this work. A fun fact about me: before becoming a parent, I used to collect Iron Man comics from the early days of Marvel!
| | Upcoming Training Dates and Events | | What Care Managers Need to Know About SD Services | | | | |
Are you a Care Manager? Do you have individuals in the Self-Direction Program or looking to explore this HCBS wavier? This is a training for you to learn more about Person Centered Care Services Self-Direction Department, and enrolling with us!
Date: October 21st, 2025
Time: 11 AM
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Person Centered Care Services (PCCS) is offering a wide variety of upcoming training to better accommodate and train those who are looking for in-depth webinars and seminars.
Please take a look at the Training Calendar below by clicking the button. You can also register for the training by clicking the requested date.
For questions, contact selfdirect@pccsny.org
| | Self-Direction 101 Dates: | | Self-Directed Participant Workshop Dates: | | | | |
Support Broker Open Office Hours
Support Broker Training Hour on the third Wednesday of each month.
This provides a supportive space to learn, share, and grow.
This training is hosted by our Senior Program Manager of Agency Support Brokerage Services, Lori Catricola.
E-Meet on Microsoft Teams:
Meeting ID: 284 893 464 261
Passcode: oE9C2nq6
Contact BrokerSupport@pccsny.org with any questions or inquiries.
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The SIDDC: Self-Direction Committee is hosting a meeting on October 15th, 2025 at 12 PM.
The co-chairs, Melissa Chapman & Marissa Gessin will be answering Q&A on Self-Direction Services.
Don't miss this very helpful meeting!
| | Special Needs Support Group Session | | | | |
On October 14th, 2025, at 7 PM, Special Needs Support Group will be presenting Donna Maxon and Fidaije Nesimi, where they will be answering questions about Self-Direction and Medicaid.
Come out and connect with essential resources and others on the same journey.
Location: 76 St. Alban's Church, Staten Island, NY, 10312
| | If you receive services from PHP, please click this link for the latest update on the closing: | | - Do you need support and resources, and do not know where to start? Did you know each borough has a council? Some council's have a Self-Direction Committee. Check out the following links, and become members to get more information:
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Are you an individual wanting to learn more about Health Education? Please call (914) 365-8959 or reach out to steps2@sph.cuny.edu for more information about the Steps2 Program.
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