Marie Lewis is a -

                  Neuro-Developmental Disability Case Manager,  NDD-CM

                  Board Certified Education Advocate,  BCEA

                  Behavior Specialist Consultant,   BSC

                  Educational Consultant

 

She provides child-focused Disability Case Management services and programmatic recommendations to families with children - with a developmental delay or a medical condition likely to lead to a developmental delay. 

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Marie was a Neuro - ICU Registered Nurse at the University of Pennsylvania and a Hospital Administrator. She has guest lectured at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. As an adjunct professor, at Kaplan University's Criminal Justice Degree Program, she taught psychology and addressed how inadequately addressed disabilities in schools resulted in negative outcomes for students as adults.

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Marie has served parents in 52 school districts in the Greater Philadelphia and the Tri State area and consults nationally. She is on the faculty and is the Clinical Director at the National Special Education Advocacy Institute which board certifies education advocates from across the country.  She is uniquely qualified to work with students with low incidence cases, and has successfully worked on cases involving Autism - (low and high functioning), Gifted students, Twice Exceptional Students,  Those with significant sensory needs, TBI, Unresolved Concussion Syndrome, Genetic disorders, Social Communication disorders, RAD, ... Many of her cases come to her after having been to other advocates and lawyers and not getting successful outcomes.

 

Marie Lewis offers disability case management services to parents and their team to assist in preparation for:

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• Disability  Based Educational Consulting and Advocacy:

  • IEP meetings

  • 504 meetings

  • Manifestation Determination meetings

  • Mediation

  • Inter-agency meetings

  • Filing Complaints

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• Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs)

  • Marie is ABA, VB, DTT,  SCERTS, TEACCHH, RDI, DIR, Pivital Reponse, Greenspan/Floortime, Miller Methods

  • CAPS & Ziggurgat Model trained

  • FBAs and Positive Behavioral Support Plan Development (PBSP)/ Review are offered

  • ABLLS-R and AFLS - The Assessment of Functional Life Skills are offered

  • Community Mental Health (Wraparound) service initial intake or progress meetings facilitation with parents

  • Marie will consult with your behavioral team at your team meetings

  • Juvenile court hearings/ Truancy Hearings attendance

  • Marie is trained as a Certified Mental Health First Responder

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• Disability Case Management Services

  • (Marie was ABQAURP and Interqual Certified and can deal with insurance utilization denials)

  • Insurance denial (common with disabled children with complex needs) hearings and appeals

  • Filing insurance complaints

  • Community-based medical appointments

    • Facilitating access to appropriate treatment, as well as IEP and 504 documentation

  • Waiver application assistance

  • SSI or SSDI application assistance and meetings

 

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What is a Neuro-Developmental Disability Case Manager?

Disability case management is a specialization in the healthcare services industry that focuses on facilitating access to appropriate services for individuals with disabilities in order to address educational (IEP or 504), independent living, physical & mental health, and vocational needs. The process promotes inter-agency coordination and a comprehensive team approach among state agencies and programs in health care, education, human services, developmental disabilities, vocational and community-based services that focuses on increasing a clients’ functional capabilities, independence, and promoting self-determination.

 

An essential feature of a disability case manager’s job is to help individuals with disabilities, or their families, get the services they need in order to achieve their goals, as well as provide assistance in procuring the services they need. It also ensures the timely application of services in a fiscally responsible manner that enhances development, minimizing developmental delays, and reducing educational and health care costs by minimizing the need for future special services.

 

Early and appropriate intensive intervention is research-based, reduces the life long societal economic burden of an individual with a developmental disability, and is most effective when it occurs when neural circuits are most flexible. These interventions create the foundation for behavior, social/ emotional development, physical and mental health, cognitive learning and language skill development.

 

Neuro-Developmental Disability Case Management Services can change a child’s developmental trajectory.

These services can improve outcomes for children, families, and communities when essential prerequisites for later success in school, the workplace, and the community are addressed.

 

Neuro-Developmental Disability Case Management Plans can address the following outcomes:

• Help children with disabilities develop and learn to their fullest potential.

• Enhances each family's capacity to meet the developmental needs of their child in the settings where children would be if they did not have a disability.

• Respects the family's strengths, values, diversity and competencies and answers families' questions about their child's development.

• Provides or coordinates services such as parent education, support services, developmental interventions or programs, behavioral consulting services and family-centered services embedded within the family, community, and education settings, from birth through college.

 

This is done by facilitating communication between stakeholders, advocating on behalf of client’s family and the child with a disability, assessing and reviewing clients’ needs, and identifying appropriate interventions that promote the highest level of functioning. The philosophy is that with appropriate interventions, accommodations and environmental modifications all children are educable and are able to be supported to their highest levels of independence. This benefits everyone: the client, their family, service providers, educators, the healthcare and insurance systems, and society as a whole.

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Disability Case Managers are not just educational consultants or advocates.

They are uniquely qualified to coordinate multiples systems to get appropriate services and positive outcomes!

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A Disability Case Manager is able to:

• facilitate the identification of clinical or educational based needs and document their unique presentation

• facilitate the development of individualized goals, supports, services and progress monitoring tools, and

• facilitate the identification of appropriate research-based remedial programs and accommodations across specialties.

 

An appropriate and comprehensive disability case management plan addresses:

• coordination of services across providers and institutions

• individualized and coordinated education, medical and transition plans

• documentation of meaningful benefit and progress from all providers of service

• generalization of functional skills across environments

• maximum levels of inclusion, least restrictive environments, as well as,

• addressing behavioral and mental health concerns concerns

• This is required by IDEA and requires interagency cooperation and communication!

  

Focus on providing the most appropriate services in and out of school,

• Disability case managers interview parents and students, review their health records, educational records, court records and speak with medical, educational, and mental health professionals in order to develop a picture of their client’s needs. Based on evaluator input,  the type and level of services required is determined. A comprehensive formal review of educational and clinical documentation is done to identify strengths and needs.

  • Referral for appropriate evaluations and assessments is done:

    • Either through the school or through independent clinical evaluations, and

  • Identification of appropriate special education or clinical services is done.

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• Disability case managers contact the appropriate providers across systems and payors to initiate a program of intervention. This might include needed specialized educational services, home health care services, and vocational services in order to attain the highest quality of life possible.

  • Assure that parents have a voice in the multiple systems they must navigate

  • Assisting with ongoing documentation and correspondence with the school and clinical providers, and

  • Assisting with organization of records

 

• Disability case managers are charged with continually reviewing the care received to ensure the level of care is appropriate. As changes occur in a client’s level of functioning, disability case managers adjust the care plan to better address the client’s needs.

  • Attendance at IEP, 504 , community mental health or other meetings with parents to:

    • Facilitate development of an appropriate individualized educational plan (IEP)

      • that is based on evaluation recommendations, individualized needs, data and parent input

    • Assist parents in effectively communicating at and preparing for meetings and making sure their voice and input is heard.

    •  Facilitate the development of appropriate accommodations and modifications based on need

    • Assist parents with procedural issues

    • Assist parents in making informed choices

    • Provide information on educational rights, the IEP process, applicable federal and state regulations services and funding sources,

  • Providing  information on current best practices across multiple fields that affect their child's education and transition to adulthood

  • Supporting the achievement of functional goals of clients

    • across all environments,

    • from preschool through college, as well as hospital to community-based programs

    • in the school, home, community and at their jobs

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Closing the educational, functional  and behavioral gaps that prevent the achievement

of  future goals is my focus.

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• Disability case managers work in office environments, clinics, clients’ homes, educational settings, court settings or vocational settings to assist in determining eligibility claims for services, reviewing and processing disability requests, and evaluating the progress of a client with respect to specific services.

• Assisting with navigation through the insurance and clinical processes

• Development of measurable goals that are linked to the areas of identified clinical or educational need

• Identifying appropriate progress monitoring tools

• Assisting in Least Restrictive Environment placement determination

  • In public or private school and in community-based programs

• Providing parents with expert consulting and information on research-based programming

  • to avoid the use of of an array of eclectic and non-evidence based interventions

  • to maintain progress monitoring that is focused on effectiveness and outcomes

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          Protect Parent's Rights

• A disability Case manager must assisting parents in protecting their children's rights

              under multiple state and federal systems:

• IDEA

• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

• Every Student Succeeds Act, (ESSA), / Child Find

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

• Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• HIPAA

• Fair Housing Act

• Air Carrier Access Act

• Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act

• National Voter Registration Act

• Architectural Barriers Act

• Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)

• The Stark Law

• The Anti-Kickback Statute

• The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act

• The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

• Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

• Assuring that practitioners comply with their mandated Practice Acts

• monitoring of Insurance utilization standards misuse and insurance plan denials

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