The CEDARR Initiative
Background
Children with special health care needs and their families often find themselves
confronting a system of care which poses significant challenges. Often, diagnoses are not
definitive and treatment options and prognoses are not clear. Families face multiple
challenges which must be addressed. In the past, there had not been an organized and
reliable way that families could access a full array of services and supports for their
Medicaid eligible children. At present, families often encounter considerable difficulty
and limited support in their efforts to meet the needs of their child and family.
Starting in December 1998, the Department of Human Services sponsored a series of
Leadership Roundtables on Children with Special Health Care Needs and their families.
These meetings, which included parents, advocates, providers, state agency
representatives, as well as policy makers, identified the need for fundamental
improvements in the current system of care for these children. Rhode Island children with
special needs and their families have significant unmet needs for information, objective
professional assessment, care planning, care coordination, referral assistance and
support. The Leadership Roundtable strongly recommended that services be family-centered
and community-based, recognizing that the family plays a central role in a child’s
life and is an essential partner in his/her care.
A vision statement was developed by the Leadership Roundtable on Children with Special
Health Care Needs. It reads: " All Rhode Island children and their families have an
evolving, family centered, strength based system of care, dedicated to excellence, so they
can reach their full potential and thrive in their own communities."
What is CEDARR ?
CEDARR stands for Comprehensive Evaluation, Diagnosis, Assessment,
Referral and Reevaluation services and supports. The basic component of the
CEDARR initiative is the CEDARR Family Center. The CEDARR Family Center is intended to
serve as a family centered, comprehensive source of information, clinical expertise,
connection to community supports and assistance to aid the family in meeting the needs of
their child.
Each child and his or her family will have the opportunity to voluntarily utilize a
CEDARR Family Center to help identify and understand their child’s strengths and
needs, develop a Family Care Plan for the child and family, and help with referrals, and
related services and supports.
Services provided through the CEDARR Initiative are designed to improve the
appropriateness of care, support a more positive family centered system of care, promote
clinical excellence, improve outcomes and promote overall cost effectiveness for Medicaid
eligible children with special needs. In addition, the CEDARR Initiative will establish
the means to support new and expanded services in critical areas that currently do not
exist or are limited.
A family may choose to use a CEDARR Family Center for assessment, evaluation, and
referral only; or to maintain an ongoing relationship using different supports as their
needs change over time.
It is hoped that CEDARR Family Center services will ultimately be available to all
children regardless of whether or not they are eligible for Medicaid. It is expected that
CEDARR Family Centers will establish sliding scale fee arrangements based on income for
families who are not Medicaid eligible.
Coordination With Other State Programs and Services
Other state agencies, which provide services to children with special health care
needs, are collaborating with DHS in the ongoing development and implementation of the
CEDARR Family Centers. The goal is to create, to the greatest degree possible, a unified,
coordinated and integrated system of services and supports. State agencies participating
include the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), the Department of Health
(DOH), the Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals (MHRH), and the
Department of Education (DOE).
How To Become Certified As A CEDARR Family Center
In an effort to realize the statewide vision for children with special health care
needs and their families, the State has issued CEDARR Family Center Certification
Standards that describe the initiative in detail. Program requirements are specified for
participating providers.
For a copy of the certification standards, write to:
Attention: Sharon M. Kernan, R.N., M.P.H.
Center for Child and Family Health
RI Department of Human Services
600 New London Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920
or call Beth O’Reilly at (401) 462-6351
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