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The Health Care Authority’s mission is: We ensure that New Mexicans attain their highest level of health by providing whole-person, cost-effective, accessible, and high-quality health care and safety-net services.

Mi Via Community Membership Supports

ingCommunity Membership Supports are intended to help the participant participate in community life to enhance relationships with others, work or participate in meaning activities. These supports include: Community Direct Support (CDSS), Customized Community Group Supports (CCGS) and Employment Supports (ESS).

For more information, please see the Mi Via Self-Directed Waiver Service Standards Appendix A: Service Descriptions in Detail 

Community Direct Supports Services

Community Direct Supports Services (CDSS) deliver support for eligible recipients to identify, develop and maintain community connections and access social and educational options.

Customized Community Group Supports

Customized Community Group Supports (CCGS) occurs in integrated, congregate community day programs and centers offering functional meaningful activities that assist with acquisition, retention, or improvement in self-help, socialization and adaptive skills for the participant. This service can only be provided through a provider agency (vendor).

Employment Supports

Employment Supports (ESS) provide support to the participant in achieving and maintaining employment in jobs of his or her choice in his or her community. The objective of ESS is to provide supports resulting in community employment with jobs that increase economic independence, self-reliance, social connections and the ability to grow in a career. These supports are geared towards placing and supporting individuals with disabilities in competitive, integrated employment situations with non-disabled co-workers in the general workforce, or to assist individuals with business ownership. ESS includes job development and job coaching only after available vocational rehabilitation supports have been exhausted. ESS are individualized to meet needs of participants, not those of a group.

Person-Centered Assessments and Career Development Plans

Providers of ESS (individual or vendor) works with participants to develop a Person-Centered Assessment (PCA). The PCA is a process that results in a written report that brings out important information about the participant. The PCA helps to customize supports the participant needs to engage in community activities or to get and keep employment.

A Career Development Plan is an action plan used with individuals at various stages of employment. It is completed after the person-centered assessment. For job seekers, it may include developing a discovery profile or meeting with specific businesses for job interviews. For someone who has been working for a while and receiving job maintenance supports, the plan may include strategies to develop natural supports and/or to opportunities for learning new career advancement skills. For someone wishing to start a small business or Microenterprise, the plan might consist of writing a business plan, securing funding or locating vendors for materials.

Please see the following director’s releases on PCA to learn more.