SECTION 357.105. Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Ability to pay--The determination that the consumer is able to contribute financially toward the cost of independent living services.

(2) Accessible format--An alternative way of providing to people with disabilities the same information, functionality, and services provided to people without disabilities. Examples of accessible formats include braille, ASCII text, large print, American Sign Language, and recorded audio.

(3) Act--The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

(4) Adjusted income--The dollar amount that is equal to a household's annual gross income, minus allowable deductions.

(5) Allotment--Funds distributed to a service provider by DARS to provider services under this chapter.

(6) Allowable deductions--Certain unreimbursed household expenses that are subtracted from a household's annual gross income to calculate the adjusted income.

(7) Attendant care--A personal assistance service provided to help an individual with significant disabilities perform essential personal tasks, such as bathing, communicating, cooking, dressing, eating, homemaking, toileting, and transportation.

(8) Blind--A condition of having no more than 20/200 visual acuity in the better eye with correcting lenses or having visual acuity greater than 20/200 but with a field of vision in which the widest diameter subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees.

(9) Center for Independent Living (CIL)--A private nonprofit agency for individuals with significant disabilities (regardless of age or income) that is not residential, is consumer-controlled, is community-based, takes a cross-disability approach, and:

(A) is designed and operated within a local community by individuals with disabilities; and

(B) provides an array of independent living services, including, at a minimum, independent living core services as they are defined in 29 U.S.C. §705(17).

(10) Client Assistance Program (CAP)--A federally funded program that provides information, assistance, and advocacy for people with disabilities who are seeking or receiving services from programs funded under the Act. The program is implemented by Disability Rights Texas (DRTx), a legal services organization whose mission is to protect the human, service, and legal rights of persons with disabilities in Texas.

(11) Comparable services or benefits--Services and benefits that are provided or paid for, in whole or part, by other federal, state, or local public programs; by health insurance, third-party payers, or other private sources; or by the employee benefits that are available to the consumer and are commensurate in quality and nature to the services that the consumer would otherwise receive from service providers.

(12) Consumer--An individual who has applied for or is receiving the independent living services that are referred to under this chapter.

(13) Consumer participation--The financial contribution that a consumer may be required to pay for receiving independent living services.

(14) Consumer participation system--The system for determining and collecting the financial contribution that a consumer may be required to pay for receiving independent living services.

(15) Consumer representative--Any person chosen by a consumer, including the consumer's parent, guardian, other family member, or advocate. If a court has appointed a guardian or representative, that person is the consumer's representative. Unless documentation is provided showing otherwise, a parent or court-appointed guardian is presumed to be the consumer representative for a minor who is:

(A) younger than 18 years old; and

(B) not emancipated; or

(C) married.

(16) DARS--The Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.

(17) Federal poverty level guidelines--The poverty guidelines updated periodically in the Federal Register by the United States Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of 42 USC §9902(2).

(18) Fee--A percentage of the full cost for a purchased service that a consumer pays. The percentage is based on the DARS fee schedule and the fee does not exceed the maximum amount prescribed.

(19) Independent living plan--A written plan in which the consumer and service provider have collaboratively identified the services that are needed to achieve the consumer's goal of living independently.

(20) Nonprofit--An agency, organization, or institution that is owned and operated by one or more corporations or associations whose net earnings do not and cannot lawfully benefit a private shareholder or entity.

(21) Private--An agency, organization, or institution that is not under federal or public supervision or control.

(22) Service provider--A center for independent living, nonprofit organization, organization, or other person contracted or subcontracted to provide independent living services.

(23) Severe visual impairment--A condition of having a visual acuity with best correction of 20/70 or less in the better eye, a visual field of 30 degrees or less in the better eye, or having a combination of both.

(24) Significant disability--A severe physical, mental, cognitive, or sensory impairment that substantially limits an individual's ability to function independently in the family or community.

(25) Sliding fee scale--The fee scale DARS uses to determine the maximum financial contribution that a consumer may be required to pay for receiving independent living services. The scale is based on the federal poverty level guidelines.

(26) Transition services--Services that:

(A) facilitate the transition of individuals with significant disabilities from nursing homes and other institutions to home and community-based residences, with the requisite supports and services;

(B) provide assistance to individuals with significant disabilities who are at risk of entering institutions so that the individuals may remain in the community; and

(C) facilitate the transition of youth who are individuals with significant disabilities, who were eligible for individualized education programs under section 614(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)), and who have completed their secondary education or otherwise left school, to postsecondary life.

(27) Waived independent living plan--A written plan in which the service provider identifies on the behalf of the consumer the services that are needed to achieve the consumer's goal of living independently. The service provider writes the plan because the consumer has signed a waiver giving up the consumer's right to participate in the development of such a written plan.

Source Note: The provisions of this §357.105 adopted to be effective August 31, 2016, 41 TexReg 6066; transferred effective March 15, 2021, as published in the Texas Register February 26, 2021, 46 TexReg 1387