Services
How can The Arc help you?
Information and referral
The Arc Western Wayne County maintains a plethora of information and referral sources at our fingertips from summer camps to attorneys to alternatives to guardianship. We are happy to help you locate the information you are looking for.
After I’m Gone program
The After I’m Gone (AIG) program assists parents of children and adults with disabilities in planning for their son or daughter’s future when they are no longer able to provide care.
This Program is offered free of charge by The Arc Western Wayne County and The Arc Northwest Wayne County, and is funded by The Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network.
The program offers families a chance to attend informational sessions on a variety of topics, as a means of gathering information in order to make the best decisions about planning for the future needs of their child with a disability. Topics include, but are not limited to, Alternatives to Guardianship, Estate Planning, Creative Housing Options, Employment and Community Participation, Social Security and the Michigan Department of Social Services, and Financial Planning.
We also offer, through our After I’m Gone program, training opportunities on a variety of topics such as Person Centered Planning and Self Determination, Estate Planning, Transition and Community Participation, Creative Hosting Options, Social Security and Medicaid and Mental Health Services.
Independent facilitation of person centered plans
The Arc Western Wayne County has a great deal of experience facilitating person centered plans for people with disabilities. We are available to facilitate plans for people receiving services through the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network.
For assistance, contact our Systems Navigator at 734.729.9100.
GAIN (Guardianship Alternatives Information network)
The Arc Western Wayne County, through partnership with The Arc Northwest Wayne County, offers information and assistance with the many alternatives to guardianship available to families who have a member with a disability. GAIN is an information and referral network promoting self-determination through alternatives to guardianship.The Guardianship Alternatives Information Network (GAIN) program offers training sessions to professionals and families on the importance of investigating alternatives to guardianship for people with disabilities. Guardianship is the legal process in which someone’s right to make decisions about their own life are removed. The process can apply to older people, people with mental illness or people with developmental disabilities. Once a guardianship is imposed, certain fundamental rights may also be lost. The GAIN program also offers one-on-one help from an attorney in developing and executing appropriate alternatives for each person seeking assistance. GAIN provides outreach, information and referral, and education to people with developmental disabilities and their families on alternatives to guardianship such as: power of attorney, patient advocate, representative payee, conservator of finances, etc.
For Information about alternatives to guardianship or a schedule of GAIN trainings call this toll free line: 1-866-365-3231.
The Arc of Northwest Wayne County and The Arc of Western Wayne County have prepared this Attorney Referral list as a resource for people who have developmental disabilities and their family members. The Attorney names listed herein have expressed experience in legal matters as they relate to people with developmental disabilities. The Arc of Northwest Wayne County and The Arc of Western Wayne County do not endorse nor receive remuneration for any referrals made on this list. Further, The Arc of Northwest Wayne County and The Arc of Western Wayne County do not control or influence the rates charged by each attorney.
The Take Charge Helpline
This automated telephone information and referral system, provided by Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, includes hundreds of scripts. It provides information on topics such as Advocacy and Service Provider Agencies in Wayne County that can assist people with disabilities, Benefits, Education, Recreation and Leisure, Recipient Rights and a host of other topics important to people with disabilities and their families.
The Friends of CLS Pooled Accounts Trust
Pooled trusts allow you to qualify for Medicaid while setting aside some assets for personal and supplemental needs. From time to time, people needing government benefits acquire cash or assets which make them exceed that $2,000 limit. For example, they may receive money from insurance proceeds, a back payment from Social Security, a legal settlement, or an inheritance. Any amount which results in the person having assets over $2,000 can be considered “excess funds.” However, if these excess funds are put into a qualified account or a trust, then the funds can be used for supplemental needs without jeopardizing their governmental benefits. Supplemental needs are products and services not provided through public assistance. Examples include furniture, a cell phone, cable TV, educational programs, travel, a computer, vacations and hobbies. Food, shelter and basic medical care are not considered supplemental needs and those needs must be covered by the governmental benefits.
The Friends of CLS Pooled Accounts Trust was established in 1999 as a way to set aside excess funds for people with disabilities or the elderly while protecting important government benefits. The Friends of CLS Pooled Accounts Trust was developed by The Friends of CLS, a nonprofit organization, and is administered by The Arc Western Wayne County.
Michigan Alliance for Families
Michigan Alliance for Families is a collaborative project through The Arc Michigan, Michigan Department of Education and Early On Michigan. The Arc Michigan has contracted with The Arc Western Wayne County as one of the alliance’s regional sites to provide information, support and education to families of children and young adults with disabilities from birth to age 26. The alliance connects families to resources in their own community.
The alliance also helps facilitate parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for children with disabilities. The Michigan Alliance for Families can help parents in knowing their rights, effectively communicating their child’s needs and can offer parents advice on how to help their child develop and learn.
Each regional site offers a Regional Parent Mentor with expertise in disability and educational issues and who is knowledgeable about community resources, including organizations, professionals, and other parents who might be of assistance. Regional Parent Mentors connect families with the resources they need, provide information and assistance, and mentor parents as needed.
Regional Parent Mentors host a series of learning opportunities for parents in each region. The initial learning opportunities include:
- Individualized education programs (IEPs)
- Individualized family service plans (IFSPs)
- Mediation and facilitated IEPs
- Overview of IDEA
- Transitions
- Positive Behavioral Supports
- Assistive Technology
- Parent/professional collaboration
- Rights and responsibilities
Advocacy and Family Support
The Arc Western Wayne County exists to advocate effectively for people with developmental disabilities and their families so that they may participate fully in their community.
The Arc Western Wayne County provides individualized assistance to people with developmental disabilities and their families to ensure they are obtaining appropriate services in the areas of education, access to mental health services, applying for entitlements, creative housing options, futures planning, person-centered planning, self-determination, alternatives to guardianship, family support, prevention and health care, and recreation.
Independent Supports Coordination
The Arc Western Wayne County began providing Independent Supports Coordination services in 2005 for several people receiving mental health services through Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority. The Arc contracts with each person individually, and is paid for this service through Oakland County CMHA’s contracted Fiscal Intermediary agent, CLS, Inc. As Independent Supports Coordinators, we work with people and their families to develop a plan of service based on a person centered planning process. We then support each person in achieving the goals that they identified in their plan of service by helping them secure the necessary services and supports through the mental health system, family, friends and the community.