March 26, 2025 Meeting Minutes - Guest Speaker Rebekah Funk
- PALS
- Mar 28
- 6 min read
PALS Meeting Minutes
March 26, 2025 9:30 a.m.
Virtual Meeting using Zoom
Guest Speaker Rebekah Funk Today we welcomed Rebekah Funk, OTD, OTR/L, Director of Client Services at Life’sWork of Western Pennsylvania. Life’sWork of Western PA is a nonprofit organization empowering people to live the life they choose.
"Rebekah Funk, is a graduate of Denison University and holds a Doctor of Occupational Therapy from the University of Pittsburgh. In collaboration with the Life'sWork team, Rebekah designed and implemented an innovative approach to assessment and training of job skills for individuals with disabilities. The Vocational Skills Development Lab (VSDL) houses six simulated career workstations representing manufacturing, inventory management, production, hospitality services, retail and food services. Funk and the Life’s Work team developed a robust approach to assessment, including the creation of over 50 task analysis performance assessments. As the vocational skills lab manager, she is responsible for completing person-centered assessments with individuals with disabilities to inform her recommendation for the best employment path for the individual."
Rebekah's background as an Occupational Therapist was not forged at Denison or Pitt; her path to helping others succeed in their individual lives began at an early age. Rebekah has a younger brother with Autism. She agrees it can often be difficult for young siblings, as the world view of a child sees a sibling receiving all the attention from parents. With time, Rebekah realized the rewarding feeling of helping her brother find his individual success by helping him learn how to swim that work with his strengths and interests. Through her experience with her brother, Rebekah discovered Hippotherapy, often referred to horse riding therapy, a true stepping stone on her journey to become an Occupational Therapist.
Rebekah provided an amazing overview of transitioning from childhood services to adulthood services and the services provided by Life'sWork and her work there.
Transitioning from childhood services to adulthood services.
Transition planning begins at 14 years-old. At that age, students will be included in I.E.P. meetings and all members of the team will begin planning for life after graduation; whether that be at age 18 or 22.
Considerations after high school:
Funding Source
The funding source moves from the public school to solely Medicaid.
Eligibility
A resident of the state; in this case Pennsylvania.
Clinically eligible
The person has a medical need.
Financially eligible
There are income and asset limits.
Waivers
The 4 Different Medicaid Waivers
Person Family Directed Services
Designated for independent living, it offers a maximum of $47,000 a year per person toward support services for individuals who can live independently with supports.
Community Living
Designated for individuals who need more support than someone who can live independently and less support than someone who needs the supports of a residential facility. This waiver offers a maximum of $97,000 a year per person.
Consolidated
Designated for individuals needing the most support, for instance, living in a residental facility. This waiver has no funding cap.
Adult Autism Waiver
Designated for individauls over the age of 21 with Austism Spectrum Disorder receiving home and community-bsed servcies. *Rebekah was unsure about the funding cap for this waiver. Research shows there is no cap for the Adult Autism Waiver. DRP Medicaid Waivers for People with Intellectual Disabilities or Autism
PUNS: Prioritization of Urgency of Need for Services
PUNS identifies the types of services and supports an individual is currently receiving and services that are needed. The urgency of the need is identified in 1 of 3 categories.
Emergency Need
The service need will occur within six months.
Critical Need
The service need is anticipated to occur after six months but within two years.
Planning for Need
The service need is anticipated to occur more than two years away but less than five years away.
IEP vs ISP
Just as some families moved from an EIP (Early Intervention Plan) to an IEP (Individualized Education Plan), some will move to an ISP (Individualized Support Plan) after graduating high school.
What is an Individualized Support Plan?
An ISP is developed and used as a planning model to enable individuals with disabilities requiring support to increase their personal self-determination and improve their own independence.
Example of assessment tool to develop a ISP.
Decision Support
Guardianship
Legal guardianship for adults with disabilities involves a court process where a guardian is appointed to make decisions on behalf of an incapacitated person; unable to manage their finances, medical needs, and personal matters like their essential need.
Power of Attorney
A disabled adult can delegate specific legal, financial, and/or medical responsibilities to a trusted individual, while still retaining their autonomy and legal rights.
Can be customized to address specific needs, allowing the adult with a disability to grant the trusted individual the power to handle only the matters that they require assistance with.
Supported Decision Making
A process that helps individuals with disabilities make their own choices with the support of a trusted circle, rather than relying on guardianship, which can restrict their autonomy.
Financial Planning
Income Limits
Typically, an individual's income cannot exceed 300% of the SSI standard per month (currently $2,250 per month) and countable reources cannot exceed $8,000.
Saving Options
PA ABLE Account
A savings program administered by the Pennsylvania Treasury Department offering people with qualifying disabilities a way to save that does not affect their means-tested benefits.
Special Needs Trust
SNTs hold assets for a person with a disability, providing them with resources while ensuring they remain eligible for public benefits.
Navigating Benefits
A Support Coordinator can be immensely helpful when navigating services.
Learn more about the available services in Pennsylvania:
Employment
Pennsylvania is an "Employment First" State
Competitive Integrated Employment is Pennsylvania's Goal by providing training, education, and support services to help individuals reach their personal goals.
Continuum of Service
Facility Based
"sheltered workshops"
Often referred to as work centers, these facilities often pay people with disabilities subminimum wage and are often segregated from the greater community doing repetitive tasks.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry leverage a $14 million federal grant in the last quarter of 2024 announcing a new program; Integrated Vocational Engagement & Support Team (InVEST) looks to eliminate sheltered workshops by ensuring individuals regardless of disability can obtain competitive, integrated employment. Learn more.
Small Group
Supports adults with disabilities in transitioning to competitive, integrated employment, often in community settings, by providing work opportunities and support in small groups alongside other individuals with disabilites.
Supported
A service that helps individuals with disabilities obtain and maintain competitive, integrated employment, meaning work at minimum wage or higher, with wages and benefits similar to those without disabilities, and fully integrated with co-workers without disabilities.
Customized
Flexible process designed to personalize the work experience.
Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE)
Wage & Benefits
Making minimum wage or higher and at the rate comparable to non-disabled workers performing the same tasks.
Inclusive
Working with coworkers without disabilities...
Advancement
...with the same benefits and opportunities for promotion.
Additional Resources:
Service provider Life'sWork
Rebekah introduced us to Life'sWork of Western Pennsylvania, a non-profit service provider that empowers people to live the life they choose. For nearly 100 years, Life'sWork has served over 100,000 individuals of all ages with disabilities, other employment barriers, children, and families in crisis. Life'sWork is dedicated to increasing the quality of life of youth and adults with physical and mental disabilities by helping them to become productively employed by offering:
Transition Services
Self-Advocacy
Independent Living Skills
Transportation
Workplace Readiness
Reach out to Rebekah Funk rfunk@lifesworkwpa.org
Learn more about Rebekah Funk and her impactful work:
FCASD Transition Coordinator Stacie Dojonovic shared the following flyer from the Council for Exceptional Children. The CEC is offer one year of free basic membership if you join before March 31, 2025. This is a fantastic opportunity for families and professionals to access tools, resources, research, webinars, workshops and the latest insights and alerts on policies impacting the field. Become a member today!
PALS March Family Meet-Up
Dana Walker held a fun filled morning for all on March 8th for the second PALS Family Meet-up. Held at the Sharpsburg Community Library, parents, kids, and sibs came together to enjoy a morning of art and community, filled with just about every craft under the sun! With a spring theme, families colored eggs, shamrocks, bunnies, and pots of gold! Fun was had by all! Read more here.
PALS April Family Meet-up
Join in on the fun Saturday, April 12, 2024 from 10:00am–12:00pm at the Sharpsburg Community Library. Bring your kids, sibs, friends, and favorite board games to this fun event. No board game? No problem, we have plenty. This is a great opprotunity to meet other families in your community and learn more about PALS. This is a free event!
Meeting Topic Survey
Take our suvery and help shape upcoming PALS meetings by sharing what topics you would like to learn more about. *Your email and/or Google account information ARE NOT collected in the process of completing this survey.
Next Meeting: April 30, 2025 9:30 a.m. Virtual Meeting using Zoom.
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