CDS consumer rights · Missouri

Your rights and responsibilities

As a Missouri CDS participant you have the right to choose your attendant and your vendor, direct your own care, discharge an attendant and appeal state decisions. In return you supervise your attendant, sign accurate timesheets biweekly and report changes to the department within ten days.

CDS gives you real power over your own care. It also gives you real jobs to do. Know both halves before you start.

What are my rights as a CDS consumer?

• Choose your own attendant, subject only to the spousal exclusion and background screening.
• Choose your vendor, and change vendors without losing your authorized services.
• Direct your own care — decide how and when authorized tasks are performed.
• Discharge an attendant who is not meeting your needs.
• Be treated with dignity and have your privacy respected in your own home.
• Have your information kept confidential, and disclosed only as law permits.
• Raise a complaint without retaliation, and have it addressed.
• Appeal a state decision that reduces or denies your services.
• Receive services free from discrimination, with interpretation at no cost to you.
• See your own records that we hold about you.

How to raise a concern →

What are my responsibilities as the employer?

These come from RSMo 208.909 and from the program’s operating rules:

• Supervise your attendant and verify the wages paid to them.
• Prepare and submit timesheets biweekly, signed by both you and your attendant.
• Notify the department within ten days of any change in circumstances affecting your care plan or your residence.
• Report significant health changes that affect your ability to direct your own care.
• Report quality problems to the vendor first, and escalate to the department if unresolved.
• Provide the information we need to establish employer identification numbers.
• Allow required quality assurance activities, including annual home visits.
• Sign only accurate timesheets.

What happens if I sign a timesheet for hours not worked?

What does my CDS vendor owe me?

• Accurate, on-time payroll for your attendant.
• Clear orientation and ongoing help understanding the program.
• Straight answers about what the program does and does not allow.
• A response when you raise a concern.
• Confidentiality of your personal and health information.
• No pressure about who you hire.

Frequently asked questions

What does Consumer Directed Services mean?

It means you run your own care. In Missouri CDS you choose your attendant, decide how and when your authorized tasks are done, and can discharge an attendant who is not meeting your needs. You are the employer. We run accurate, on-time payroll for your attendant, give you orientation, and give you straight answers about what the program does and does not allow.

Can a family member be my paid attendant?

Yes. You choose your own attendant, and the only limits are the spousal exclusion and background screening. A relative or friend can be hired; your husband or wife cannot. Whoever you hire, you supervise them, verify their wages and sign their timesheets with them every two weeks. Paying a family member.

Can I change my CDS vendor?

Yes. Choosing your vendor is one of your rights, and changing vendors does not cost you your authorized services. If a vendor is not delivering what it owes you, such as accurate, on-time payroll and a response when you raise a concern, you can move without starting over. How switching works.

What can I do if the state reduces or denies my services?

You have the right to appeal a state decision that reduces or denies your services. Part of our job is ongoing help understanding the program, so if a notice arrives and you are not sure what it means, call us at (314) 809-6655. You can raise a complaint without retaliation, and you have the right to have it addressed.

How do I report a problem with my attendant or my vendor?

Report quality problems to the vendor first. If the problem is not resolved, take it to the department. You have the right to raise a complaint without retaliation and to have it addressed, and we owe you a response. If the problem is an attendant who is not meeting your needs, you also have the right to discharge them. How to raise a concern.