Watch the new video about why you should take the Supports Intensity Scale assessment, called the "SIS." The video shows Ritchie Eppink, one of the lawyers who represent each and every adults with developmental disabilities in the Idaho medicaid program who get a budget each year. He is one of the lawyers who represent all those adults in a court case called K.W. v. Armstrong.

That court case is about how the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare comes up with each person’s budget each year. The court ruled that the budget tool that the Department uses now is not fair. The Department has to come up with a new tool. Our job is to make sure that the Department does that right.

To make this change, we need to get good, up-to-date information about what people need. To do this, some people will have to take the new Supports Intensity Scale assessment. That’s called the “SIS.”

Have you been asked to take the SIS? If you have, please take it. The best way to make sure that the new system is fair is to make sure the Department has current information about what you need. If you do not take the SIS, we might end up with a worse system. Or it might take much longer before the system gets better.

Any information you give as part of this first round of SIS assessments in spring and summer 2018 will NOT be used to affect your budget or services in any way. The information from this round will just be used to build a better system.

If you need help to take the SIS, please let the assessor know what help you need. If you have questions, you can contact Ritchie at (208) 344-9750 extension 1202.

On June 15, 2018, we will hold a conference call to answer questions about the SIS. The call will be at 10:30 am MT and 9:30 am PT. To join, call 1-866-244-8528 (toll free) and then press code 728182.

If you've been asked to take the SIS, please take it. With your help, we will make a better system for adults with developmental disabilities in Idaho.