Community Connections provides services in most counties across Tennessee and has offices in Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville. In order to provide quality services we are able to provide services in the majority of Tennessee counties. Please contact the office nearest to you to find out about our services.

Community Connections’ Independent Support Coordinators (ISCs) serve children and adults with intellectual disability (formerly called mental retardation) who receive funding through the State of Tennessee’s Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD).

Independent Support Coordination (ISC) is a critical service for individuals who are receiving DIDD funding. These services areprovided by a certified Independent Support Coordinator (ISC) through an ISC agency. Independent Support Coordination is independent. This means the ISC advocates for the individual and their family within the guidelines of DIDD and/or the TennCare system.

Independence means that the individual and their family rather than the provider of service or DIDD make the choices for the individual. The ISC helps the individual and their family to understand what services and supports are needed and available. The ISC must work within the guidelines of DIDD and TennCare but represents the individual and their family as an advocate for the chosen supports and services. The ISC works closely with the individual and the family to ensure that the services and supports are provided in a quality manner. If problems occur with the delivery of the services and supports, the ISC assists the individual and the family in resolving the problems.

The ISP is an Individual Support Plan and is also known as a Plan of Care. The ISP identifies the individual’s preferences, capabilities and needs. It identifies which supports and services are needed to meet the individual’s needs and it includes goals for the individual. The ISP is written at least annually by the ISC with the input of the individual, family, friends, and providers of services. The individual and their legal representative must agree that the finalized ISP is an accurate reflection of the individual’s wants and needs.

The ISC reviews and updates the ISP throughout the year to ensure that it is still an accurate reflection of the individual and that providers are assisting the individual in meeting the goals. Providers of service are required to be knowledgeable about and follow the ISP. The ISP can be amended at any time during the year when there is a change in the individual’s life or needs. The ISP serves as the justification to DIDD for the funded services.

Individuals have the right to choose the ISC agency that they want to provide services. There are several ISC agencies serving Tennessee. Of course, we hope that you will choose Community Connections. Individuals always have the right to change their Independent Support Coordinator or ISC agency if they are not satisfied with services.

If you are currently receiving ISC services from another ISC agency but you want these services to be provided by Community Connections, please contact your local DIDD office and tell them that you want Community Connections as your provider of ISC services.

If you are new to the DIDD waiver services, tell the DIDS person who is helping you to obtain waiver services that you want Community Connections as your provider of ISC services.

In either case, DIDD will contact the nearest Community Connections office and notify them of your request. A Community Connections’ Regional Administrator in your area will contact you to become acquainted and initiate the service.

Please note that Community Connections makes every effort to remain available to new individuals requesting our services. In order to be effective, a balance must be maintained between the number of qualified Independent Support Coordinators and the DIDD

individual caseload requirements. Such a balance may, at times, cause the agency to be in a position where it cannot immediately serve new requesting individuals. Community Connections complies with the DIDD procedure for notifying DIDDwhen such a situation arises or is relieved.

Community Connections welcomes the opportunity to talk with you. You are under no obligation to change or accept our ISC services if you talk with us. To have your questions answered, please contact the Regional Administrator of your local Community Connections’ office. The contact information is listed under the menu tab: Contact Us.

Independent Support Coordinator (ISC) provides support coordination services to a person supported in home and community based services waiver. The ISC is responsible for developing, monitoring, and assuring the implementation of the Plan of Care or ISP.  The ISC assists the person supported in identifying, selecting, obtaining, coordinating, and using both paid services and natural supports to enhance the person’s independence, integration in the community, and productivity as specified in the ISP.

Individual Support Plan (ISP) is a person-centered document that provides an individualized, comprehensive description of the person supported as well as guidance for achieving unique outcomes that are important to the person in achieving a good quality of life in the setting in which they reside.

Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver shall mean a waiver approved for Tennessee by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide services to a specified number of Medicaid eligible individuals who have an intellectual disability and who meet criteria for Medicaid criteria of reimbursement in an Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. The HCBS waivers for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities in Tennessee are operated by the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities with oversight from TennCare, the state Medicaid agency.

Support Coordination Services are most effective when locally based. Community Connections provides services in most counties across Tennessee and has offices in Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville. In order to provide quality services we are able to provide services in the majority of Tennessee counties. Please contact the office nearest to you to find out about our services.