Home-Enabling Supports NY

For provider agencies

HES for provider agencies

How HES sits alongside your day, residential, and clinical services — and how to refer well.

You see the people who would benefit from HES every day — often before their Care Manager does. This guide covers how to close that loop.

What you'll find here

  • Five conversation signals that flag an HES candidate on your rosters.
  • Short scripts for raising HES with a family and with the Care Manager.
  • Why you can't refer directly — and what you can do instead.

Surface signals

Five conversations that often signal an HES candidate

Your frontline staff hear these regularly. When they do, prompt the family or person to raise HES at the next Care Manager meeting.

  • Family or staff bring up nighttime safety worries that aren't resolved by current supports.
  • Frequent ER visits or after-hours health calls that could have been triaged remotely.
  • Conversation about reducing live-in or overnight staffing without compromising safety.
  • Medication adherence has degraded, and a structured dispenser would help.
  • Person is planning a move from a certified residence (like a group home) to a home of their own.

On transitions: HES becomes available once the person is officially out of a certified setting, so plan ahead — you, the care manager, and an HES vendor can prepare the referral together for a smooth handoff once the move is done. Other technology can help ease the move itself outside HES, too. See the setting rules.

Scripts

Two ways to raise HES without overselling it

Honest and specific beats persuasive. Adapt these to the person in front of you.

With a family

"Have you heard of Home-Enabling Supports? It's an OPWDD waiver benefit that can fund technology and remote support at home. Given what you've mentioned about [nights / medication / getting around], it may be worth asking [name]'s Care Manager about at your next meeting. We can't promise it fits — the Care Manager and OPWDD decide — but it's worth the question."

With the Care Manager

"We keep seeing [a specific pattern — e.g. overnight safety worries] with [name]. Would HES fit a Life Plan goal? We know the referral runs through you — we wanted to flag it while there's time to plan."

Resources

How the process works

The end-to-end flow so you know what to expect after a referral is prompted.

Frequently asked

Can we refer directly?
No — referrals go through the Care Manager, who submits the request to OPWDD. But you can prompt the conversation, and you should.
Does HES replace day program supports?
No. HES is aimed at safety and independence in the home — less reliance on paid staff for supervision and assistance — not a substitute for day services.

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