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Helpful Hints in Selecting a Service Coordinator
for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injuries and Their Families
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A Service Coordinator is a professional
that assists individuals and families through the process of
identification of needed services, location of those services,
and follow-up to service delivery.
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Some questions to ask a prospective Service
Coordinator:
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How much experience do you have working with people
who have brain injuries? Other disabilities?
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What are your qualifications?
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Do you have any references? Can I have a list
with phone numbers of individuals for whom you have been a service
coordinator? If I cannot have a list of contacts, can you have
one of these people call me?
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Have you received any professional training in
service coordination? If so, please describe it for me?
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What will you do for me and/or my family as my
service coordinator?
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How can I be certain that the services I and my
family require will be provided?
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How much involvement will I have in making decisions?
How much involvement will my family have?
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How will you communicate with me?
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How often can I expect you to communicate with
me?
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How will you include me in the planning and implementation
of my service plan?
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Who is your supervisor? What is his/her experience?
How can I contact him/her?
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Will you move me to another home or day program
without my consent?
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How will you encourage my inclusion into the community?
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How familiar are you with community resources?
Can you name some local supports you might refer me to?
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How often will you visit me in my home?
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How often will you visit me at my day activity
or work site?
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If I am not happy in my day activity, what will
you recommend?
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How difficult will it be to change a placement
(day or residential)?
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I have heard different things about the waiver
and waiver services. Please tell me what you think they are.
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What is the "person-centered" approach? Will you
work with me so I get to do the things I am interested in doing?
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What is an individualized service plan (ISP)?
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How will you gather pertinent information about
me?
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How will you be assured that you are informed
about what is happening in my home and/or day activity?
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Will you be included in house meetings or other
meetings with people who support me?
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Is the prospective Service Coordinator:
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creative and imaginative
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a good listener
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comfortable with a person-centered approach
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open to change
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able to negotiate the system
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an advocate
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proactive
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resourceful
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patient
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flexible
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able to evaluate and assess
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reliable
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a positive thinker
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responsive to consumers
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responsive to family members
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Most important:
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Am I comfortable with this person?
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Can I talk freely with him or her?
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Can I talk openly with him or her?
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If you can answer "Yes" to most of these questions,
you may have found the right person. However, it is important
to keep in mind that the role of Service Coordinator is an important
one, so it might make sense to interview more than one person
for this key position.
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