Crisis team will assist Iowans with intellectual disabilities at their homes to keep them out of institutions

From the Des Moines Register Iowa Politics blog:

A new crisis team members will go to the homes of Iowans with mental disabilities, or give advice via telephone.

It’s part of the state’s new push to prevent the need for institutionalization, the state’s human services chief said today.

“For many years Iowa has relied too heavily on institutional care for people with disabilities, especially mental retardation,” Iowa Department of Human Services Director Charles Krogmeier said in a written statement.

Iowans with disabilities who live at home or in small group settings need more support and “a real choice of where to live,” he said.

This month, DHS will dispatch two mobile crisis response teams to help parents or community providers to manage serious behavioral problems of people with mental disabilities, according to the news release.

Behavioral issues often lead to institutionalization.

The crisis response teams will be headquartered at the Woodward Resource Center. Team members will go to Iowans’ homes and give advice over the phone.

Krogmeier said he also wants to reduce the number of people with behavioral challenges who must be sent to facilities out of state because there are no Iowa providers capable of meeting their needs.

And he wants to seek more employment opportunities for the disabled by coordinating with other state agencies, the news release said.

The state has made strides, Krogmeier said. Discharges now exceed admissions at the resource centers in Glenwood and Woodward. But the state needs to do more to support local options, he said in a written statement.

Krogmeier said he has directed DHS officials to give renewed priority programs that provide services close to home.