Children’s Services Policy Manual

Chapter 1 – General Definitions and Policies

APPLICANT – An applicant is any individual who has applied for Children’s Services (CS) and whose eligibility for services has not been determined.

CLIENT – A Children’s Services client is an individual with a disability who meets RSB visual eligibility criteria to receive services as stated below.

LEGAL BLINDNESS – Legal blindness means a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction lenses, or central acuity of more than 20/200 if there is a field defect such that the peripheral diameter of central visual field subtends an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees.

VISUAL DISABILITY means:

  1. That a child is legally blind, or
  2. That a child has a central visual acuity of 20/70 or worse in the better eye with best correction, or has near vision that is decreased to the extent that the child cannot read print that is smaller than Jaeger nine (J9) with best correction, or
  3. That a child has a visual efficiency (visual acuity and visual field) that does not exceed sixty four percent (64%), or
  4. When, due to age or severity of the disability, the examiner is unable to obtain visual acuities for inclusion with the required eye reports, the staff member can consider the individual eligible for services based on the functional limitations caused by the visual condition if the functional limitations (i.e., inability to fixate and follow, limitations on the child’s educational performance due to vision) are consistent with the best corrected acuities/fields expressed in 1-3 above.

NON-DISCRIMINATION

The Missouri Family Support Division, Rehabilitation Services for the Blind, assures that eligibility requirements are applied without regard to sex, race, age, creed, color, disability or national origin of the individual applying for services. No individual will be excluded or found ineligible solely on the basis of type of disability.

CASE RECORD DOCUMENTATION

The staff member shall maintain a case record for each applicant/client that will contain pertinent documentation of the following factors, as appropriate:

  1. An application requesting Children’s Services signed by the applicant, and/or as appropriate the parent, guardian or legal caretaker of the applicant;
  2. Documentation supporting the staff member’s determination of visual eligibility or ineligibility;
  3. The services requested by the applicant/client and/or his/her parent, guardian or legal caretaker;
  4. A narrative section containing detailed notations by the Children’s Specialist to document, support or justify case actions including decisions pertaining to eligibility, services, purchases and case closure;
  5. A jointly developed narrative service plan;
  6. Disability-related issues;
  7. Completed Client Data Record for Children’s Services;
  8. Incoming and outgoing correspondence pertaining to the client, including notification of eligibility and closure;
  9. Evidence the client and his/her parent, guardian or legal caretaker was provided a copy of notification of privacy practices regarding protected health information.

EXCEPTIONS

The Deputy Director, or his or her designee, shall have the sole responsibility for any exceptions to this policy manual.

ACCESSIBLE MATERIALS

Materials and/or communication will be provided in accessible format and/or languages.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Rehabilitation Services for the Blind’s Children’s Services program, through its policies and procedures, will comply with federal provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act as it relates to the protection, use and release of health information. See Appendix A for HIPAA information.