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    CSS has selected a new ICAN partner

    June 5, 2023

    The Community Service Society of New York is pleased to announce that Living Independently is For Everyone at RCIL (LIFE at RCIL) has been selected to join the Independent Consumer Advocacy Network (ICAN) through our recent Request for Proposals.  Award is subject to submitting full required documentation by June 30, 2023, and to final approval and discretion of CSS. Thank you to all who applied for your interest and participation in the process.

    ICAN/FE-ABD CBO Request For Proposals

    April 18, 2023

    The Community Service Society of New York (CSS) invites non-profit community-based organizations (CBOs) to participate in this Request for Proposals (RFP) for one or more new subcontractors to provide Independent Consumer Advocacy Network (ICAN) and/or the Facilitated Enrollment for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (FE-ABD) services in the Central New York and Thousand Islands region. The ICAN grant will be for $75,000-$91,667 for 10 months ($90,000-$110,000 annualized) to provide ombudsprogram services to Medicaid beneficiaries who need long term care and behavioral health services. The FE-ABD grant will be for $40,000-$50,000 (for 6 months) to provide public health insurance application assistance program for people who are aged 65 or older, or who are certified blind or disabled.

    Applicants are welcome to bid for solely the ICAN grant or the FE-ABD grant, or both. Preference will be given to applicants who apply for both programs. CSS seeks to fund a CBO or CBOs that have a strong track record of serving diverse populations, including but not limited to consumers from racially, ethnically, culturally, geographically and linguistically diverse communities, as well as organizations that serve people with mental and physical disabilities.

    Applications will be due on April 28, 2023 with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2023. Award announcement has been postponed to June 2, 2023.  More detail on RFP timeline is provided below.

    Important Dates 

    EVENT DATE
    Release of RFP March 13, 2023
    Questions About This RFP Due March 31, 2023
    Answers Posted April 14, 2023
    Application Due April 28, 2023
    Award Announcements June 2, 2023
    Projected contract start date July 1, 2023
    Awardee Training TBD

    ICAN FE-ABD Central NY RFP 2023

    Questions and Answers

    CSS received the following questions from potential applicants.  Our answers follow below:

    1. What are the reasons these two contacts are terminating mid-year with the current provider?
      • The prior subcontract elected to withdraw due to emerging programmatic priorities.
    2. Please elaborate and provide examples of what is meant by “assisting with health care decision-making and self-directing care” (p. 6).
      • ICAN does not provide care management or care coordination. Rather, the program’s aim is to empower Medicaid recipients to effectively manage their own care, with assistance from their MLTC plan. For example, a consumer may contact ICAN because they want help getting discharged from a nursing home back to the community with homecare supports. The ICAN counselor can advise them about their options, and how the process works. The counselor can also execute parts of this process in concert with or on behalf of the consumer. But the ultimate choice of whether to return home, and under what conditions, is up to the consumer. The counselor may inform the consumer of the potential risks of different scenarios to ensure the consumer makes a well-informed decision.
    3. Please provide prior year numbers served by County by contract for enrollment assistance.
      • FE-ABD – Due to the short turn-around as a result of the unanticipated issuance of a NYSDOH RFP for FE-ABD services, CSS is no longer procuring an enrollment partner through this RFP.
      • ICAN – CSS suggests 150 cases closed per year as an appropriate minimum baseline for this region.
    4. Is the expectation that in-home services will be provided or just a location to provide face to face?
      • Yes, the ICAN contract requires home visits if either requested by the consumer or determined to be necessary. For example, a person with disabilities may require this as a reasonable accommodation in order to receive effective assistance from ICAN. However, this requirement remains temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, even prior to the pandemic it was very uncommon for a home visit to be requested or deemed necessary. So while the ability to conduct them is a requirement of the contract, they rarely occur.
    5. Please clarify the conflict related to co-location of service provider.
      • CSS’s standard subcontract agreement includes the following provision:“Subcontractor represents and warrants that it does not possess any interest, directly or indirectly, that would or may conflict in any manner with the performance or rendering of services described in this Agreement or any attachments hereto. Subcontractor further represents and warrants that none of its directors, officers, members, partners, or employees has any interest or shall acquire any interest, directly or indirectly, that would or may conflict in any manner with the performance or rendering of the services so described, and Subcontractor further represents and warrants that it shall not employ any person in the performance of this Agreement having such interest or possible interest.”

        ICAN currently has a few subcontractors who are co-located with Medicaid service providers. CSS requires these partners to disclose this potential conflict of interest, and explain the steps they have taken to prevent any actual conflict from arising.

     

    COVID-19 Update

    March 23, 2020

    ICAN is still there for New Yorkers, in spite of the COVID-19 emergency.

    CSS and our subcontractors are working offsite to continue providing the same one-on-one case advocacy we always have.

    However, we have had to temporarily limit some ICAN activities:

    • The toll-free hotline is still operational, but the hours have been reduced from 8am-6pm to 9am-5pm
    • Hotline agents will be doing abbreviated intake.  Callers will receive a call back from a health counselor within 24 hours.
    • We have suspended all in-person meetings with client, both at our offices and in clients’ homes.
    • We have suspended all public education and outreach events.

    If you or someone you know needs help with Medicaid managed care and long-term care, you can still reach ICAN through our toll-free hotline (844-614-8800), or by using the live chat feature on our website.

    Stay safe, everyone!

    -David

    CSS has selected new ICAN partners

    September 23, 2016

    The Community Service Society of New York is pleased to announce that the following organizations have been selected to join the Independent Consumer Advocacy Network (ICAN) through our recent Request for Proposals: (1) Legal Aid Society of Northeastern NY; (2) Urban Justice Center; (3) Western New York Independent Living, Inc.; (4) BronxWorks; (5) The Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc; and (6) South Asian Council for Social Services. Awards are subject to submitting full required documentation by September 30, 2016, and to final approval and discretion of CSS. Thank you to all who applied for your interest and participation in the process.

    ICAN is hiring

    September 9, 2016

    The Community Service Society is hiring for two positions in the ICAN program (click the links below for more information):

    We encourage all qualified persons to apply.

    CSS Releases FAQs for ICAN RFPs

    August 30, 2016

    Click here to read the answers to the FAQs for the ICAN RFPs issued on July 27, 2016.

    We are issuing three RFPs: the first seeks an organization with demonstrated experience in behavioral health services to help us provide ombuds services to HARP consumers statewide; the second is to provide ombuds services in the Capital Region; and the third seeks an organization in the New York City area to focus exclusively on outreach and education about the ICAN program.

    The RFPs may be accessed by clicking on the following links:

    Please note that applications are due Thursday, September 15, 2016.  Please note clearly on your application which RFP you are responding to.

    CSS issues three Requests for Proposals for the ICAN program

    July 27, 2016

    The following Requests For Proposals (RFPs) invite non-profit organizations throughout New York State to apply for grants to participate in the Independent Consumer Advocacy Network (ICAN), an initiative of the Community Service Society of New York (CSS) funded by the New York State Department of Health.   ICAN is the New York State Ombuds Program for people with Medicaid who need long term care services, a statewide program that provides direct assistance to participants in MLTC, FIDA, FIDA-IDD, HARP and MMC plans.

    In 2014, the NYSDOH awarded a multi-year grant to CSS to establish the Ombuds program to provide education, navigational assistance, and advocacy to MLTC/FIDA/LTSS MMC participants, caregivers, and their advocates.  The ICAN Network is comprised of CSS, a team of Specialists, and a group of community-based organizations.  Since its inception in December 2014, ICAN has served individuals transitioning into MLTC plans, individuals eligible for and participating in the FIDA demonstration program, and beneficiaries of LTSS in MMC plans.

    We are pleased to announce that the scope of ICAN services is now being expanded to cover participants in FIDA-IDD and HARP plans, and CSS seeks to fund additional community-based organizations with experience assisting individuals with long-term care and health insurance issues to join the ICAN Network.

    We are issuing three RFPs: the first seeks an organization with demonstrated experience in behavioral health services to help us provide ombuds services to HARP consumers statewide; the second is to provide ombuds services in the Capital Region; and the third seeks an organization in the New York City area to focus exclusively on outreach and education about the ICAN program.

    The RFPs may be accessed by clicking on the following links:

    Questions about these RFPs should be emailed by 5:00 pm on Friday, August 19, 2016 to Carrie Zoubul at the following address: czoubul@cssny.org.  Responses to questions will be posted on the ICAN website by 5:00 pm on Friday, August 26, 2016.  Please note that applications are due Thursday, September 15, 2016.  Please note clearly on your application which RFP you are responding to.

    Please feel free to share this information with any organizations that you think would be interested in submitting a proposal.

    The ICAN website has launched

    October 13, 2015

    We are pleased to announce the official launch of the ICAN website!

    While ICAN’s helpline, consumer assistance, and outreach activities began in December 2014, our website has been a simple placeholder referring users to our helpline and email.

    Now users can find out more about ICAN, search for places where they can meet in-person with a counselor, find out about educational events, go through a guided interview to receive information tailored to their situation, and learn more about MLTC in our resource library.  Soon, users will even be able to initiate a live chat with a health counselor!

    Thanks for visiting our site, and please let us know what you think!

    -David
    ICAN Program Director

    The ICAN office has moved

    August 31, 2015

    Our new address is:

    633 Third Ave, 10th Floor
    New York, NY 10017
    ph: 212.614.5332
    fax: 212.614.5559