What is TASC?
Tennessee Alliance of Support Coordinators (TASC) is a membership association of organizations and individuals who provide a form of case management known as "independent support coordination" (ISC) to persons with intellectual disabilities and their families. ISC services are available to persons enrolled in Tennessee's home and community-based (HCBS) Medicaid waivers. These waivers provide an alternative to intermediate care facilities (ICF) and provide a range of services for individuals and families who choose to get the support and services they need in their own homes and communities.
Support Coordinators, or "ISC's" as they are called by many, are employed by our member organizations to help families and individuals who are enrolled in particular HCBS waivers. Support Coordinators are trained and certified by the state Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and their employing organizations in how to best plan, locate and coordinate the services that people need and want in their lives.
For more information about HCBS waivers and other options available for persons with intellectual disabilities, you may visit the website of the
Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (
http://www.tn.gov/didd/index.html)
To see information about membership,
click here
To see the TASC Code of Ethics for ISC's,
click here
TASC Supports Person-Centered Practices in Tennessee:
TASC supports and encourages its member agencies and fellow Support Coordinators to use person-centered practices in their work. These practices are based on core principles that encourage*:
- Listening to and learning about what people want in their everyday lives;
- Helping people take and maintain control of their lives;
- Working together with a person and their family, friends and professionals to support them in living the life they want;
- Emphasizing connection and contribution to the community;
- Recording information in a person centered plan;
- Doing business that puts the person being supported in the center; and
- Giving hope for a good life
TASC member agencies that use person centered practices*:
- Support staff members in practicing person-centered thinking and planning;
- Match staff to the people they support based on skills and personality;
- Make sure that staff know their core responsibilities (those things they have to do) and where they can use judgment and creativity (where they can try different ways). They also know what is private and respect the individual’s privacy;
- Review and update plans on an ongoing basis so that they plan changes with the person;
- Ensure that a person’s property and money are in the person’s control;
- Are flexible and creative in the ways they support people; and
- Frequently ask, “What is working, what is not working, and what do we still need to learn?”
*Bulleted information used with permission from “What Does “Person Centered” Mean?” developed by Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University. Please <<click here>> to read more about the Principles of Person Centered Practices at the VCU website.
