OLYMPIA – Following an agreement signed in May, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) has received notice from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that Fircrest School will retain its certification and associated federal funding.
Fircrest School in Shoreline is one of four state-operated residential habilitation centers for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. At the end of 2017, CMS decertified the facility’s Program Area Team (PAT) A for not being in compliance with one condition of participation for Intermediate Care Facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Last month, officials re-surveyed the PAT and evaluated the facility against hundreds of federal requirements. Being back in compliance with the Medicaid conditions secures approximately $19 million per year in continued federal funding for the 110 residents living at the PAT.
“Fircrest’s achievement is the culmination of efforts that included a close look at virtually every component of residential habilitation,” said Evelyn Perez, Assistant Secretary for the department’s Developmental Disabilities Administration.
“Staff all across the administration and from a variety of professional disciplines came together to develop and implement strategies that I believe will improve care for those we serve,” she said. “I have no doubt that insights from Fircrest will drive further improvements across all the state’s residential habilitation centers.”
Opened in 1959, Fircrest School is operated by DSHS’s Developmental Disabilities Administration. The facility spans 88 acres and houses approximately 200 residents in two PATs. The annual operating budget is $61 million.
Check out the current status of all the state’s residential habilitation centers on DSHS’s website.