CDPA Peer Mentor Program

The Peer Mentoring Department consists of program participants who are highly trained to assist other participants through self-direction. If participants are looking for information on how to interview candidates, check references, train, or supervise employees, the Peer Mentor can share information and resources available.

Working with a Peer Mentor can increase your confidence as an employer and help you feel empowered to make choices that support your right to manage your own care. You don’t have to face the challenges of being an employer alone!

Who is the Peer Mentor Program For?

The CDChoices Peer Mentor Program is for individuals eligible for the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPA). This Medicaid-funded program allows New York residents to act as the consumer by hiring and training their own personal care assistants. The program is intended to connect longtime members with new consumers to help them benefit from the best consumer-directed care experience possible.

Getting Valuable Help from the Peer Mentor Program

A Peer Mentor can provide information, tips, and resources about:

– How to Recruit Personal Assistants

Selecting the right personal assistant for your specific needs is crucial to ensuring that you receive a high quality of care. Working with a Peer Mentor, you can learn valuable advice for recruiting, vetting, and ultimately deciding on whom you wish to employ as your own personal care assistant. Once you’re prepared to start recruiting, you can head to our Workforce Recruitment Portal to post a job and begin receiving applicants!

– Creating a Job Ad or Writing a Job Description

The details in a job ad or job description help set clear expectations for the personal care assistant for what you expect as their employer. These descriptions should be thorough, specific, and compliant with state and federal Medicaid regulations.

A peer mentor can share their own experiences in creating a successful job description that pairs them with the right personal care assistant for their needs. This can help you recruit a quality assistant for yourself in your own efforts.

Once you’re ready to post your job, head to our Workforce Recruitment Portal, and click “add job” to get started!

– Checking References

Vetting a potential candidate beyond their job application is essential for a tremendous consumer-directed care experience. These individuals will spend a significant amount of time with you and attend to important duties that help you with your daily living.

When you check a candidate’s references, how do you know what information to request from them? What do you want to know specifically about a candidate that references could provide? How do you determine if they’ve supplied you with quality references?

A Peer Mentor can guide you through the process of checking references. This can help you screen job applicants with greater confidence and assurance that you select the best possible care assistant.

– Supervising and Managing Assistants

You’ve created an accurate job description, vetted candidates’ references, and have decided on your care assistant. Now that they will be providing you with services, it is your responsibility to facilitate onboarding, training, and compensation as the consumer.

As they provide care to you, you will also be acting as their supervisor and manager. A Peer Mentor can provide guidance based on their own experience overseeing their care assistants to help you get the most out of your own consumer-directed services.

What Other Consumers Have Said About CDChoices Peer Mentoring

Here is a testimonial from one of our own consumer partners speaking to the value of the CDChoices peer mentoring program:

“I’m so much more successful this time with CDPA because of the support I receive from CDChoices peer mentor…She has helped me view my role in the CDPA process differently. I’ve learned about best practices with interviewing and scheduling. Overall, I think I’m a strong consumer because of her suggestions and encouragement. I feel more in control. I approach CDPA as a collaboration, and I’m open to suggestions from my worker, but I’m the boss at the end of the day, and I’m comfortable letting my workers know if things are not working out well for me.”

How to Become a Consumer with CDChoices

Whether you are interested in one-on-one Peer Mentoring or want to talk to someone who understands, reach out by calling 518-464-0810 ext. 3.

Are you interested in becoming a consumer with CDChoices? Get started today!