Family Care is a managed long-term-care program in which a Managed Care Organization coordinates a care plan and provider network for the member. IRIS (Include, Respect, I Self-Direct) is a self-directed alternative in which the participant manages an individualized budget and can hire and direct their own workers.
The detail behind the program
Think of Family Care as the 'someone manages it for you' path and IRIS as the 'you manage it yourself, with support' path -- both are Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services programs, and both are accessed through your county's ADRC. IRIS has an important structural limit: participants must live in a home, apartment, adult family home, or RCAC -- not a CBRF or a nursing home -- so a family choosing between the two programs needs to think about where their loved one currently lives or plans to live, not just which management style they prefer. Both programs require passing Wisconsin's Long-Term Care Functional Screen before enrollment; your ADRC administers that screen.
