What is Children's Attendant Care?

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Children's Attendant Care provides intensive, non-medical support in the home for children enrolled in the Medically Complex Children (MCC) waiver who require help with at least two of seven activities of daily living. This isn't typical childcare—it's specialized support that understands the unique needs of children with complex medical conditions while focusing on their development, safety, and quality of life.

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CAC services recognize that caring for a medically complex child requires extraordinary dedication, and families need support that goes beyond what typical childcare or even family members can reasonably provide on a continuous basis.

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Who Qualifies for Children's Attendant Care?

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Children's Attendant Care is available for children ages 1-20 who are enrolled in the South Carolina Medically Complex Children (MCC) waiver, require extraordinary care that exceeds normal parental responsibility, need assistance with at least two activities of daily living including bathing and personal hygiene, dressing and grooming, eating and nutritional support, hygiene and toileting, mobility and positioning, toilet training (when age-appropriate), and transferring (moving from place to place).

CAC recognizes that caring for a medically complex child often requires support that goes far beyond typical parenting responsibilities. This might include constant supervision due to medical fragility, complex feeding routines, specialized positioning needs, or behavioral support related to medical conditions.

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Conditions We Support Through CAC

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Children with autism spectrum disorder and complex medical needs often require both behavioral understanding and medical support. Our caregivers understand sensory sensitivities and environmental modifications, communication approaches including non-verbal communication, routine importance and transition support, behavioral understanding and positive intervention strategies, and social skill development while managing medical equipment and complex care needs.

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Children with cerebral palsy who have complex medical needs may require feeding tubes, breathing support, or other intensive medical monitoring alongside their mobility and communication support. Our specialized care includes mobility assistance and positioning support, communication aid usage and alternative communication methods, physical therapy goal reinforcement and activity support, adaptive equipment familiarity and assistance, and fine and gross motor skill development activities, all while managing medical equipment and providing the extraordinary level of care these children require.

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Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities who also have complex medical conditions benefit from patient, consistent support that meets them where they are while managing their medical complexity. We provide age-appropriate activities adapted to developmental level while maintaining medical safety protocols, life skill development and independence building within medical limitations, learning support and educational goal reinforcement alongside medical care coordination, social interaction facilitation and friendship building while ensuring medical stability, and behavioral support using positive approaches that accommodate medical needs.

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Many children have multiple conditions that interact in complex ways, requiring comprehensive approaches that address coordinated care considering all conditions and medical needs, medical complexity awareness and continuous safety monitoring, extensive equipment and assistive technology support, and family-centered care that supports the whole child and family through complex medical and developmental challenges.

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Our Children's Attendant Care Services

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Activities of daily living support includes adaptive personal care including bathing, dressing, and grooming with attention to medical equipment and skin integrity, feeding assistance and nutritional support for children with feeding tubes, special diets, or swallowing difficulties, toileting support and hygiene care appropriate to developmental level and medical needs, mobility assistance including transfers, positioning, and movement support for children with physical limitations or medical equipment, and medication reminders and schedule coordination with families while maintaining non-medical scope of practice.

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Developmental and educational support encompasses age-appropriate play and recreational activities adapted for medical limitations and equipment, educational reinforcement and homework support that accommodates both learning needs and medical schedules, social skill development and peer interaction facilitation while ensuring medical safety, communication support using adaptive devices or techniques for children with various communication needs, and sensory integration activities and environmental modification that support both development and medical stability.

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Safety and medical monitoring involves continuous supervision for children who cannot be safely left alone due to medical fragility, medical equipment monitoring with non-medical oversight of feeding tubes, oxygen equipment, and other medical devices, emergency recognition and appropriate response protocols for children with complex medical conditions, environmental safety awareness and accident prevention specific to medical equipment and mobility limitations, and medication reminders and schedule coordination while maintaining appropriate scope of practice boundaries.

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Family support integration includes sibling engagement and inclusive family activities that accommodate the medically complex child's needs, routine maintenance that supports family schedules while prioritizing medical care requirements, respite support allowing parents time for other responsibilities while ensuring specialized medical oversight, and care coordination with other family members and medical providers to ensure comprehensive support.

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How CAC Fits into the MCC Waiver

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The Medically Complex Children waiver is designed specifically for children with serious illnesses or conditions expected to last at least 12 months. Children must meet nursing facility level of care criteria, meaning their medical needs are significant enough that they would otherwise require institutional care.

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MCC waiver participants must meet specific medical criteria including having a serious illness or condition with medical complexity, requiring evaluation of medications, hospitalizations, and specialist care, needing coordination of care among multiple medical providers, and meeting nursing facility level of care requirements.

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CAC services are provided based on assessed need and can be used in combination with other MCC waiver services like nursing care, therapy services, and medical equipment.

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The At Home Palmetto CAC Difference

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We see each child as a unique individual with their own personality, interests, and potential—not defined by their medical condition. Our care approach focuses on what children CAN do while supporting what they need help with, always keeping childhood joy and development at the center of our care philosophy.

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Our CAC providers receive specialized training in understanding common pediatric medical conditions and their impact on daily life, recognizing medical emergencies and appropriate responses while maintaining scope of practice, age-appropriate developmental activities and interaction that accommodate medical needs, working with medical equipment through non-medical monitoring and assistance, communication techniques for children with various abilities and medical conditions, and family dynamics and sibling relationships in the context of medical complexity.

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Children's needs change as they grow, heal, or face new medical challenges. Our CAC services adapt to these changes, ensuring continuous appropriate support that grows with the child and family needs while maintaining the highest standards of safety and medical awareness.

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We work as part of your family's care team, not as outside providers. Our goal is to support your family's routines, values, and goals while providing the specialized care your child needs, always recognizing that parents remain the primary decision-makers and advocates for their children.

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Benefits for the Whole Family

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For children, CAC provides consistent, specialized care that understands their unique medical and developmental needs, opportunities for age-appropriate activities and development within safe medical parameters, social interaction and relationship building with caring adults who understand their medical complexity, and maintained routines and comfort in their home environment where medical equipment and family support systems are already established.

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For parents, CAC offers reliable support that allows for work, rest, and attention to other family needs, peace of mind knowing their child receives appropriate care from trained professionals familiar with medical complexity, time to focus on other children or family relationships without compromising their medically complex child's safety, and support in managing complex care routines and medical schedules that can be overwhelming to manage alone.

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For siblings, CAC provides attention and activities that acknowledge their needs while maintaining focus on family medical needs, help understanding and coping with their sibling's condition through appropriate explanations and support, opportunities for more normal family activities and experiences when the medically complex child has appropriate support, and reduced family stress that allows for better sibling relationships and family dynamics.

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Coordinating with Medical Care

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While CAC providers don't perform medical procedures, they work closely with your child's medical team to understand medical routines and schedules that impact daily care, recognize signs that may indicate medical concerns requiring professional attention, support therapy goals and interventions through daily activities and reinforcement, maintain communication about your child's condition and progress with families and appropriate medical providers, and ensure medical equipment remains clean, properly positioned, and functioning within appropriate scope of practice.

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Building Independence and Life Skills

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A key goal of CAC services is supporting your child's development toward maximum independence within their medical limitations. This might include encouraging self-care skills appropriate to ability level and medical safety requirements, supporting communication and social skill development that accommodates medical needs, facilitating educational goals and learning opportunities that work around medical schedules and limitations, building confidence and self-esteem through successful experiences that celebrate achievements within medical contexts, and preparing for transitions to school, community activities, or increased independence as medically appropriate.

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CAC Across South Carolina

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From rural communities to urban centers throughout the Palmetto State, we provide Children's Attendant Care services that understand local resources, school systems, and community supports while maintaining the specialized medical awareness that medically complex children require. We work with families to access not just CAC services, but also to connect with other resources that support medically complex children and their families throughout South Carolina.

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The Self-Directed Option

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CAC can be provided through traditional agency services or through self-direction, where families have more control over hiring and managing their care providers. We can help families understand both options and choose what works best for their situation, medical complexity level, and family preferences, always prioritizing the specialized training and medical awareness that medically complex children require.

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What to Expect from CAC Services

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We work with your family to understand your child's specific medical needs, daily routines, developmental goals, and family priorities for CAC services, always keeping medical safety and emergency preparedness as primary considerations.

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Based on assessment and your family's input, we develop a care plan that addresses your child's medical and developmental needs while supporting family life and routines, ensuring that medical requirements are seamlessly integrated into daily activities and childhood experiences.

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We carefully match CAC providers based on your child's medical complexity, personality, developmental needs, interests, and your family's preferences and values, always ensuring that providers have appropriate training and comfort level with your child's specific medical conditions.

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We maintain regular communication about your child's progress, any medical or developmental concerns, and how CAC services are working for your family, including coordination with medical providers and case managers as appropriate.

As your child grows and their needs change, we adjust CAC services to continue providing appropriate and valuable support that maintains medical safety while promoting maximum development and independence.

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Accessing CAC Services Through Medicaid

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Navigating the MCC waiver application process can feel overwhelming when you're already managing complex medical care. We help South Carolina families understand MCC waiver eligibility requirements and medical documentation needed, complete application paperwork and coordinate required medical assessments, work with medical providers and case managers throughout the application process, and access CAC services once waiver approval is received, ensuring smooth transition and appropriate care coordination.

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Because Every Child Deserves Extraordinary Care

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At Home Palmetto, we understand that raising a medically complex child requires extraordinary dedication, patience, and love. It also requires extraordinary support that understands both medical complexity and childhood development. Our Children's Attendant Care services recognize that you're not just managing medical conditions—you're raising a child who deserves every opportunity to grow, learn, play, and experience joy, alongside receiving the specialized medical support they need.

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When you choose our CAC services, you're not just hiring care providers. You're gaining partners who understand that your child is a whole person with dreams, interests, and unlimited potential, who happens to have complex medical needs that require specialized understanding and support.

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Because when care is provided with genuine understanding of both medical complexity and childhood wonder, it becomes more than support—it becomes the foundation that allows children and families to thrive despite medical challenges.

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Ready to learn more about Children's Attendant Care options for your South Carolina family? Contact At Home Palmetto for your no cost consultation. Book Here.