Monroe County OPWDD Community and Home Intervention and Response Program (CHIRP)
CHIRP Program Information Flyer | If you have questions or want to make a referral, call 585-275-7264
First Steps for New Families
This is not an emergency service. If you or your family need help right away, please call 9-1-1. Our team will try to talk to you on the phone within 24 hours of contacting us. We will also try to meet with you within the same week. We provide short-term support in the home or community to children and adults who are having behavior challenges. This program does not provide long term therapy, emergency mental health care, or help with non-crisis issues like toilet training, following directions, or school refusal. We also do not use or teach restraints. For these situations, we will help you find other services that can help.
How Can Our Program Help?
We work with families for a short time to understand why a behavior is happening and teach caregivers ways to help. We do this by:
- Learning about the person and family, observing challenging behaviors
- Asking caregivers to track challenging behaviors
- Developing a behavior plan, which may include:
- Ways caregivers can prevent behaviors
- Helping caregivers use new skills to increase desired behaviors
- Helping the person develop ways to communicate other than challenging behavior
- Teaching caregivers to use the behavior plan
- Linking family to longer term services, if needed
Eligibility
In order to be eligible, the person being must:
- Live in Monroe County
- Live with a family member who can participate in treatment and is willing to learn new ways to help with the behavior challenges.
- Have OPWDD eligibility
Cost
CHIRP is supported through a grant from the OPWDD Family Support Services program. There is no cost to families
Who We Help
Children, teens and adults with developmental disabilities AND ongoing challenging behaviors such as:
- Aggression (hurting others)
- Self-injury
- Running off from caregivers
- Serious property destruction
These behaviors are considered a crisis when there are:
- Problems keeping the person safe
- Problems keeping others safe
- Risk of losing home and community supports
- Risk of losing school or daycare placement
Referrals
Referrals can be made by families, medical or mental health providers, or developmental disability service providers. However, we ask that a caregiver call to start services.