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Personal Care Assistance Explanation

IEP Requirements for Billing

LEAs claiming PCA services for MA reimbursement must define the student's need for individual PCA support in the IEP. Moreover, for SBAP purposes, the one-on-one health-related service(s) must be needed due to the student's exceptionality associated with medical or mental health issues - not to assist the student's educational needs. If a student has multiple support service needs, the IEP must indicate the individual areas of assistance.

Using PCA Logs

LEAs are required to follow procedures that fully document the service and the student's response to the service. To assist LEAs in recording this information, Leader developed a Weekly Log with Typical Daily Schedule and a Daily Encounter Log specifically for PCAs to use. These logs were made available on Jan. 1, 2007.

Note: If your LEA is already maintaining detailed documentation that you feel meets SBAP requirements, you are not required to use Leader's logs. However, we recommend your LEA submit a copy of that log to Leader to ensure it meets SBAP's documentation requirements.

Weekly Log with Typical Daily Schedule

It is recommended that PCAs use the Weekly Log with Typical Daily Schedule:
• For students who require intensive services throughout the day
• When one or two PCAs provide services to the student throughout the day

Before using the Weekly Log, Leader recommends that a Typical Daily Schedule be created for the student. This schedule should be an outline of the student's typical day, in regard to the individual medical/mental health-related PCA support needed, as indicated in the IEP.

The Weekly Log, used in conjunction with the Typical Daily Schedule, contains the following fields:

• General student and PCA information (including student name, diagnosis, etc.)
• Total daily time spent providing PCA services to the student
• Daily Notes (a summary of the student’s day/activities and response to assistance as they pertain to the assistance indicated in the Typical Daily Schedule
• If there are deviations to the student’s Typical Daily Schedule (for example, a fire drill), the PCA must fully document the unscheduled activity and student response, including:
  • The activity's start and end time
  • A detailed description of the activity and outcome
  • The activity's location (if applicable)

The PCA signs the Weekly Log every day, and his/her supervisor signs and dates the Weekly Log at the end of each week.

Download the PCA Weekly Log in Microsoft Word or as an Adobe PDF

Daily Encounter Log

It is recommended that PCAs use the Daily Encounter Log:

• For students who require intermittent services throughout the day
• When multiple PCAs assist the same student throughout the day

The Daily Encounter Log contains the following fields:

• General student and PCA information (including student name, diagnosis, etc.)
• The names of all PCAs who provided services to the student that day (the log accommodates space for multiple provider names)
• Activity time in and time out and total number of minutes for the activity
• Detailed description of the activity, including the response to care, outcome, and the location (if applicable)
• PCA initials

The PCA(s) and his/her supervisor sign and date the Daily Encounter Log at the end of each day.

Download the PCA Daily Log in Microsoft Word or as an Adobe PDF

Note: LEAs also have the option of recording PCA services using WebPSL. Please contact your SBAP Account Manager for a username and password to access WebPSL or to obtain a copy of the WebPSL Quick Start Guide.