Refer a Patient to Almost Home Kids

To refer a patient to Almost Home Kids, call (309) 573-0714.

All children are considered on a case-by-case basis.

When a family or referring provider contacts Almost Home Kids, a case manager will begin to gather information about the child, their medical history and ongoing medical needs.

Our team meets weekly to discuss potential patients and determine our ability to accommodate requests for respite or transitional care.

Almost Home Kids will also ask the family to submit a formal application and schedule a tour.

If you have questions about the appropriateness of a referral, contact a case manager by calling (309) 573-0714.

Eligibility Criteria

• Respite and Transitional Care

• • Children, under age 22, must be medically complex, fragile and/or have a medical condition that requires care to be delivered by a nurse or trained parent/caregiver and may be technology dependent.
    • The terms medically complex and medically fragile describe children who are medically stable but require skilled nursing care, specialized therapy, and specialized medical equipment and supplies to enhance or sustain their lives. Children with medical complexities may include, but are not limited to children who have neuro-muscular disease, heart disease, seizure disorder, spina bifida, chronic lung disease or other medical conditions that threaten the child's ability to thrive and to survive without proper medical care.
  • A child who is medically complex will be considered clinically stable for admission when the home-care plan is established and no significant changes are anticipated.
  • The child, by diagnosis or history, does not require one-on-one supervision. The child must be able to be safely cared for in the physical and medical environment provided at Almost Home Kids by the available staff and equipment. All equipment coming to Almost Home Kids from the home environment will have been inspected annually and labeled by the durable medical equipment provider or designee.
  • The child must be clinically stable and not require continuous one-on-one supervision or intensive-care-unit-level care. Eligibility requirements include, but are not limited to, the following:
    • Nebulizer treatments no more frequently than every two hours 
    • Supplemental oxygen requirement must be less than 40% FiO2
    • Hyperalimentation must not require daily adjustments
    • Pressor medications must not require adjustments
  • Almost Home Kids will not discriminate on admission due to race, religion, diagnosis or source of payment.
• Additional Criteria for Transitional Care

• (In addition to the above criteria)

  • The child has special health care needs that require private-duty nursing care or continuous medical monitoring.
  • Parents/caregivers are in need of additional education, training and clinical support and/or home modifications are being done in the home, and the child is not able to reside there.
  • The child must be determined clinically stable by Almost Home Kids staff during pre-admission evaluation in the hospital. Each case will be reviewed by the administrative staff and medical director prior to admission.
  • The child with a new tracheostomy must be stable and have the first trach change done in the hospital setting prior to transfer to Almost Home Kids.
  • Immunizations and flu vaccines must be current.
    • If the child is currently being treated for a bacterial infection, they must be on antibiotics and afebrile 48 hours prior to transfer.
    • If intravenous therapy is required, a peripherally inserted central catheter line, central line or Port-a-Cath must be in place and functional for administration.
    • The child must have a stable nutrition regiment.