Community Inclusion

Connect-Ability’s goal of enhancing and supporting employment for people with disabilities is informed in large part by the experiences of people with disabilities themselves. The Pathways to Success project collects information on individual experiences, on an ongoing basis through periodic in-person interviews. With this information, the findings will be used to inform not only state agency policy, but also potential employers, so that they may better assist job seekers with disabilities.

This is a survey of Connecticut school districts concerning transition, work experience and community participation services for students receiving special education services. This survey, focused on youth in transition; stakeholder education; recruitment, employment, and retention; transportation; and technical assistance. The results and subsequent strategic plan will be useful to the State Department of Education for continuing technical assistance and training to school districts.

This assessment is designed to answer important questions about the population eligible for DVR services that live in Maine and their vocational rehabilitation needs. Maine Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) assists eligible individuals with disabilities to prepare for, achieve and retain employment in integrated community settings. The goal is to provide services to all eligible consumers at the time that they need them to achieve competitive, community-based employment.

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law issues this call to action to inform advocates, policymakers and the public about the vital role the Supreme Court’s landmark decision plays in enabling people with mental illnesses to benefit from community life. The Olmstead decision is now 10 years old. According to the report, many people with mental illnesses remain segregated in board-and-care homes, nursing facilities and other institutions even though supportive community living is cost-effective.

IPAWS is a modernization and integration of the nation’s alert and warning infrastructure. This paper serves to demonstrate how IPAWS addresses the challenges of reaching the whole community, including the 25% of our population who might need assistance. It offers evidence that while IPAWS doesn't solve all of the challenges, it can certainly mitigate them, particularly with greater stakeholder engagement and public awareness. Emerging technologies that could improve accessibility are reviewed.

Variables that affect supported employment are profiled. The authors examine sociodemographic, health, and income characteristics of participants. They also look at employment-related activities and expectations, traits of those seeking jobs, what kinds of jobs are held, and reasons for not seeking or keeping employment. This report is the second in a series that make up the fifth Ticket to Work evaluation report.

WIPA was created to give beneficiaries guidance and information on available work incentives so as to increase employment. This report, the first in a series that make up the fifth Ticket to Work evaluation report, has three objectives: to capture stakeholder experiences with the program during start-up; to identify early opportunities for improvement; and to inform future program data collection, evaluation, and outcomes analyses.

The brief explains how Medicaid works in today’s health care system and answers some of the key questions of how Medicaid fits into broader health reform efforts. Information is given in question and answers. The authors offer their opinion on how eligibility, benefits, finance, and other characteristics of the program should be changed.

The study analyzes the long term care (LTC) system in WV and projects costs and savings associated with two models of efforts to transition people out of institutions. The system analysis looks at service delivery in both institutional and community-based settings, levels of access, financing, and quality. The appendices include examinations of care models and rebalancing efforts of other states.

Quantitative and qualitative data are pulled together for a summary of the enrollment and implementation experiences of state DMIE projects through December 2008. The Kansas, Minnesota, Texas, Hawaii and District of Columbia programs are profiled and then a national summary and implications are presented. Another report tentatively scheduled for the spring of 2010 will analyze whether the program improved outcomes for individuals and evaluate the implementation and phase-down activities.