Community Inclusion

In two short videos, Lana and Janet, participants in the Missouri MFP program, share their experiences moving out of nursing homes. They also discuss some program details and encourage others to sign up. The videos were produced by the Disability Resource Association to promote MFP.

The key details of the partnership between the Veterans Health Administration and the Administration on Aging, created to provide consumer-directed care to veterans, are given. The document summarizes the partnership structure, standards, and target population. It also discusses the referral, follow-up, and rate setting procedures for the defined set of services and goods to be offered.

The Network consists of 10 regional centers funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a division of the U.S. Department of Education. The mission is to provide information and Technical Assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to individuals, organizations and employers. They provide training materials, referrals, and a searchable database of legal documents, fact sheets and checklists.

In March of 2006, 144 Minnesotans with disabilities and their families gathered to voice their concerns and ideas about meaningful choices and to learn about promising practices in employment and day services. People shared their experiences, strategies and best practices. Common themes from the workshops are gathered here and include definitions of meaningful daytime choice, things that contribute to it, things that prevent it, things that need to be improved, and recommendations.

Three researchers use data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to estimate the expense of a mandatory personal assistance services (PAS) benefit under Medicaid for persons with low incomes, low assets, and significant disability. They conclude that the cost would be much lower than estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. They also argue that this step would help eliminate the institutional bias of Medicaid.

The conference took place in May 2009 in North Carolina and focused on the global advancement of the principles of self-determination. Presenters spoke on topics including Medicaid reform, self-directed budgeting, self-employment; quality, education, advocacy; and youth, among others. Included here are slides from talks as well as essays by the organizer on the purpose of public funding for services and challenges facing Medicaid.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics began publishing this data series in January 2009. It is gathered through the Current Population Survey, which began identifying persons with a disability age 16 and older in the civilian noninstitutional population in June, 2008. These materials provide information on comparisons with other data sources, variability of the data, and the types of data available. Additionally, links to historical data and alternate formats are given.

Meant for individuals with disabilities and entities that have obligations under disabilities law, the handbook provides basic information about disability rights and resources for finding out more. The book is in a Q and A format while the website is organized by topic. Employment, services and programs, public accommodations, housing, education, transportation, and technology and communications are all discussed.

The Council on Quality and Leadership offers short guides on quality elements such as accountability, service relationships, leadership, record and data keeping, human resources, and many more. Each guide provides a bulleted list of things to keep in mind or actions to complete to ensure that each element is managed well.

In 2004, a task force reviewed Veterans Affairs’ Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VRE) program and recommended focusing on employment through a Five-Track service delivery model and increasing program capacity. Here, the GAO looks at how employment has been impacted, the extent to which steps have been taken to improve capacity, and how program outcomes are reported. The authors recommended adjusting financial incentives and to improve strategic planning and transparency of reporting.