Advocates

CMS recently provided an update to the 2021 SSI and Spousal Impoverishment Standards. Spousal impoverishment standards are adjusted in January to reflect changes in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) federal benefit rate (FBR) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). These new standards will become effective on January 1, 2021.

Providing telephone reassurance and check-in calls is one key strategy that is being widely used across the country. Programs are engaging volunteers and pulling in staff to meet the need for an increase in such check-in calls. Recognizing that certain conversation skills can help to build trust and deepen engagement, ADvancing States partnered with Emergency Design Collective to create a Conversation Tips Toolkit designed to support reassurance and check-in programs.

CMS recently released a Report to Congress highlighting approaches five state programs implemented to address housing instability and improve treatment outcomes for people with Substance Use Disorder. Initiatives mentioned in the report focus on: providing housing-related supports that facilitate access to community resources; sharing data across systems to identify and target those in need for resources; and partnerships building across state and local health and housing systems and providers.

ACL and the Lewin Group released a report highlighting key takeaways from the AARP 2020 LTSS State Scorecard on state efforts in establishing high-performing ADRC/NWD systems. The report compares current data with results from the 2017 LTSS State Scorecard. The report provides scores based on five domains in ADRC/NWD system functions. The report also shares promising practices/lessons learned from five states – Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, and South Dakota.

This resource was developed for human service agency leadership whose role is directing the organization and delivery of services and supports. The five competency domains include: Strengths-Based, Culturally Informed, Whole Person-Focused; Cultivating Connections Inside the System and Out; Rights, Choice, and Control; Partnership, Teamwork, Communication, and Facilitation; and Documentation, Implementation, and Monitoring.

This resource aims to help human service agencies in states, tribes, and territories to measure their progress in developing person-centered systems. The Self-Assessment was designed to be used by staff at all levels. The Self-Assessment measures progress in eight different domains: Leadership; Person-Centered Culture; Eligibility & Service Access; Person-Centered Service Planning & Monitoring; Finance; Workforce Capacity and Capabilities; Collaboration & Partnership; and Quality & Innovation

FAIR Health recently published a study that highlights the relationship between preexisting comorbidities of COVID-19 and mortality in privately insured patients. The study describes those most vulnerable to severe COVID-19 outcomes, which helps to inform prevention, treatment and possible protocols for vaccine distribution prioritization, once developed. This study builds on FAIR Health’s series of five COVID-19 briefs that have highlighted the widespread economic impact of the pandemic.

The Commission on Law and Aging of the American Bar Association recently released a briefing paper discussing project findings and conclusions about Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders (WINGS). This briefing paper describes challenges of adult guardianship reform and the rationale for establishing WINGS, discusses the potential for applying a nation Court Improvement Program model to the adult guardianship system, and provides federal policy recommendations.

GAO recently published a report to examine how other countries provide support to family caregivers, challenges present in these approaches, and the development of HHS’ national family caregiving strategy. GAO researched caregiver policies from Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom, which focused on employment flexibility, income support, and pension credits for family caregivers.

The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI) recently released a report with the results of a survey of caregivers nationwide. RCI surveyed caregivers through its partner network and 422 provided responses in the summer of 2020. The study sought to explore the direct experience of caregiver stress since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey includes data on financial stressors, medical stressors, isolation, and other factors affecting caregiver stress in the pandemic.