Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities

This report outlines the efforts of the State’s Department of Disabilities, Aging & Independent Living to create a balanced system of care for elders and adults with disabilities. It discusses the Department’s successes and obstacles in increasing home and community-based services, including respite care and consumer-directed services for care recipients and caregivers, and shifting away from institutionalized care. It also outlines the services of the five Area Agencies on Aging offices.

How many hoops does a consumer have to jump through to receive services? The goal of service delivery for ADRC is seamless entry into long term supports for consumers. This document outlines basic indicators of streamlining access by looking at different aspects of the process. The Measures Matrix will utilze the Evaluation Plan Highlights document also attached.

How can you test the satisfaction of customers receiving services? The Forsyth County ADRC has shared a presentation about their process of measuring satisfaction. They have also included the results from their post-test consumer surveys and the findings that their questionnaires provided.

One challenge many ADRCs face is how to provide services over large geographic areas with small numbers of staff. Several states have chosen to use kiosks as part of their outreach and marketing or information and referral components. This issue brief explores kiosks in use by ADRC grantees and other organizations and discusses considerations in designing accessible kiosks.

This article draws on the best practices of consumer-driven health programs for people with disabilities, and offers a Disability-Competent Health System model. The model integrates health and social services to maximize opportunities for independent living and person-centered care. This interdisciplinary approach is a promising framework and an opportunity for the independent living movement to address health-related issues without subscribing to the medical model.

In 2004, Congress requested that HHS conduct a study on the shortage of direct support professionals (DSPs) supporting persons with intellectual disabilities and other developmental disabilities (ID/DD). The study includes an examination of the causes associated with high vacancy and turnover rates, and an examination of the impact this shortage may be having on services for people with ID/DD. The report offers figures on projected needs and future demands of worker recruitment and retention.

This groundbreaking two-part report calls for significant improvement in health care and long-term care that relies too much on families without recognizing and assessing family caregivers' own support and health needs. Volume II provides four background papers and two personal accounts. Chronic illness and disability, as these accounts reveal, affects not only the lives of the individual, but also of family members who provide the care and support.

This two-part report calls for significant improvement in health care and long-term care that relies too much on families without recognizing and assessing family caregivers' own support and health needs. Volume I reflects the professional consensus achieved among experts and stakeholders on fundamental principles and practice guidelines that apply to a range of practitioners in a variety of settings. The strategies focus on stimulating caregiver assessment as a basic component of practice.

The Department of Mental Retardation (DMR) has established a system of reporting and monitoring incidents that occur with individuals served by the department in order to identify, manage and reduce overall risk for the individual. This procedure delineates a standardized process for reporting, documentation and follow-up of reportable incidents as defined, involving individuals served by the department. This reporting system helps implement individual plans and assists in quality oversight.

One of the greatest challenges facing every state Medicaid program is devising an appropriate and effective delivery system for its most resource-intensive beneficiaries. Several pilot programs called Disability Care Coordination Organizations are taking the best attributes of managed care and reconfiguring them to improve the lives of Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities. This paper synthesizes the programs’ key components and describes the challenges they face.