Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities

Care management has been recognized as a valuable service in supporting family members who care for their older adult relatives. TCARE® is a caregiver assessment and referral protocol designed to assist care managers. The major goal of TCARE® is to provide care managers with a set of steps that are needed to move from the assessment to the implementation of a care plan. Find a presentation on Georgia’s experience with their person-centered initiative and use of the protocol

States are developing comprehensive APS systems that include assessments, policies and procedures to assist staff in performing intakes, investigations, and case planning by providing a consistent approach to obtaining and evaluating information. The SDM® system is intended to promote the safety of vulnerable adults, identify and address their needs, decrease the incidence of self-neglect and maltreatment, enhance service delivery, and provide data for program administration.

The GQMS was developed to support continuous quality improvement to services delivered to individuals with intellectual disabilities in GA. The overall vision of the project was to enhance the service delivery system in order to produce results that reflect communicated choices and preferences that matter most to the individuals. The GQMS is based on CMS’ Quality Framework for Home and Community Based Services. Find their annual report and background information on the site.

This report provides the latest national and state data on enrollment and spending for individuals enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare, also known as dual eligibles. There were about 8.9 million dual eligibles in 2007. Dual eligibles are among the sickest and poorest individuals covered by either program. Although they comprised 15% of Medicaid enrollment, dual eligibles accounted for 39% ($121 billion) of Medicaid spending for medical services & for more than a quarter of Medicare spending.

These informal, person centered thinking tools, created by The Learning Community for Person Centered Practices and the Inclusion Movement, were developed by cancer survivors to help individuals find empowerment or a sense of control in their experience. The website offers a number of on-line tools and worksheets that could be useful to individuals with disabilities and those who support them. Workshops, coffee chats and consultation sessions are offered as a way to help people use the tools.

This guidebook explains what schools need to do when providing transition services to youth with disabilities. It is written to parents with a primary emphasis on the legal rights of students with disabilities during the transition years. Although developed for residents of Pennsylvania, much of the information can be useful for assisting individuals in other states as well.

Future life planning is a growing concern among families with children with disabilities. This article presents a needs assessment evaluating feasibility of a new model for future life planning for family caregivers, Lifetime Assistance, which will provide ongoing planning and monitoring for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Findings show that caregivers overwhelmingly identified the need for the program and many were willing to pay for it themselves.

Self-directed programs that allow individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to exercise greater control over their finances have become increasingly common, however challenges in the recruitment, retention and training of direct support workers have grown more acute. In this article, the authors investigate the status of the Direct Support workforce for people using self-directed supports in one Midwestern state, based on the results of a statewide survey of service users.

How is Florida helping their youth with disabilities to transition into the job market and find employment? Find a presentation with information on applying for SSI benefits and work incentives, helpful hints regarding job interviews, as well as sample resumes. These resources could be useful to other states seeking to address this demographic.

Review a presentation aimed at educating human resource workers on how to properly recruit and work with individuals with disabilities. Information is provided on the Americans with Disabilities Act, hiring individuals with disabilities, reasonable accommodations, etc.. Also attached is a quiz on the information that could be used to test HR professionals’ knowledge.