Real Choice Systems Change

This is the first in a series of newsletters produced at the Exchange to provide assistance to our CMS Real Systems Change grantees. This newsletter is produced biannually. Topics include: 2004 Real Choice Systems Change Grant Solicitation; Real Choice Systems Change Grant Summary Chart; Clearinghouse for The Community Living Exchange Collaborative. A table includes the types of Real Choice Systems Change Grants that the Community Living Exchange Collaborative provides technical assistance to.

The Formative Evaluation of the Real Choice Systems Change Grants evaluates how the Systems Change grantees are progressing towards meeting their goals. The Formative Evaluation identifies problems faced by the grantees and ways that they deal with the problems. This document provides summary information about each of the FY2004 Grantees.

The March 2005 Essentials of Housing Teleconference focused homeownership. Jean Langendorf of the United Cerebral Palsy - Texas, and Martha Younger-White of the Illinois Department of Human Services were the Guest Resource Persons available to participants.

The Essentials of Housing February 2005 Teleconference was a forum for participants to discuss the five percent rule as it relates to accessible housing, as well as the new HUD Guidelines and the proposed 2006 national budget.

The Essentials of Housing January 2005 Teleconference focused on affordable housing. Carla Pope from the Iowa Finance Authority gave a presentation on the difference funding sources mixed to make affordable housing work in Iowa. Participants were able to engage in lively discussion after the presentation.

The Essentials of Housing Teleconference in November 2004 was a discussion forum for participants during which they discussed how their grant projects were related to housing issues. The Guest Resource Person on this call was Lynn Lippitt from the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority.

The October 2004 Essentials of Housing Teleconference focused on housing vouchers with Guest Resource Persons, Karen Avery and Brian Peters of Independence First in Wisconsin, available on the call to answer participant questions.

This was the first Essentials of Housing Teleconference in a continuing series. Meeting summary includes participant introductions and suggestions for future call topics.

This brief focuses on one consumer-direction model within the Family Care program-the Agency with Choice model-in which a \"co-employment agency\" serves as the Employer of Records and the consumer acts as the Managing Employer. In the other consumer-directed model, the consumer takes on all employer responsibilities. Slightly more than one in five Family Care members choose the co employment option, demonstrating how a managed care program can incorporate consumer direction.

Kansas operates four Medicaid waivers that allow program participants to self-direct their care. These programs permit participants to hire a worker or their choice and choose an organization to act as the Employer of Records for their worker. The programs are noteworthy because of the large number and wide variety of organizations that fulfill this function and the many different ways in which they serve their clients, providing a high level of choice to participants and their representatives.