Real Choice Systems Change

Draft Version 3.0 of the1915c Medicaid HCBS Waiver Application and the “Instructions, Technical Guide and Review Criteria.” are now available. These materials provide guidance for completing the application, background information on program requirements and assurances, an explanation of options available to states and review criteria. States interested in using the draft application prior to 1/’06 should notify your CMS Regional Office which will provide you with the most current -Version 3.2.

Ohio has been using its Real Choice Systems Change grant to bring people together to consider options to streamline access to information about long term services. A group of county, municipal and private organizations in Ohio are working with state agencies to develop a pilot project. On December 13-14, 2004, policy experts from Rutgers Center for State Health Policy and the National Academy for State Health Policy met with stakeholders to provide information and technical assistance.

These briefs have been developed to assist the CMS Real Choice grantees who are focusing on strengthening systems of care for children and adolescents with severe emotional disturbances. Five briefs are included in the set. The briefs focus on assessment of children, therapeutic foster care, wraparound services, flexible funding, and multisystemic therapy.

A Sharing of Ideas on Community Inclusion for People with Disabilities. Thie report caputures discussion from 9 participating towns who were represented by a range of elected and disability services officials. Several participants were individuals with disabilities or family members of people with disabilities. All present shared a desire to bring back their towns back ideas for enhancing local awareness of the barriers faced by people in becoming fully included and integrated into community.

The Real Choice Systems Change grant was awarded in 2002 to the Connecticut Department of Social Services. The project has two primary goals: 1) To build the capacity within the state of Connecticut to support informed decision making, independent living, and a meaningful quality of life for persons with disabilities across the life span. 2) To assist three communities in Connecticut to become models of support for opportunities and choices for persons with disabilities across the lifespan. 

This website is the site for the Maine Quality Choices grant. Maine’s Work Group for Community-Based Living includes a broad array of consumer and state representatives from five departments (Transportation, Labor, Education, Human Services, and Behavioral and Developmental Services). The website offers information on the Work Group, Accessing Services, Community Living, Data Integration, Person-Centered Services, Quality Improvement, Workforce and a Project Index.

A number of states have developed rental housing locators that allow online searches for affordable housing units. These sites range from bare-bones databases of state-financed developments to elaborate sites with multiple search criteria, extensive information about accessibility for persons with disabilities, current vacancy information, and links to local service agencies. This report reviews several web-based sites based on several factors and compares the findings.

Discussion at this meeting was lively and productive, and the opportunity to meet people from other parts of the state and other municipalities proved fruitful. Following the suggestion of participants in the October Forum, the agenda included presentations of what the three Model Communities have done and how it is working, and sharing of successes, ideas and resources among other participating towns.

Discussion at this meeting was lively and productive, and the opportunity to meet people from other parts of the state and other municipalities proved fruitful. The idea of adapting the “lessons learned” in the model communities and hosting regional meetings was introduced; a shared enthusiasm for the idea gave rise to a series of Regional Forums. This forum, held in Groton, CT was the second in the series, held on December 3, 2004.

This report compiles both written and verbal evaluations of twenty New Hampshire legislators who attended the Supporting Older Adults and Individuals with Disabilities in Your Community: An Educational Series for Legislators. The series was developed as part of the Real Choice Systems Change initiative in New Hampshire. The purpose of this evaluation was to review what aspects of the Educational Series were beneficial and to recommend improvements for future sessions.