Grantee produced

As part of the Missouri Medicaid Infrastructure Grant, surveys and focus groups were conducted with a wide range of audiences from people with disabilities and their families to state agency staff and providers concerning employment issues. The surveys and focus groups yielded a great deal of information that is helpful in understanding the challenges people with disabilities face when trying to obtain and maintain employment. Included are three reports describing the information gathered.

The Missouri Business Leadership Network conducted a Disability Mentoring Day in St. Louis in Oct 2006 to give high school students the opportunity to engage in discussion with business leaders about concerns for furthering their education and/or entering the workforce. This program was further designed for students to network with business leaders and, for business leaders to match up with a student to mentor throughout the year. The report includes a summary of findings and recommendations.

The Institute for Human Development at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is administering the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) to enhance the use of Medicaid resources in Missouri. This report provides a review of research and the activities and findings related to a retreat to assess needs of Missouri employers and people with disabilities. It also provides analysis of a follow-up survey of 153 agency providers and people with disabilities. Suggestions are made for future research.

An example of how ADRCs can stay connected, Washington uses a simple text-only format for their newsletter that is meant to bypass spam filters. The text also allows people to "rip-and-read" so they can easily take the information out to use in other settings. There are no attachments, as requested by the newsletter recipients. The newsletter is published monthly and features Local Happenings, National News, and Job Postings.

The Vermont ADRC publishes this bi-monthly newsletter to keep partners and staff connected to the activities of the grant within the two local pilot regions and nationally. They will use this newsletter to highlight key activities of the grant: progress in establishing partnerships across service networks, cross training, utilization of refer and other resource databases, the formative evaluation, and community events.

This memorandum of understanding was signed as part of the Vermont ADRC project between the Vermont Department of Aging and Independent Living and the Department of Children and Families (Medicaid). The MOU is informative for streamlining access efforts. Other ADRCs designing programs will find this MOU a useful example.

As part of the Oklahoma Real Choice Systems Change Grant, Oklahoma developed a number of training tools for their partnership members. The group consisted of Consumer Consultants and Grant Partners. The presentations and handouts describe roles, working as a team, communication, decision making, policy history, state specific divisions and services and the ADvantage program.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services, through its Continuing Care Administration, is seeking Proposals from qualified Responders to work with DHS staff and key stakeholders to complete a State Long-Term Care Profile. A State Profile tool was developed by Thomson Medstat under contract with CMS. The Profile must describe the state’s long-term care delivery system for 7 population groups that account for the majority of people who need hcbs in MN. Proposals are due January 28, 2008.

This power point presentation and associated brochure helps Massachusetts families with children and youth with special health needs understand MassHealth, the MA Medicaid program. This program is an umbrella for many different types of public health care. Learn about eligibility, standards, criteria, and premiums. This work is part of the 2004 RCSC CMS Grantees for Health Care Information and Education Centers.

What programs do the MA F2F Information and Education Center offer? Review their brochure about the services and supports. This parent-run center provides free technical assistance about health care, public benefits and other health care financing options. The pamphlet is available in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Additional information can be found on their website. The MA Family-to-Family Health Care Information and Education Center is a 2004 RSCS CMS Grantee.