Alaska

View an evaluation and grantee-written descriptions of Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) and New Freedom services for 2007 and 2008. JARC was established to address transportation challenges that welfare recipients and low-income individuals face in finding and keeping jobs. The New Freedom program was established to provide new public transportation services and alternatives to public transportation for people with disabilities.

Explore the website for an initiative designed to make the business case for employers to hire people with disabilities by providing them with information, tools to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce, and local resources to help them access this segment of the labor pool. The site includes individual state pages to connect interested businesses to each state’s resources for recruiting and hiring people with disabilities, and tools such as a Tax Incentives Tip Sheet.

How can states better access the needs of their clients as well as their MIG programs? One approach Alaska has taken is instituting the AST test, which is designed to screen for substance abuse, mental illness, and traumatic brain injury. The AST can produce multiple recommendations for more efficient care, state the population needs of each agency, and assist the state in federal reporting requirements. Review a sample screening form which could serve as a template for other states.

When people with low income accumulate assets rather than simply increasing their income, they are more likely to escape the cycle of poverty permanently. Explore Alaska's Asset Building website. It is funded by a MIG grant, and provides links to information and resources devoted to activities related to the nature and amount of assets an individual with a disability can accumulate in their quest for financial independence and stability.

How is Alaska getting its’ younger population informed about the work incentives available to them? This brochure is directed at those 22 years of age and under who are working and going to school. These incentives were developed to help Social Security Administration Benefits enrollees manage their benefits while at the same time promoting employment and earned income opportunities. The approach this brochure takes could be useful to other states seeking to address this demographic.

What is the Alaska IDA Program? It’s a statewide program, funded by the MIG grant that enables low-income Alaskans to accumulate assets and escape the cycle of poverty permanently. It targets people who have the most barriers to savings, through a matched savings account program and a pooled account program which matches up to $1 million. The details of this program are available for download and could be a useful resource for other states looking to develop similar MIG programs.

Are you an advocate, program administrator, service provider or caregiver fighting for your state and local caregiver support programs? This report includes background information, statistics, talking points and a list of additional resources to help make the case for maintaining public funding for crucial caregiver support services. Additional resources are listed, as well as a chart detailing prevalence and economic value of family caregiving by state.

AARP has produced a set of state-by-state briefs that highlight the most up-to-date long-term care data for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Information is provided about each state's older population, long-term care funding, the cost and ranking of nursing homes, and long-term care insurance. The data utilized in these reports is the most recent publicly available data collected for all states.

This compendium is the first of an annual publication of statistics on people with disabilities and government programs that serve this population. It is designed to serve as a reference guide to government publications. The information focuses on state-level statistics published by Federal agencies and presents some time-trend data. A glossary is provided to assist in the interpretation of the statistics.

This presentation by Thomson Medstat was given on a July 25, 2006 TA call with state grantees. The presentation outlines available technical assistance, trends in waiver quality, and the different components to quality management.