All States/Territories

The fundamental structure to both of Oklahoma's Real Choice System Change grants is an infrastructure that supports a service delivery system that is accountable to Oklahoma long-term care stakeholders. Grant monies will be used to create and support an Oklahoma Partnerships consisting of consumers and advocates. This handout offers an introduction to the system and terms used in the grant partnership.

This photo essay captures the people behind the design of Oklahoma's Consumer Directed Personal Assistant Supports and Services (CDPASS) design. The Oklahoma Partnership, organized to support Oklahoma's Real Choice System Change and the CDPASS grants. It was also designed to engage Consumer stakeholders in an interactive environment.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services Aging Service Division presents this documentation of the principles and processes used in supporting its consumer advisory committee for Real Choice System Change grant and CDPASS grant activities. Building and documenting a shared vision of effective public policy funded by public dollars is a fundamental responsibility of grant recipients. This paper helps explain the stakeholder experience and considers ways to create a quality process.

This report provides a systematic review of recent research (primarily since 2002) while it also identifies limitations and gaps in this research. The report reviews research in a variety of areas including supply-side factors influencing employment, employer attitudes and practices, labor market organization, work accommodations, progression of disability benefits and disability management, impact of public policy on employment, and vocational services interventions.

NREPP (www.nrepp.samhsa.gov) is a searchable online registry of mental health and substance abuse interventions that have been reviewed and rated by independent experts. The registry assists local organizations in identifying interventions that have been scientifically tested and can be readily disseminated to the field. Organizations can search for interventions that fit the needs of their communities.

This memorandum and tables present data on Medicaid 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver expenditures from Federal Fiscal Years 2001 through 2006. Each HCBS waiver is classified by population served in order to show the distribution of HCBS waiver expenditures across long term care populations. This year's memo also identifies which waivers exclusively serve children.

The majority of people who are elderly and/or people with disabilities live out their lives in independent housing. Many utilize medications to maintain optimal health and improve their quality of life. Unfortunately, adverse medication events cost about $120 billion annually and result in illness, hospitalizations, stress on the individuals and their families, and premature deaths. Vermont is attempting to do something about this problem through their CMS Real Choices Supportive Housing Grant.

This letter provides guidance to States and discusses policy issues related to peer support and notes that States are increasingly interested in covering peer support providers as a distinct type for the delivery of counseling and other support services. The letter (SMDL #07-011) provides policy guidance on requirements for supervision, care-coordination, and minimum training criteria of peer support providers.

This AARP Public Policy Institute Issue Brief discusses the financial impact of caregiving on the caregivers themselves as well as the economic value of their contributions to society. It compares the economic value of family caregiving to other benchmarks in order to underscore the magnitude of these unpaid contributions, presents estimates of productivity losses to U.S. businesses, and highlights the critical role that family caregivers play in the nation's long-term care system.

Minnesota, like many states, faces the challenge of limited resources in the face of increasing consumer demand for more consumer control of services. This report includes recommendations for providing choice of case manager, streamlining administration, funding options, standardizing caseload size, regionalizing some county functions, standardizing performance measures across disability groups, and maximizing individualization. Innovations in case management in other states are also presented.