All States/Territories

Medicaid is the major public payer of community services and supports for working age adults with serious mental illnesses. This handbook explains how existing Medicaid options and waivers are used by states to finance a broad range of community services and supports for adults with serious mental illnesses, and demonstrates what aspects of state-of-the art community services and supports for this population are funded by Medicaid.

This CMS letter to State Medicaid Directors highlights six evidence-based practices shown to be effective for persons with mental illness. Following each description is a short discussion of the role of Medicaid services to support all or part of the practice.

The 2004 Consumer Direction Initiative Summit convened 79 recipients of mental health, addiction services, families, policymakers, and providers to develop recommendations for SAMHSA’s next steps towards fostering consumer-directed approaches in behavioral health care services for people with substance use disorders, mental illnesses and children with serious emotional disturbances. The report from the summit reviews issues raised in working papers and at the meeting.

Caregiving is often life changing and consuming, leaving some caregivers exhausted and depressed. Some 15 percent of family caregivers report high levels of overall stress as a result of caring for an older family member or friend with long-term care needs. Caring for a friend or relative, however, can also be a positive and rewarding experience. This Profile provides a data overview of the physical, emotional, financial and social experiences of primary family caregivers.

In 2001, CMS worked with state agency associations to initiate the National Quality Inventory Project (NQIP) with a goal to obtain baseline information about state HCBS waiver program QA/I systems. Through this project an extensive survey of state QA/I systems was conducted. This report describes NQIP, summarizes and discusses the results of this first-time, nationwide systematic survey of state waiver program QA/I systems. The report also includes recommendations for CMS follow-up.

The purpose of this 2001 Real Choice System Change grant project is to review personal assistance services policies across departments and programs to identify unnecessary inconsistencies and opportunities to maximize consumer choice and control. This comparative analysis identifies opportunities for increasing consumer choice and control across Maine’s personal assistance services (PAS) program and offers additional findings and recommendations.

This report is from a designated mini-conference event by the 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA). Its purpose was to provide the full WHCoA Policy Committee with recommendations specific to long-term care that could be considered for incorporation into its final policy recommendations to the President and Congress. The report contains final recommendations in three areas: Economic Security & Long-Term Care Financing, Health and Independence and Supportive Services.

This web site is a resource center for Family Support 360 grantees and other organizations serving individuals with developmental disabilities. This initiative from The Administration for Children & Families and Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) has provided planning and implementation grants to local service providers nationwide to create one-stop centers. Take a look at the Library, Resource Links, News, Events and a variety of information to support one-stop centers.

The Minnesota Association of Centers for Independent Living (MACIL) prepared <i>A Consumer Guide for Planning Your Move from a Nursing Home</i>. This comprehensive guidebook assists with the relocation decisions as consumers transition from nursing homes into the community.

Having a positive working relationship with the media can provide many benefits for an organization. This issue brief presents effective strategies for building a relationship with the media and advice on how to conduct media interviews and to get a story published onto the editorial page. Center for Medicare Education Issue Brief: Vol. 5 No. 9