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Quality Communication #9 represents another in a series of CMS communications to support state efforts to improve the quality of services and supports. The letter announces 4 technical assistance products: Home and Community Based Services: Quality Management Roles & Responsibilities; Discovery Methods for Remediation and Quality Improvement; Software for the Participant Experience Survey (PES & Users’ Guide) –MR/DD Version; Participant Experience Survey & Users’ Guide –Brain Injury version.

This paper from NGA includes a number of potential short-run policy changes as well as long-run structural changes to improve the US health care system. The policies outlined do not represent comprehensive reform but instead 5 linking objectives: Reforming Medicaid; Enhancing Quality & Reducing Costs in the Overall Health Care System; Strengthening Employer-Based & Other Forms of Private Health Care Coverage; Slowing the Growth of Medicaid LTC; State Contribution to the Medicare Drug Benefit.

This call hosted Emily Fuerste, Executive Director of the No Place Like Home Communities in Minnesota. The NPLHC creates supportive affordable housing for adults with disabilities, helping build financial and emotional equity in independent lives as they travel the road to their full potential. Their goal is to develop a rent-to-own model which will allow all people with disabilities to gain financial equity.

Informal family assistance is often a key factor in determining whether a person with a disability can live in a community setting. However, the practice of paying relatives as caregivers remains controversial. This article reports findings from the Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation (CCDE) in Arkansas, in which consumers receive a cash allowance to purchase personal assistance services. The article appeared in Marriage and Family Review, Vol. 1, No. 1/2

The topic of the May 2005 Essentials of Housing Teleconference was Universal Design. Richard Duncan of The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University was the guest presenter on the call.

The Ticket to Work Program is a Social Security Administration employment and healthcare initiative for Social Security Beneficiaries who want to work. The goal is to increase opportunities and choices for disability beneficiaries to find employment, vocational rehabilitation, and other support services through a pool of providers known as Employment Networks (ENs). If your organization is interested you can download the Application and RFP. This is a non-competitive, open-ended award process.

This article raises concerns about the impact of Medicare Part D on persons with chronic illnesses or disabilities. The article looks at benefit design and implementation issues. The article appeared in Care Management Journals, Volume 5, Number 2. Summer 2004

At the heart of the April 28 Forum in Griswold, CT was a presentation by Greg Ryan of CT Assets Network, Inc. Asset Based Community Development is based on the work of Kretzman & McKnight, authors of Building Communities From the Inside Out: A Path For Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets. It works on the principles that each person in the community, including people with disabilities, has gifts to offer, and can contribute their gifts & resources for mutually beneficial problem solving.

The April 5, 2005 Forum in Westport, CT was attended by 54 individuals from 9 towns. They included representatives from senior centers, public schools, police departments, social services, parks and recreation, YMCA, advocacy organizations, persons with disabilities and family members. Following an introduction by Diane Goss Farrell and an overview by the Forum facilitators, the attendees broke up into three smaller discussion groups to share ideas and experiences relating to inclusion.

The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) proudly offers the cross-walk between CQL’s new Quality Measures 2005 and The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Quality Framework for Home and Community Based Services (HCBS). This cross-walk is intended to help align the Quality Framework with valid and reliable strategies for gathering and reporting data and evidence. The Cross-Walk clearly demonstrates how CQL’s Quality Measures 2005 provide an integrated approach to quality management.