All States/Territories

The South Carolina ADRC also known as South Carolina Access Plus has developed a number of tools for assessment. The evaluation team uses this protocol to interview ADRC staff members and partners for the first time and then later after an initial baseline interview has been performed.

This new assessment tool is currently being piloted within the MA Real Choice Pilot Project & will undergo formal evaluation over the course of the next year. A full report will follow. The core of the instrument is 7 pages, with an estimated average completion time of 15-20 minutes. The tool is designed to be web-based with a variety of modules, the entire tool is much longer. Please note that this instrument is intended for REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY and is not to be implemented for actual use.

The WV QA/QI grant designed and developed database as a monitoring tool. This entry includes 5 provider quality monitoring tools: Case Management, Client Home Visit, Homemaker, Personnel Files, Site (Case Management or Homemaker). The database was created by Donna Brewer, Database Administration at the Center for Excellence in Disabilities at WV University for the Quality Assurance & Improvement Project. The Bureau for Medical Services is the lead agency & the grant was funded by WV CMS

This paper, prepared for presentation to NGA, discusses issues, problems and challenges facing Medicaid in 2005 and suggests principles and proposals for reform.

The Alliance for Health Reform offered a briefing on Medicaid fundamentals, for those wanting to brush up on their knowledge as well as those new to the subject. Speakers included Senator Jay Rockefeller, Alliance for Health Reform, Ed Howard, Alliance for Health Reform, Diane Rowland, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured Rodney Whitlock, Senate Finance Committee Republican Staff, Alan Weil, NASHP The transcript, materials, webcast and evaluation are all available.

This document describes the releationship between WV Real Choice Grants and the Olmstead Plan. The document contains a table showing all grants awarded to the state. The table illustrates the activities of the Real Choice Systems Change for Community Living grants and shows how the programs are closely aligned with the West Virginia Olmstead Plan. This strong relationship is the result of collaboration between the Olmstead Coordinator and other state partners and stakeholders involved.

In the spring of 2005, Minnesota’s Department of Human Services, Aging & Adult Services, will be conducting a Consumer Experience Survey of 600 Elderly Waiver clients. Piloted with 90 EW clients, the current version reflects experiences and feedback from the Quality Design Commission members. The survey instrument is designed to discover the types of help people need to stay in their home, whether or not they are getting that help, & how satisfied they are with their help and quality of life.

The CMS Systems Change conference was February 28-March 2, 2005. Presentations from the 2005 sessions are available in both PDF and text formats. Topics range from ideas on sustaining systems change, employment services, Medicaid, integrating quality, policy implications and barriers to providing services. Full titles are listed in the keywords section.

Texas QA/QI grantees have shared their Business Case for a Critical Incident System. This document outlines system recommendations, objectives and potential constraints and is a helpful resource for any state trying to present a business case to its budget office. This document provides the background to support an executive management decision to commit resources to conduct an in-depth study to determine scope and cost for the development of a comprehensive critical incident management system.

Self-determination is a growing force for persons with psychiatric disabilities. Advances in technology and services, the recognition that recovery is a reality, combined with the consumer movement motto, “nothing about us without us” all pave the way for persons with psychiatric disabilities to live self-determined lives. This NMHA report outlines many of the barriers to this movement and makes recommendations and next steps.