North Dakota

How can employers communicate effectively with people who have a disability? North Dakota's MIG program sees communication as an important part of helping facilitate the employment and retention of people with disabilities. They created a manual outlining ten communication tips, disability specific tips, people first language, and workplace strategies. A sample of this manual is attached and could also be useful as a template for other MIG states.

How are states getting support for the establishment of proposed funds? North Dakota created a proposal, fact sheet, alliance members list, a planning meeting invitation and a guide for the development of a letter of support for the establishment of a state-wide affordable housing fund to assist communities with their unmet housing needs. Samples of these documents are attached and could be helpful for other states looking for ideas to do the same.

Keeping everyone informed about MIG grant program policies and developments is important in keeping the programs running effectively. North Dakota created a monthly newsletter to do just this. Whether its answering frequently asked questions or listing upcoming events, ND’s Benefits Planning Network newsletter is a helpful and timely communications tool. Attached are three samples of the Newsletters, which could serve as a good example to other states planning their own.

How are states making personal assistance services an effective reality for consumers? North Dakota created The Registry, a website designed to help connect seniors, people with disabilities, and family members using personal assistance services and various home and community based services, with available providers of HCBS such as Qualified Services Providers. A link to this site and marketing materials are attached, and could serve as templates for other MIG states.

While long term care costs continue to rise nationally, the cost for in-home care is rising at a much slower pace. Complete national and state cost of care data can be found in the full report. Other reports include an Executive Summary of key findings, detailed methodology information and listings of counties involved in the survey. Also find an interactive map detailing costs within each state.

Find two fact sheets; the first presents occupational employment projections for the three job titles that make up the direct-care workforce: nursing assistants, home health aides, and personal and home care aides, and suggests that over the next decade, the nation’s direct-care workforce will constitute the largest, fastest-growing group of jobs in the country. The second provides a detailed overview of the demographic and economic characteristics of the direct-care workforce.

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.

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.