Oregon

Unemployment of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) continues to be a significant public policy concern. This report looks at statistics over a 20-year period from several national data sets that address the status of employment and economic self-sufficiency for this population, and contains an overview of national trends, an in-depth perspective on how states collect and use employment data, and an Appendix with individual state and national profiles.

America's rural communities contain the nation's highest concentrations of older people. Learn about the results of a 13-year, $13-million national program created in 1992 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NCB Capital Impact to develop affordable assisted living models, with a focus on smaller and rural communities and low-income seniors. Learn about the strategy, program design, implementation, results and lessons learned.

Growth in the cost of long-term care services in the U.S. has slowed somewhat during the past two years. As home health care gains in popularity, however, costs are beginning to rise more rapidly and are expected to increase steadily over the next few years. Read about these trends and more in this 2010 study that looked at consumer perceptions and cost trends by state and key metropolitan areas.

With federal funding, states have worked to make One-Stop services more accessible to people with disabilities through the Disability Program Navigator (DPN) initiative. This report assesses the extent to which working age recipients of Social Security disability benefits used these services and looks at employment outcomes and differences in utilization and outcomes over time as the initiative matured in the four states studied.

This updated resource, the first reflecting a ten year perspective, provides a state‐by‐state look at wages and wage trends for PHCAs, the fourth fastest‐growing occupation in the country, and a key job title within the direct‐care workforce. Prepared as a resource guide on wages for advocates and policymakers, the data underscore the problem of low wages for PHCAs, factors which contribute to workforce instability and near‐poverty incomes for this workforce.

Fiscal year 2010 presented the most difficult challenge for states' financial management since the Great Depression, according to this biannual state fiscal report. With a big drop in revenues from income taxes and other sources, the states are facing their worst fiscal squeeze in decades, as they try to keep programs running for more people, but have fewer dollars to spend. Budget cuts threaten health and social service programs, including the delivery of long-term services and supports.

Medicaid finances nearly half of all LTSS spending. Review an update to existing data on Medicaid financial eligibility standards for nursing home and HCBS waiver services for older persons and adults with disability. 2009 data were obtained on state selection of optional pathways for eligibility, income and asset standards, cost-sharing and other post-eligibility financial requirements. A copy of the survey instrument and accompanying letter to state Medicaid Directors are included.

Findings in this report focus on what has been learned about the status of grant implementation and factors that facilitate progress early and throughout the implementation period, and progress on grantees’ goals and achievement of Systems Transformation (ST). It presents results for both FY05 and FY06 ST Grantees, builds on findings from the first annual report and focuses on two different stages of implementation for the FY05 grantees (Year 3) and the FY06 grantees(initial 15-months).

This updated resource, the first reflecting a ten year perspective, provides a state-by-state look at wages and wage trends for PHCAs, the fourth fastest growing occupation in the country, and a key job title within the direct care workforce. Prepared as a resource guide on wages for advocates and policymakers concerned with this workforce, the data underscore the problem of low wages for PHCAs, factors contributing to workforce instability and near poverty incomes for this workforce.

This report is the latest in a series of annual reports that present expenditures data for Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waivers authorized under Section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act. Table 1 presents reported Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 expenditures for each HCBS waiver in effect during that year. Table 2 presents HCBS waiver expenditures data from FY 2004 through FY 2009 by state. The remaining tables present data according to the populations served in waivers.