Oregon

Partnering with business and the workforce system is an important part of improving employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The goal of the Disability Program Navigator Initiative is to achieve more seamless, comprehensive, and integrated service delivery and supports that can expand the capacity of this workforce investment system. The attached presentation is part of a webinar outlining this initiative, highlighting examples in Oregon, Maine and Virginia.

Why focus on employment? Funded by Oregon’s MIG grant, this presentation stresses the importance of working for social reasons, not just financial ones. It presents the case that supported employment is an important part of improving the lives of people with a mental health diagnosis. The principles and findings described here provide information that could be beneficial to any state interested in the issues of evidence based supported employment and the research to back it up.

How can we dispel myths and create opportunities for the employment of the disabled? Oregon’s Work Incentives Network (WIN) addresses this issue in the attached presentation. Given at the 6th Annual Pacific Northwest Brain Injury Conference, as well as statewide training events for stakeholders, this presentation explains how WIN works, myths that exist about benefits and working and how to access services. While WIN is specific to Oregon, the approaches it takes could be useful to other states.

The Oregon Competitive Employment Project seeks to enhance the quality of life in Oregon by achieving, maintaining and advancing the competitive and inclusive employment of persons with disabilities. The project is funded by a four-year Medicaid Infrastructure Grant and is part of the Oregon Department of Human Services, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Services. The project website contains information and downloads, and could be a useful tool for other MIG grantees.

This compendium is the first of an annual publication of statistics on people with disabilities and government programs that serve this population. It is designed to serve as a reference guide to government publications. The information focuses on state-level statistics published by Federal agencies and presents some time-trend data. A glossary is provided to assist in the interpretation of the statistics.

This presentation was part of the 2007 Government and Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent Workshop. This presentation provided an update on policies regarding self-direction, with an emphasis on those related to fiscal management activities. The session also answered some of the more frequently asked questions and explored some of the differences between section 1915(c) waiver programs and the new State Plan options for self-directed services.

This presentation by Thomson Medstat was given on a July 25, 2006 TA call with state grantees. The presentation outlines available technical assistance, trends in waiver quality, and the different components to quality management.

A summary from the June 2001 symposium titled, “Independent Choices: A National Symposium on Consumer-Direction and Self-Determination for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities”. Major themes and outcomes are highlighted based on the dialogue from the various speakers including policymakers, program administrators, consumer advocates, service producers, and researchers.

To help understand the implications of consumer-directed programs abroad, AARP's Public Policy Institute commissioned a study to describe and analyze consumer-directed programs in the Netherlands, England, and Germany. Researchers completed in-person interviews with key stakeholders and conducted an in-depth literature review.

States are increasingly interested in the individual budget model for older Medicaid beneficiaries as a mechanism to improve responsiveness of benefits to beneficiaries’ needs and preferences and to increase their ability to remain outside or leave nursing homes. This report describes 10 operating individual budget model programs that serve older persons and identifies four areas of program design that are of particular importance to the success of the individual budget model.