Washington

Beginning in 2001 and continuing in 2002 and 2003, technical assistance for the Real Choice Systems Change grantees has been provided by the Exchange Collaborative team (combined efforts of ILRU and Rutgers University/CSHP). These documents provide contact information for the TA providers and two charts indicating which Exchange Team is responsible for providing TA to the grantees. In 2002 & 2002, TA was divided according to states. In 2003, TA was distributed according to theme.

This summary was prepared by Robert Mollica based on a site visit to the state of Washington in April 2003 organized by the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy/National Academy for State Health Policy Technical Assistance Exchange Collaborative. Thirteen representatives from Nursing Home Transition Grantees from Alaska, California, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey participated in the site visit.

This report is a product of collaboration between HHS and DOL in response to the requests from the U.S. Congress. Staff at these Departments worked collaboratively to share information and data pertaining to direct care workers in long-term care settings and to develop a joint set of recommendations for the future. This report includes information on informal caregivers, direct care workers, and paraprofessional direct services workers.

In this report, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) traces the budget issues that states confronted in 2002 and examines how they addressed those issues. The report also describes long-term care legislation enacted in 2002 and long-term care planning work that is under way in many states.

The National Council on Disability (NCD) assesses the nation's response to the United States Supreme Court's decision in Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999) that the unjustified institutionalization of people with disabilities is a form of discrimination.

This report presents the findings of a survey of the 50 states and the District of Columbia conducted by the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy/NASHP Community Living Exchange Collaborative to identify states that operate single entry point (SEP) systems and to describe the characteristics of SEPs.

On August 13, 2002, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a letter to State Medicaid Directors highlighting promising state practices. It complements the letter Tommy Thompson sent to Governors.

An alert is documented featuring the Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts Online \"This new resource contains the latest state-level data on demographics, health, and health policy, including health coverage, access, financing, and state legislation.\" The site link is also provided with information about the states.

This is The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) report entitled State Assisted Living Policy 2002. This comprehensive report examines current regulations and Medicaid reimbursement policies for assisted living facilities in each of the 50 states. The report includes detailed comparisons of state policy and a summary of each state's assisted living regulations.

This document is an Information Bulletin (# 54) on subsidized housing. The report includes a weblink and information on a \"new\" source of information available that can assist disability advocates find affordable and accessible units.