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The Compendium contains basic information about each of the Real Choice Systems Change Grant awards in FY03–FY04 plus the Family to Family and Systems Transformation Grantees awarded in FY05 and FY06. The Compendium will help Grantees identify others with similar goals and activities. Learn more about how the grants will be used to allow more people of all ages with a disability or long term illness to live and participate in their communities. The sixth edition replaces all previous editions.

The UCare website is a feature of the Utah Department of Human services and exists primarily to help caregivers and provide link to other resources. Resources are for the elderly, people with mental illness, for people with disabilities and their caregivers. Information is available on-line and through a statewide toll free number. Other features to note include provider report cards, guides, a glossary and the long-term care planning tool.

The Utah Real Choice grant produced “The Caregiver Guide” and they have shared several modules. Topics covered include: Community Supports to Stay at Home, Caring for a family member with mental illness, Hiring and managing personal assistants, Assistive technology, Creating an accessible home, and Caring for a child with special needs. Modules are also available in Spanish.

This study was conducted as part of the Nebraska Nursing Facility Transition (NFT) Grant. The target population included children living in nursing facilities who meet the criteria for transition to home and community-based settings and children living at home identified as at-risk for nursing facility placement. The goals of this paper were to decrease the number of children in nursing facilities, identify risk factors, and to develop a plan to keep children in home and community settings.

This series of worksheets provides examples of what the Michigan Nursing Facility Transition grant used in planning the transition from the nursing facility to the community. Review the worksheets for Daily Living, Employment Planning, Financial Planning, Health Planning, Housing Planning, Planning Template, Self-Determination, Social and Transportation Planning.

Michigan developed a six-part training on transition and diversion. Module 4 presents the basic components of a successful transition. Again, person-centered planning is a main component of the transition and helps set the goals for the process, as well as an accurate way to gauge its success. In addition, this module discusses the need for housing, financial management, and transportation in a successful transition.

MA grantees hired an independent evaluator to conduct qualitative assessments of consumers’ experiences at two and nine months of participation. At two months, the successes included connections to community supports and services. Identified challenges included developing and managing an individual budget. Successes at 9 months include increased independence, self-determination, and availability of workers and supports. Challenges included community liaison training and out-of-pocket spending.

The goal of the Massachusetts Real Choice Pilot Project was to increase the quality of life and independence of participant through cost-effective flexible funding. Two pilot projects were developed under the grant to serve adults with disabilities. Attached documents include the pilot project summary, the request for proposals for organizations to participate in the pilot project, methodology of the project, and a descriptive presentation.

The Consumer Planning and Implementation Group (CPIG) was formed as a way to include consumers in the Real Choice Systems Change grant activities. CPIG represents consumers across disability, age, ethnicity, geographic locations, and include community advocates/providers. CPIG provides input on grant activities and provides recommendations to the Collaborative Team (consumers and representatives for Massachusetts’ Real Choice and Independence Plus grants).

Part of the Massachusetts Real Choice grants included community and consumer collaboration and input. The presentations work to introduce how the Real Choice grant aims to work on collaboration, integration collaboration into the pilot project, and review how consumer perspectives were used in the grant. Review the work and ideas on consumer involvement, the pilot evaluation and the consumer experience project.