Accessibility

Assistive technology often makes a critical difference in the lives of individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses, yet it remains underutilized and poorly understood. This paper discusses the concept of assistive technology and offers suggestions for finding resources to assist individuals to make better use of assistive technology to achieve independence.

This document was sent out in advance of a series of web-based calls hosted by the Community Living Exchange Collaborative. On this call, Becky Ozaki and her team presented on Hawaii's web-based project. The document describes the goals, development, responsibilities of the Governing Council for RealChoices.org

Access to assistive technology for people with disabilities is a basic foundation of the President's New Freedom Initiative. The Executive Memo summarized here furthers the President's desire to ensure that all people with disabilities have access to programs and services that promote the opportunity for them to live independently and lead productive lives. Access to the Memo is available from the file included here.

The Living and Working in the Community 2003 conference, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), was held March 4-5, 2003. Participants included Medicaid grantees, consumers, advocates, Federal and State representatives, providers, and academics. The link provide here will direct you to the presentations from this conference. Topics include: Quality assurance, nursing facility transition, mental health, single point of entry, workforce issues and housing issues.

This Community Living Brief explores the history of Medicaid Waivers and the challenges that remain for ensuring equality and inclusion for all citizens.

As CMS grantees are continuing to identify strategies for successful nursing home transition to an array of community living options, there is an ongoing need to identify resources for support of assistive technology access and use. Each state has an AT project, which can assist you with questions about assistive technology and home use. The following brief report provides additional information about the AT Act and state contacts.

The Compendium contains basic information about each of the Systems Change Grantees. Each section is alphabetical by state. Information for each state includes: the name of the grantee organization, the title of the grant, the type of grant, the amount awarded and fiscal year awarded, the primary contacts for each grant, the target populations to be served under the grant, the primary goals and activities of each grant project, and a brief description of the grant activities.

The Formative Evaluation of the Real Choice Systems Change Grants evaluates how the Systems Change grantees are progressing towards meeting their goals. The Formative Evaluation identifies problems faced by the grantees and ways that they deal with the problems. This document provides summary information about each of the FY2002 Grantees.

This Community Living Brief explores the transition to an independent, integrated living situation. This article serves as a guide to assist the individual when considering moving back into the community. The article provides information on finding an advocate and also provides a transition checklist to help facilitate the moving process.

On July 1, 2003, the Alaska Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and the Mental Health aspect of the Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities merged into a new Division. Services previously carried out by each of these divisions will be carried out under the new Division of Behavioral Health. In addition, the Office of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, formerly under the Commissioner's Office, also joined the Division. Details and other information available on the website linke below.