Consumer/Participant Direction

This is the official website of the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services (NRCPDS), which is the only national center of its kind to assist states and other agencies or organizations that want to offer, or already offer, participant-directed services to people with disabilities. NRCPDS provides technical assistance, research, education, and training to both Medicaid and non-Medicaid funded programs.

This fact sheet describes “Community First Choice Option” – one of the rules that the CMS recently released to expand access to home and community based services (HCBS) for people with disabilities. States that elect the Community First Choice option are eligible for a 6 percentage point increase in their federal medical assistance percentage. Individuals who require an institutional level of care are eligible for the services, which will be offered in community-based settings.

This resource for programs includes State Lifespan Respite Programs, that provide respite and are interested in developing & implementing participant-directed respite, especially through voucher programs. Included are: overview materials that provide content information regarding participant direction, examples from two states that currently implement participant-directed respite programs using a voucher system, important tax and financial information, & resources for additional materials.

Risk factors associated with the incidence of recipient injuries, bedsores and contractures, and health care use among aged and non-aged adult personal care recipients are investigated. Data are from a statewide survey of aged and non-aged adult personal assistance service (PAS) recipients in California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program. Outcomes among recipients using relatives as paid providers are compared with those of recipients having non-relatives as providers.

The Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration supports state efforts to help Medicaid beneficiaries living in long-term care facilities transition back to community-based residences and to make community-based long-term care services and supports more accessible. This report uses aggregate data from annual financial reports and service claims records submitted by grantees to examine the costs and types of community-based services received by participants in the MFP program.

When assessing the needs of persons with dementia and caregivers in the community, it is important to understand the number of persons affected and their unique needs for services and programs. This toolkit complements the issue brief titled Making the Long-Term Services and Supports System Work for People With Dementia and Their Caregivers by identifying resources that states and communities can use to design initiatives to ensure that programs are dementia-capable.

The Administration on Aging (AoA) has a new page on its website that highlights program and funding opportunities within the Affordable Care Act that relate to the mission and vision of AoA and the Aging Network. Topics covered include Medicare and Medicaid, prevention, and webinars and technical assistance resources.

Enrollment in MFP continued to grow steadily with 15,818 cumulative transitions to the community as of June 30, 2011, a 33 percent increase from the end of 2010. The states reported 3,722 new transitions during the six-month period from January to June 2011, 9 percent more than in the previous six-month period. The report provides an overview of state MFP grantee progress on key performance indicators and challenges states reported when implementing their transition programs.

State aging & disability agencies are operating in an era of state agency reorganization, re-conceptualization of state government, & restructuring of long-term services & supports delivery systems & financing. Key elements driving continued change include the economic environment, ACA implementation, uncertainty in the federal budget particularly with the failure of the Congressional Super Committee, changes in state level leadership, & the 2012 elections.

The NRCPDS hosted the 4th Biennial Financial Management Services Conference in November 2011. The day and a half long conference featured workshops with participant direction tax experts from the Internal Revenue Service as well as with other Financial Management Services specialists and experts. Review the archived presentation slides for an overview of the content.