Announcement/Press release

The Tennessee State Senate has recently approved legislation that directs the state administration to develop a long-term care services plan. This plan will work to provide an array of home and community based services and opportunities for the elderly and persons with disabilities.

The Massachusetts State Legislature is currently reviewing new legislation that will create a fund for to assist families with home modifications. The bill passed in the House and is currently being reviewed in the Senate.

Communities for Everyone is a two-day institute held June 23rd and 24th that will explore innovative approaches to building inclusive communities and creating sustainable systems change to support all residents to be full participants in community life. Workshops and keynote presentations will provide information that reflects current practices as well as future designs to create welcoming, accessible, and inclusive communities that support all residents.

The Children with Special Health Care Needs programs of Nevada assists children with special needs and their families through a variety of health and support services. The Real Choice Systems Change Project has partnered with the Nevada Broadcasters Association to air the various media information on Nevada's television and radio stations. They also host a website with links to support, advocacy, assistance and education.

According to an analysis of 15 large lenders by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, \"African-Americans were nearly three times as likely as whites to take out higher-cost subprime mortgages in 2004,\" reported USA TODAY. The study is based on data that lenders recently began releasing to comply with new rules under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

This report outlines the annual Medicare Advantage capitation rate for each Medicare Advantage payment area for 2006, and the risk and other factors to be used in adjusting such rates. Attached is a spreadsheet containing the capitation rate tables for CY 2006, a spreadsheet which shows the statutory component of the regional benchmarks and the National Per Capita Medicare Advantage Growth Percentage. The 2006 national per capita Medicare Advantage growth rate is 4.8 percent.

On 2/1/05, HUD issued new guidelines to public housing authorities on using the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program to assist people with disabilities. These new guidelines are part of the President’s New Freedom Initiation and Executive Order ton Community-Based Alternatives for Individuals with Disabilities. The new guidelines clarify issues related to issuance and preservation of certain types of special purpose vouchers for disabled families

On 3/4/05, HUD issued the estimated Median Family Incomes for FY2005. Changes were made in response to 283 public comments received during the second comment period and 26 random digit-dialing surveys conducted from September to November. These estimates have been calculated for 356 metropolitan and 2,302 non-metropolitan areas across the nation. Utilizing the Fair Market Rents (FMR) area definitions applied in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program the estimates incomes were calculated.

The supply of affordable assisted living facilities is now insufficient to meet the demands of low-income, frail older persons. This gap between demand and supply is much more apparent in some locations than others. This article uses various measures of locational inequality to assess the extent to which counties in Florida have less than their fair share of ALFs, particularly in comparison to the locations of Medicaid nursing home beds.

A must have book for everyone and anyone who wants to learn low cost assistive technology (A.T.) solutions that can be constructed in five minutes or less. This book is filled with over 600 color photographs of innovative fabrication techniques for constructing A.T. solutions for home, school, work, and play. A companion 42 Piece A.T. Tools and Materials Kit is also available. Both items can be purchased at www.nhassistivetechnology.org.