Promising practices

This report describes South Carolina’s programs for older people and people with physical disabilities to gain access institutional and community Medicaid supports through a single access point, and have increasing opportunities to direct their own services. The report also describes how the state has been particularly innovative in using information technology to improve the quality of community supports and participants’ access to services.

This report describes the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Office of Mental Retardation's efforts to implement a system-wide reform of its supports for people with mental retardation. The objective of this Transformation Project is to improve the quality of life of people who use publicly funded supports by providing them with more choices and greater control over these supports.

This document describes New Hampshire’s community based service system for people with developmental disabilities. The document provides a brief overview of the community based system and a discussion on the integration of services and programs, as well as the funding sources.

This report looks at attempts by different states to allow money to follow the person. Money Follows the Person refers to a system of flexible financing for long-term services that enables available funds to move with the individual to the most appropriate and preferred setting as the individual’s needs and preferences change.

This report presents several State initiatives that increase Medicaid access for people who are chronically homeless. The report also provides information about people who are chronically homeless and the Medicaid enrollment barriers they face.

This report describes the State of Wisconsin’s program to assist people with disabilities find housing. The state employs a supported housing specialist who works with local communities to help people with disabilities and their families to find affordable housing solutions. In addition, the supported housing specialist works with individuals with disabilities, local agencies, developers, housing providers, lenders,and other stakeholders to build relationships and improve housing access.

This report focuses on the Back Home in Indiana Alliance project. This project facilitates home ownership and rental by connecting people with disabilities and their families to a variety of housing organizations and resources. These organizations and resources include lending programs for low-income or under-served people, down payment assistance, grants for home modifications, and programs that link apartment seekers with appropriate, low-income rentals.

This report describes Wyoming’s individual budgets for its Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) waivers for people with developmental disabilities and the statistical method used to determine individualized budgets. The report also discusses how the budgets were implemented and their impact thus far.

This report looks at the Javits-Wagner-O’Day program, which employs people with disabilities to provide services for the federal government, through partnerships with local vocational support agencies. In the spring of 1998, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Albany Financial Operations Center entered into such a contract with Northeast Career Planning (NCP), a non-profit, vocational rehabilitation organization. This report describes the implementation of that program.

This report describes two models developed by Public Authorities in California to provide back-up support for consumers with disabilities who direct their own personal care. The models were developed in Alameda and San Francisco County. These counties provide examples of contrasting models for providing back-up support.