Reports

Wisconsin developed the WorkSource website and phone and email hotline to answer employers’ questions about recruiting and employing people with disabilities. Here you can find a focus group and needs assessment report used in developing the website. There are also a WorkSource brochure, a list of questions that can be answered within 24 hours, and a link to the site.

An eclectic group of experts, from self-advocates and service providers to employers and construction companies, were convened to set short, medium, and long-term goals towards creating a comprehensive employment system in WI. This document reports on the agenda and goals drawn up through this effort. Areas covered include organization and planning, public awareness, and policy.

Wisconsin Pathways to Independence convened a series of symposia to improve the process of maintenance and repair (M&R) for mobility assistive technology (AT) and its effects on outcomes such as employment. The symposium report presents current knowledge and sums up future objectives. The mobility survey reports on user experience and employment outcomes. Finally, the current practices report analyzes the processes involved in M&R to identify aspects that increase complexity and time of repair.

Access Training helps therapists and support professionals to improve skills in assessing the assistive technology (AT) needs of persons with disabilities. This document reports on the project's accomplishments in 2006, namely two major training events. One focused on serving people with mobility needs, the other on people with sensory and learning disabilities.

This report and executive summary were completed for Project BRIDGE, an Integrating Long-Term Supports with Affordable Housing grant from CMS. Individuals with disabilities desiring to live independently in Mississippi are hindered by the state’s scarcity of both affordable, accessible housing and the community-based services. The report outlines the issues and offers recommendations for creating community housing arrangements. Review the policy, program and research suggestions.

A diverse team of agency administrators, partner organizations, and technical assistance providers collaborated to begin the process of creating a comprehensive and coordinated statewide employment support system. This map is the first product of the process and identifies “enabling prerequisites” for creating a more detailed strategic plan. Ten goals are articulated as guidelines for further progress.

This document sums up the funding, goals, and objectives of the MIG programs for people with developmental disabilities in Washington. It includes contact information for partner organizations, benefits specialists in each county and statewide technical assistance providers.

This publication provides a summary overview of the accomplishments and enduring changes brought about by all of the Systems Change NFT Grantees Despite bringing about many enduring systems improvements, Grantees reported that many transition barriers remain. Grantees made recommendations to help states address continuing barriers to nursing facility transition and diversion so that no one need live in a nursing home simply because sufficient community services and supports are unavailable.

The Center for Workers with Disabilities prepared this report for the Virginia MIG advisory committee. It contains an analysis of the ways states provide personal assistance services (PAS) through a personal care Medicaid State Plan Option (SPO) to persons in Buy-In programs. It looks at specific legislation, State Plans and amendments, administrative rules, and implementation manuals. It ends with recommendations from an analysis conducted for Iowa on whether to implement this option there.

For people with psychiatric disabilities that receive SSDI and/or SSI in Vermont, benefits counseling was found to improve earnings by $1,256 annually. The authors found that this form of support helps overcome significant barriers to employment, such as a fear of a loss of benefits resulting from increased earnings. This article was published in the Psychiatric Services Journal.