Reports

As part of the Missouri Medicaid Infrastructure Grant, surveys and focus groups were conducted with a wide range of audiences from people with disabilities and their families to state agency staff and providers concerning employment issues. The surveys and focus groups yielded a great deal of information that is helpful in understanding the challenges people with disabilities face when trying to obtain and maintain employment. Included are three reports describing the information gathered.

The Missouri Business Leadership Network conducted a Disability Mentoring Day in St. Louis in Oct 2006 to give high school students the opportunity to engage in discussion with business leaders about concerns for furthering their education and/or entering the workforce. This program was further designed for students to network with business leaders and, for business leaders to match up with a student to mentor throughout the year. The report includes a summary of findings and recommendations.

The Institute for Human Development at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is administering the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) to enhance the use of Medicaid resources in Missouri. This report provides a review of research and the activities and findings related to a retreat to assess needs of Missouri employers and people with disabilities. It also provides analysis of a follow-up survey of 153 agency providers and people with disabilities. Suggestions are made for future research.

This report provides a state-by-state analysis of how Medicaid agencies are exercising their responsibilities for mental health services. The report is based on telephone interviews and explores how state Medicaid agencies are addressing the organization, funding, policy, management and data issues that arise from increased responsibility for mental health services. Review the findings which indicated how States have taken varying approaches to providing services.

The Ticket to Work Panel released its final report to the President and Congress. Included are five recommendations including the idea of extending the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant and Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment program through 2014, creating a panel and an advocate position within the Social Security Administration to enhance beneficiary perspective, publish the final rule, create a demonstration project and examine the impact of changing the disability definition.

This MIT Report offers a ten-point plan to start a statewide conversation on change, a research summary on the role that families play as a "shadow workforce" in geriatric healthcare system, and expert commentary on the issues surrounding family caregiver support programs. This new report points the way for state-level action to support family caregivers and for state-level public policy to improve quality of life.

A study was conducted on consumer-directed personal assistance services (PAS) cooperatives, with an emphasis on workplace PAS. This report presents case studies of seven cooperatives, describes advantages of consumer-run cooperatives, identifies funding issues and sources, and presents considerations for those contemplating starting. It contains a review of the literature which reveals only a few examples of successful consumer-directed PAS cooperatives in the US, however, they show promise.

This guide offers a quick reference on housing resources that can be used to create integrated, affordable, and accessible housing and basic information on how to use these resources. Including community strategies that increase the amount of integrated, affordable, and accessible housing units that usually fall into three general categories: development of housing units; access to existing housing units; and asset development.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated a demonstration project to improve the Direct Service Community Workforce to test the effectiveness of different workforce interventions on the retention and recruitment of Direct Service Workers (DSWs). This report identifies promising practices in direct service worker marketing, recruitment, and selection across the CMS grantees.

The national percentage of Medicaid spending on home and community-based services (HCBS) has more than doubled from 1992 to 2004. This report presents a summary of the main trends to emerge for the three Medicaid HCBS programs and the results of a survey of policies such as eligibility criteria and waiting lists.