Reports

A two-year study in Los Angeles County showed that offering health care coverage improves retention rates. This study tracked workers in the city’s In-Home Support Services program, which offers home-based care and services to consumers who direct their own care. The report includes many findings, including an initial study done showing that workers who enrolled in the health benefits program were more likely to be in the workforce at month 12 than workers who did not enroll.

This guide explains the critical role Medicare and Medicaid have come to play in the lives and the futures of roughly 20 million children, adults, and seniors with disabilities - and gives people new information. This guides answers many questions such as: How do people with disabilities apply and can they get help with the process? What is the policy for covering durable medical equipment? How to appeal coverage decisions? Can a person be employed and still keep their coverage?

This report focuses the development of increased access to community transportation services for individuals with disabilities as part of the Access to Services project in Maine. The report includes a summary of grant activity, lessons learned throughout the project, and recommendations for next steps to sustain the work of this grant. The specific project goal was as follows: To make transportation more available and responsive to persons with disabilities.

This report brings together the research, analysis, and conclusions of the work completed under Maine’s Quality Choices grant concerning flexible funding systems for youth with developmental disabilities as they establish themselves in ‘adult’ communities on their road to independent living. The report includes a review of the project history and implementation, research findings Strategies and Recommendations, and a Fiscal Roadmap.

This report is a final list of recommended “dashboard” indicators for use in assessing the quality of HCBS Waiver services. The indicators are organized according to the HCBS Quality Framework to provide a common frame of reference. The report includes recommendations for implementing the “dashboard” indicators, lessons learned throughout the project and a plan for sustaining the work of this grant.

Colorado’s interest in performance measures reflects the recognition that the first step in improving service system performance is to measure it. As part of its implementation of the Systems Change Project, Developmental Disabilities Services has tracked system performance against specified “key” performance indicators. The Accountability Focus Series includes: Key Indicators of Performance; Outcomes Of Services and Supports. The third report is Gauging How Well Colorado Supports Its Citizens.

The Real Choice Systems Change grant was awarded in 2002 to the Connecticut Department of Social Services. The project has two primary goals: 1) To build the capacity within the state of Connecticut to support informed decision making, independent living, and a meaningful quality of life for persons with disabilities across the life span. 2) To assist three communities in Connecticut to become models of support for opportunities and choices for persons with disabilities across the lifespan. 

Recognizing that states are engaging in risk planning for HCBS waiver participants, CMS requested this report that explores the topic of effective individual risk management. Potential risk falls into three general categories: health, behavioral and personal safety risks. The project selected 11 states to determine: how programs are addressing risk for participants, identify risk management themes and emerging issues, identify any state tools or policies that can be useful to other states.

Access to Recreation’s purpose is to expand opportunities for integrated recreational, social and cultural activities in Maine for people with disabilities by providing information to programs and to raise awareness and level of program and facility accessibility and to inform consumers about accessible locations and activities. The grantees have developed a resource guide for fitness facility managers, ran focus groups, produced reports, comment card, calendars, icons and keyword lists.

This document describes IDA, a proposed generic, virtual information service, supporting both operational (e.g., client service) and analytical needs for integrated data. In IDA, source data would stay with the agency that owns it and be made available to an end-user only when permitted by the owning agency. IDA responds to many of the persistent barriers to data integration that confront the State.