Reports

Unemployment rates among people with disabilities is historically high. In Massachusetts, a Disability Task Force on Employment was formed in May 2008 to take a critical look at the Executive Branch’s current policies and practices and search for best practices in the public and private sector that pertain to recruiting, hiring, accommodating, promoting and retaining people with disabilities in the workplace. This report presents a summary of the focus group findings.

This chart book highlights findings from two new federally sponsored national surveys. Both surveys represent a major advance in the data available about two of America’s most important jobs, certified nursing assistants working in nursing homes and home health aides in home health and hospice care settings. The chart book is intended to help multiple audiences understand these jobs, issues, and challenges; and establish useful benchmarks as goals toward which improvement efforts might aspire.

Since 1988, Thomson Reuters has produced annual reports on state Medicaid spending for long-term services and supports (LTSS). One limitation to the reports has been that LTSS spending provided through Medicaid managed care programs often is not identified. This report presents estimated Federal Fiscal Year 2008 and 2009 managed care spending not included in previous LTSS expenditures reports. These estimates are based on data provided by states with managed LTSS programs.

This study found that Americans living with disabilities were less likely to use the Internet than other adults, with only 44 percent of those with a disability using the Internet. In comparison, 81 percent of adults without a disability used the Internet on a regular basis. The primary reasons responders cited for low Internet use were lack of accessibility and proper accommodations to meet their needs.

The Community Living Initiative is an effort to give people with disabilities and older adults greater opportunities to live in their communities and achieve their goals. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services identified several issues and challenges in the development and refinement of new strategies to support and promote community living. HHS held four Listening Sessions around the country with state & local officials, consumers, service providers, and advocates.

The Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication (SPEC) Disability Initiative aims to educate SPEC partners and taxpayers with disabilities on available tax credits, deductions, and free tax help. Using results for the 2009 Benchmark survey, read this report for an update of the 2007 Disability Report, to better understand the characteristics and services used by taxpayers with disabilities, and to identify possible outreach strategies.

In honor of the upcoming one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Family Caregiver Alliance releases this guide which highlights some of the most important developments in 2010 affecting family caregivers, including legislative and policy changes; research focused on caregivers; and media coverage of family caregiving. A great resource for families, researchers, policymakers, and others.

This testimony discusses possible strategies for improving the rate of federal employment of individuals with disabilities. The testimony is based on our October 2010 report discussing barriers to the employment of people with disabilities in the federal workforce and leading practices that could be used to overcome these barriers.

Are MIGs assisting individuals with disabilities to become employed? This report shows the continued impact of MIG funding in 2009. One of the most visible activities has been the development of state Medicaid Buy-In programs, under which workers with significant disabilities can “buy in” to Medicaid coverage when their earnings would otherwise make them ineligible. This report updates trends in the enrollment, employment, and earnings of participants.

The state of Arizona hosted online discussion groups in order to get feedback from community rehabilitation and employment services providers on their Employment Development Project. The overriding purpose of the online discussions was to garner insights into how service providers view the EN program, the perceived organizational value of adopting or integrating the EN business model into existing business practices, and barriers to EN program implementation. For the results explore this report.