Community Supports Transformation
Webinar Sessions Thursday, April 29 & Tuesday, May 4, 2021 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm (EST) Through policy and funding changes, Maine is shifting community support services for those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities away from center-based services. Join us to learn from providers in Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania as they share the how-tos of their transformation away from center-based services. Presenters will share and discuss their specific service structure, change process, lessons learned, barriers conquered, rate methodology changes, and service offerings across various needs. The webinar is intended for anyone working directly or indirectly with adults with IDD or Autism. Recommended attendance: DSP, BHP, PSS, CNA, trainers, social workers, managers, family members, guardians. Registration covers both sessions! MACSP or ANCOR Member: $49 Non-MACSP Member: $59 Register Today! April 29th SESSION PRESENTERS Barry Simon, President & CEO, Oak Hill, Connecticut Jean Menning, Executive Director, Exceptional Opportunities, Inc., Iowa Karen Lee, Executive Director Supporting Employment Equality and Community, Maryland May 4th SESSION PRESENTERS will be announced soon! Register Here! Registration covers both sessions! MACSP or ANCOR Member: $49 Non-MACSP Member: $59 Maine Association for Community Service Providers PO Box 149 Hallowell, ME 04347-0149 Today, the Maine Children’s Alliance released the latest edition of the Maine KIDS COUNT® Data Book, the most comprehensive data on the status and well-being of children in Maine. The Maine Children’s Alliance is the KIDS COUNT® partner for Maine, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic downturn have created serious concerns about the immediate and long-term impacts on children and families. It has also reminded us that our health and well-being are interconnected. Now more than ever, the Maine Children’s Alliance is committed to providing data to inform policy and advocacy to support the health and well-being of children and families. In this year's Data Book, where possible, 2020 data is displayed, demonstrating the impact of the pandemic. Other times, the latest available data is 2019, which may be used as a baseline before the public health crisis. The 2021 Maine KIDS COUNT Data Book serves as a resource for how children and families are being impacted by the pandemic, and includes indicators highlighting disparities by race, geography, and income. Visit our website to learn more and download your copy today! Please contact Helen Hemminger at [email protected] to request a presentation of this report. If you would like to receive a printed book, please email: [email protected] ACL/CMS Webinar:
Forming Strategic Partnerships Between Housing, Medicaid HCBS Payers, and Community-Based Services April 22, 2021; 3:00 - 4:30 pm Eastern Register Now Webinar Description Despite an unprecedented shortage of affordable and accessible housing, today many low-income older adults and people with disabilities in congregate and institutional settings urgently need to transition to affordable and accessible housing in the community. This webinar provides strategies and best practices to form partnerships between housing, Medicaid HCBS payers, and community-based services to successfully address housing challenges. These partnerships can enable stakeholders to leverage the unprecedented influx of COVID related funding (CARES Act, Omnibus, and American Rescue/Recovery Plan) for rental assistance and pre/post housing related services and supports, ensuring Medicaid HCBS beneficiaries are housed securely and can actively participate in their community. Panelists
The webinar will be recorded. If you are interested in the webinars and cannot attend, please register using the link above. We will send you the recording link via email. About this webinar series The Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) host a monthly webinar series that invites subject matter experts and practitioners from across the home-and-community-based services (HCBS) continuum to share insights and best practices to develop high quality HCBS programs and services. Questions? Email [email protected] Join us for a meeting on supporting LDA of Maine! May 4th, 7:00 pm LDA is seeking interested parents, educators, school psychologists, and advocates to participate in an informational meeting about supporting the growth and capacity of LDA's state affiliate in Maine! Join the meeting to learn about the benefits of having an active LDA state affiliate and learn about the supports that LDA of America provides our state affiliates. Help us enhance the capacity of a Maine state affiliate to help individuals with learning disabilities through support, education, and advocacy. RSVP to Aaron Goldstein at [email protected] to receive a Zoom meeting invitation Forwarded Action Alert:
Though the Public Hearing has already been held, you can still contact Members of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee in Support of LD 552, An Act To Strengthen the Individualized Education Program Process. Bill summary: This bill requires that changes to the individualized education program for a child with a disability be made by consensus of the individualized education program team. The bill also requires that the individualized education program team allow a person who provides special education services to a child with a disability through regular and direct contact to participate in a team meeting concerning that child upon the request of the individual or the request of a member of the team. Finally, the bill requires the Commissioner of Education to submit proposed changes to the rules governing special education to the Legislature by January 1, 2022 to amend the rules to conform with the provisions of the bill. SAMPLE LETTER: Dear Rep/Sen ________ I am writing as the parent of a son/daughter with special needs to ask you to support LD 552 An Act To Strengthen the Individualized Education Program Process. LD 552 requires that changes to a child's individualized education program may be made only with the consensus of the IEP team; in other words, with a parent’s consent. If the team is unable to reach consensus on proposed changes, the IEP in effect at the time of the proposed changes remains in effect. Either party can then request mediation or other dispute resolution. Under current law, Maine school districts may make material changes to a student’s IEP without the parents’ consent as long as they provide parents with prior written notice of the changes. If the parents disagree with the school district’s proposals, they have to initiate a costly and difficult due process hearing. LD 552 improves the IEP process by ensuring that every expert at that table has a voice – including parents and the educators who work most closely with the student. It does this simply – by assuring that plans can’t change without agreement. In fact, at least 12 states require parental consent, or consensus, before changes are made to a student’s IEP. The bill also requires that the IEP team allow an ed tech, who provides services to a child on a regular basis and who often knows the child best, to participate in a team meeting if a parent or other team member requests it. Thank you for your consideration, ________ You can use the sample letter above as a template, and fill in relevant information and tell your own story. Then you can simply email it to Members of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee at the email addresses listed below:
Thank you for taking action! (Please note where it says comments are closed below it refers to comments on this post and on this website not comments on the bill). Don't miss this Friday's SMACT presentation tomorrow by Zoom at 1:00! See the flyer for more information. The Zoom link is below. We hope to see you there! ‘Advocacy and Self-Advocacy for Youth in Transition’ This informative presentation ‘Advocacy and Self-Advocacy for Youth in Transition’ will feature Katrina Ringrose and Foxfire Buck from Disability Rights Maine (DRM) and Laurie Coldwell from Speaking Up for Us (SUFU). Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/97277230285?pwd=TTlaNkFnM3lOek8zejlzbDQ1dVpNdz09 Meeting ID: 972 7723 0285 Passcode: yamjqgQC3O Powerpoints for the meeting are posted on our website home page: https://sites.google.com/portlandschools.org/smact A Public Hearing in front of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee has been scheduled for LD 924, Resolve, To Establish a Task Force To Study the Coordination of Services and Expansion of Educational Programs for Young Adults with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities To Identify Barriers to Full Societal Integration on Monday, 4/5, at 1:00 pm.
This resolve would establish the Task Force To Study the Coordination of Services and Expansion of Educational Programs for Young Adults with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities to identify barriers inhibiting adults 18 years of age to 40 years of age with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID?DD) from being fully integrated into society and to recommend possible solutions. The membership of the task force consists of Legislators who serve on the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over education and cultural affairs, health and human services matters and labor and housing matters, the Commissioner of Education, the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of Labor, members of organizations or associations knowledgeable about services for young adults with disabilities after high school, parents or guardians or direct care providers of a young adult with a disability and young adults with disabilities who are eligible to receive services from the State. The Commissioner of Education convenes the task force, which must hold a minimum of 4 meetings and submit a report to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services and the Joint Standing Committee on Labor and Housing with recommendations on targeted reforms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of services provided by different agencies and continuing educational opportunities for young adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities after high school. The task force must also analyze current data and retrospective data for the past 6 years regarding the function and efficacy of current federal and state mandates pertaining to young adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities and provide recommendations to enhance the coordination of programs to ensure the most efficient and effective provision of essential services. You can sign up to give testimony and submit testimony here. The calendar of the day's work is here. The hearing begins at 1:00pm, however, this bill is listed last so it's impossible to say when this section of the hearing will begin. If you sign up to give spoken testimony, the Committee Clerk will send you a Zoom link that will give you access to the committee meeting. You will remain in the "waiting room" on Zoom, able to see and hear the proceedings but not participate until called on by the Chair and Clerk (akin to sitting in the Committee room waiting to be called to the podium). Most committees use a timer and limit spoken testimony to 3 minutes. Strong testimony shows the committee how the bill will solve or help to solve the specific problem currently being experienced by you or those with whom you are familiar. When people submit testimony, you will be able to access it here. Save the Dates NOW!
Registration will be out in April SUPPORTING COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS, VALUED ROLES & BELONGING with Angela Novak Amado, Ph.D. Sponsored by the Office of Aging and Disability Services In fully inclusive communities, individuals with a disability label experience friendships and relationships with a wide variety of people and have valued social roles as community citizens. At the same time, community members have the opportunity to know, befriend, include, and value those who might otherwise be separated or marginalized. While many people agree with these values and the goal of full community participation, many agencies and staff struggle with “how to” support meaningful relationships with community members. A series of two-hour workshops will present stories, examples, and successful strategies learned in various projects across the country designed to support people with a disability label to have more friendships with ordinary citizens, be more fully part of their communities, and expand the number and types of valued social roles they experience. Lessons learned with a wide variety of agencies, with people with a wide range of types of disabilities, will be presented in this on-line series. These sessions are particularly designed for agencies providing community support, but the ideas presented will also be useful for residential support agencies, families, case managers, and others interested. All are welcome. These sessions will incorporate and build upon the material in the two “Friends” manuals and Friends Activity Worksheets (www.rtc.umn.edu/friends and https://ici.umn.edu/products/tpYWhm5tRHua0nutcqCX3Q which are free and down-loadable. Participants will have actual and specific practice applying the material directly with people they support. Join us for the series of two-hour sessions for various audiences and a Family focused session. Please share with others who may be interested, and once Registration is LIVE we will be posted links directly at https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/oads/about-us/initiatives/hcbs/training-and-resources I. THE IMPORTANCE OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE OVERALL APPROACH April 28th at 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Audiences: DSP’s, Families, Managers/Supervisors, Executives, Case Managers, Guardians, Board Members, People who receive Support, Families, Community Members, Advocates, etc. In this two-hour introductory session, the importance of community relationships and basic approaches toward community connecting will be presented. This session is intended for any and all interested people. II. PLANNING – WHAT TO DO TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS May 5th at 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. For: DSP’s, and their Managers, from Community Support Agencies/Staff, Residential Agency Staff, others interested, Advocates and Case Managers /Care Coordinators This session will present three main areas of “how-to” strategies: 1. Successful strategies in planning, connecting, and supporting individuals in having more friendships and community involvement. 2. How to expand the variety and types of social roles of people who receive services 3. The role of staff as “community connectors”. This session is aimed at practical application of the strategies. People who attend will leave with concrete ideas to try out for a specific individual who receives services. We will have you try out some of the ideas and then come back to share and learn together. May 5th at 3:00 P.M. to 4:30 P.M. Family of adults and transition age youth (ONLY) Session: "How-to" strategies for family members to support relationships between their family members with disabilities and other community members will be presented. Material will be drawn from a project with family members and a manual developed specifically for family members. The manual describes why it is important to promote such friendships, community belonging and membership. Included in this session will be examples of specific exercises to guide users in creating a plan for connecting people. This session l is designed for family members, but the material can also be used by support coordinators, teachers, staff, and people with disabilities to support community relationships. III. FOLLOW UP ON COMMUNITY CONNECTING ACTIONS – COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE June 2nd at 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. For: People who attended Planning Session II- DSP’s and their managers, from Community Support Agencies/Staff, Residential Agency Staff, others interested, Advocates, Case Managers /Care Coordinators, and Guardians This session is for people who attended the previous “planning” session (II) on the morning of May 5th. Participants will share what ideas they had in the planning session, what they tried or did not have the opportunity to try. We will identify the sources of any success, and the barriers that were encountered in pursuing ideas. We will also engage in additional exercises about supporting community members to get to know and befriend individuals who receive support. There will be practice about introducing people, making requests of community members, and the next steps to deepen acquaintances and relationships. IV. USING THE FRIENDS MANUAL June 9th at 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Audience: DSP’s, managers, supervisors and executives who have attended previous sessions I, or II and III. Those who participated in the previous planning and follow-up sessions will have the opportunity to: 1. Review the brain-storming ideas and results from sessions II and III. 2. Identify the material in the Friends manuals and Friends Activity Worksheets, which is applicable and can be used in the future to on-going support community building. 3. Identify and apply the ideas in the Friends manual about how to address barriers or problems when they are encountered. 4. Identify the needed agency structures which support and enhance more relationship-building, community connectedness, and valued social roles for the people served. 5. Build upon the ideas in the Friends manual to enlist wider community engagement and support. V. ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT June 16th at 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Audience: Supervisors/Managers, Executives, Board Members Being an agency that supports authentic community relationships and belonging means both short-term and long-term shifts in internal and external organizational structures. This session is for those with direct and indirect roles in designing and implementing needed structures to realize the goals that: (1) all individuals who receive support have meaningful community relationships, and (2) community members have the opportunity to know, befriend and include citizens with disability labels. This session will address: 1. What organizational/structural changes are needed to support more community relationships. 2. Examples of how other agencies have implemented these ideas. 3. Identification of rule and/or policy changes needed to fully realize community belonging. 4. What supports direct support staff need. 5. What supports managers/supervisors need. 6. Ideas to enhance the role of community members in building inclusive communities. Participants will leave with concrete ideas for organizational structures needed to implement these approaches in the short and long terms. WHEN: FRIDAY, April 2, 2021 TIME: 1:00 – 3:00 Due to the pandemic this meeting will be held via ZOOM.
Join Us for SMACT’s April Meeting Presentation ‘Advocacy and Self-Advocacy for Youth in Transition’ This informative presentation on ‘Advocacy and Self-Advocacy for Youth in Transition’ will feature Katrina Ringrose and Foxfire Buck from Disability Rights Maine (DRM) and Laurie Coldwell from Speaking Up for Us (SUFU). These professionals in the field will share information on the topic of advocacy, which is important to all of the students, schools and families we serve. See the attached flyer for more information. Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/97277230285?pwd=TTlaNkFnM3lOek8zejlzbDQ1dVpNdz09 Meeting ID: 972 7723 0285 Passcode: yamjqgQC3O Visit our website to view the Powerpoint for this presentation on the home page: https://sites.google.com/portlandschools.org/smact We hope to see you there! The Arc - The Beginning of a New Era: Let's Remove Barriers to Home and Community-Based Services3/18/2021
Home should be in the community, with the services to thrive. After years of advocacy by The Arc and our advocates, Congress released draft legislation to make access to home and community-based services (HCBS) a reality for all. No more waiting lists or being tied to one state; this pivotal piece of legislation will be transformative. For decades, many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have been warehoused and lived segregated lives in institutions. Even today, these institutions still exist in 36 states and are using state and federal dollars. Meanwhile, people with disabilities and families want access to home and community-based services, or HCBS, and there's not enough of these services to meet the desperate need across the country. Instead of putting community first, our nation has had it backwards – and this week marks the beginning of the end of this outdated approach. COVID-19 has put a glaring spotlight on the health dangers facing people living in nursing homes and institutions. Behind closed doors, we don't even know how many people with disabilities and support staff have died or become ill from this virus. What we do know is that this collective experience has proven that a life in the community is not only what people want, but it is safer. On Tuesday, Members of Congress unveiled a critical bill developed with The Arc and other disability and aging advocates, that will fundamentally change how people with IDD and older adults live their lives. The Home and Community-Based Services Access Act (HAA) is a bill that will:
The Arc has been leading behind the scenes for years to make this bill a reality—and you have helped too! With every call to support HCBS funding and email to show why a life in the community is important, you have helped with the creation of this landmark legislation. All our efforts have led to this day. We have a lot of work ahead of us to get this federal legislation finalized, passed, and ultimately signed into law. Just days ago, we got a reprieve from Congress, a year-long significant boost in funding for our current HCBS system. That happened because of YOU. But after a year, we go back to the same broken system, unless we act now! We have an opportunity to transform the system for generations to come. To get it right. To put community first. It's a new era, and The Arc is once again leading toward the future. Learn more about this critical issue and share your story. We need your momentum to carry us forward into a new era. |
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