Forwarded Action Alert – Maine Disability Alerts:  Upcoming Public Hearing regarding LD 1984 "An Act To Eliminate Waiting Lists for Home and Community-based Services for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities, Autism, Brain Injury and Other Related Conditions."  
Dear Friends of Mainers with Disabilities,
 
A Public hearing has been scheduled for LD 1984, "An Act To Eliminate Waiting Lists for Home and Community-based Services for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities, Autism, Brain Injury and Other Related Conditions"
 
The public hearing will be at 2 pm on Monday, 1/27 in the Health and Human Services (HHS) committee room, which is room 209 Burton M Cross State Office Building, Augusta (free parking is available in the garage across the street).
 
Please consider taking action to show your support for this bill, and there are a few easy ways in which you can do so:

• Testify in person at the public hearing on Monday, 1/27, at 2:00pm.   
• Submit written testimony:
  • You can submit written testimony online, and doing so is simple.  You can use the webform at https://www.mainelegislature.org/testimony/ if you choose "Health and Human Services" committee, then choose date "Jan 27 2020 2:00 PM" then check the box for LD 1984, as illustrated in the picture below:

Webinar 1/22: Partnering with Families to Provide Programs for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Register for the webinar on Wednesday, January 22 at 1:30 - 2:45 pm ET.

Tennessee’s Employment and Community First CHOICES program, serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, was implemented in 2016 following robust engagement of the people and families who would be served by the program and extensive collaboration across state agencies and the advocacy community. The program emphasizes employment and community inclusion as the first and preferred option for people with intellectual and development disabilities and provides a broad array of services responding to the diverse needs shared by people and families.
The National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems (NCAPPS) presents a webinar: "Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement: A Collaborative Approach to Programs for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Their Families" on January 22.
Participants in this webinar will learn:

1. The critical role that people and families played in proactively initiating conversations with state agencies;
2. The partnership between state agencies to develop a comprehensive approach to service delivery; and
3. The importance of stakeholder engagement early in the program design phase, throughout implementation, and ongoing as the program continues to evolve to ensure services address stakeholder needs.

Register here.
All NCAPPS webinars are recorded and archived at ncapps.acl.gov.


NCAPPS assists states, tribes, and territories to transform their long-term care service and support systems to implement U.S. Department of Health and Human Services policy on person-centered thinking, planning, and practices. It supports a range of person-centered thinking, planning, and practices, regardless of funding source. Activities include providing technical assistance to states, tribes, and territories; establishing communities of practice to promote best practices; hosting educational webinars; and creating a national clearinghouse of resources to support person-centered practice. Visit the NCAPPS website for more information.
​

​SequelCare of Maine is currently looking to fill a few of our open beds in our growing Section 21 program. These openings are located in Windham and Winthrop.
 
In Windham, we have an opening for a male client in our brand new 2-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom duplex style home located in a quiet neighborhood. The home features an open concept kitchen and living area with a full basement, large closets and a nice backyard with a deck. The bedrooms and full bath are on the second level.
 
Our Winthrop home is an updated older house with 5 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms, a large kitchen and good-sized living room.  The house sits back from a main road and has a wooded back yard. We have an opening for a male or female client in one of our second-floor bedrooms.
 
We plan to open several new residential homes in Westbrook this spring and will be looking for male and female clients. Please contact Jaye van Dussen at jaye.vandussen@sequelyouthservices.com or 207-319-5688 for more information and to discuss any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!
 
Sequel Care of Maine works with children, families and adults with mental and behavioral health needs. We also offer home health services. Our offices are located in Bangor, Searsport and Yarmouth. We serve those with MaineCare and offer: Outpatient Therapy, Home Health Care, Behavioral Health Home (case management), Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Opioid Health Home, Direct Living Skills, Home and Community-based Treatment and Rehabilitative and Community Support Services.

Wings for All® is Coming to BGR Airport

We are happy to announce that Wings for All will be landing at the Bangor International Airport (BGR) on Saturday, February 1, 2020.

Wings for All® is an airport rehearsal program designed specifically for individuals with autism or other intellectual disabilities. Families are given the opportunity to practice all steps involved in air travel including: entering the airport, obtaining a boarding card, going through TSA security, and boarding a real plane (that does not take off). A small reception will be held for all participants with light snacks and refreshments after deboarding the plane.

This event is FREE to families, but pre-registration is required as space is limited. Wings for All is a national program of The Arc of the US. For more information, check out the Wings program website at thearc.org/wings or contact Cathy Dionne at asm@asmonline.org.
FLYER
Register

​This statewide survey is being conducted by the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine (USM) on behalf of Maine’s Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS). 
 
Maine Caregiver Survey
 
Maine wants to improve services that support older adults to live in our homes and in our communities as long as possible. As part of this, Maine wants to hear from you if you provide any kind of help or care to an older adult or an adult with a disability or if you are an older person who has primary responsibility for the care of a grandchild or other relative under the age of 18. This includes unpaid caregivers as well as caregivers who are paid to provide help to a relative or friend. This statewide survey is being conducted by the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine (USM) on behalf of Maine’s Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS). While the survey is voluntary, (you don’t have to do it), the findings will help the State and its community partners focus on the areas that are of greatest concern to you and other caregivers in Maine. Information about this survey, including a link to the survey, is also on the OADS’ website: https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/oads/news/news-details.html?id=1760587

Please feel free to share this survey with other people or organizations who might be interested. Thank you!

To begin the survey, click here: Caregiver Survey

This update originally appeared on the DHHS-OADS website. Click here for the original post.

Quarterly Update: Supporting Adults with Developmental Disabilities and Brain Injury in their Homes and Communities

October 8, 2019

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provides home- and community-based services to adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and brain injury primarily through MaineCare-funded programs. These are often called waiver programs because they operate with special exceptions from the federal government, and are referred to by their Section number, which is where they can be found in the MaineCare rules.
Funding for these services was expanded in Governor Mills' biennial budget that took effect July 1, allowing DHHS to serve an additional 167 people in the current fiscal year under Section 21. We've started offering Section 21 services to additional people and expect to hit this target promptly.
Since our last update in May, the number of people served in Section 21 rose from 3,173 to 3,186, while those served through Section 29 grew from 2,281 to 2,286.
Table 1 provides a snapshot of the programs as of the start of this quarter of the year.

None of those on the Section 21 waitlist are categorized as Priority 1, which includes people determined to be in immediate need of Adult Protective Services due to abuse or neglect. Those waiting are in the Priority 2 and 3 groups. The Department continues to serve all Priority 1 applicants by using openings that become available when people leave the waiver program (attrition).
With funding provided through Governor Mills' biennial budget, we are also establishing a crisis intake function for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities, autism and/or brain injury. This will help to prevent and de-escalate crises by using specially trained crisis workers, providing better assessment of clinical needs earlier, improving program data, and taking pressure off overextended field workers.
Maine DHHS recognizes that there has long been a need to improve services for individuals with developmental disabilities and brain injury. While capacity to serve eligible people in Maine has grown, so too has demand - at a greater pace. And as important as the current waiver services are, they represent a limited set of choices for individuals and their families. Many have asked for services to be more flexible and more responsive to individual needs and phases of life.
The Department is receiving invaluable feedback from stakeholders on the Home and Community Based Services Advisory Committee, which is helping ensure Maine's compliance with federal rules that require all service settings to be as integrated in the community as possible. The Department also participated in listening sessions with the Maine Developmental Services Oversight & Advisory Board (MDSOAB) this summer, where many individuals and family members expressed the need for better information and family networking opportunities, a broader array of flexible service options, better person-centered planning that addresses the entire lifespan, more training for people at all levels of the system, and better support for people with challenging behaviors.
This and other feedback collected through multiple venues are informing the Department's plans for developmental services, autism and brain injury, which will be submitted to the Legislature in February. We look forward to finding ways to improve the quality and accessibility of these services.

This update originally appeared on the DHHS website.  Click here for the original post.

New Developments at DHHS

October 31, 2019

Improving Transportation for Those We Serve

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provides transportation to approximately 55,000 Mainers each year. This includes about 2.5 million trips to doctors' offices, educational classes, employment opportunities, and appointments.

These services are provided through various contracts to diverse populations with a range of needs, from children to working families to adults with disabilities. The cost is significant: $83 million per year ($30 million state General Fund), with nearly all covered with MaineCare funds.
​
We recognized an opportunity to improve and better coordinate these services, so in June 2019, DHHS convened a workgroup consisting of staff from the Offices of MaineCare Services, Child and Family Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, Aging and Disability Services, and Contract Management to perform a comprehensive review.

The workgroup's objective was to assess DHHS transportation services and recommend improvements based on their evaluation. Throughout this process, the group examined quality, performance, and safety requirements in DHHS transportation contracts to identify opportunities for greater consistency and alignment.

The workgroup identified several challenges, including: the billing of multiple funding streams, overlapping client populations, and varying eligibility requirements and payment methodologies used across client populations.

The workgroup has put forth a series of recommendations to address these challenges. By the time transportation contracts are renewed on July 1, 2020, the group recommends that DHHS:

1. Improve policy and contract language to better align services across DHHS, with the goal of 95% of quality, performance and safety requirements aligning in final contract standards;
2. Communicate with transportation providers to get feedback and understand any barriers to implementing the recommendations; and,
3. Procure an outside evaluation of transportation services.

We will assess a number of options, which could include implementing a single statewide transportation system through a request for proposals (RFP).

Our work will also incorporate communications with clients and stakeholders to learn more about their experience and identify barriers to access to transportation services.
We will hold four listening sessions throughout the state in November:

• November 13, 5:30 p.m. - Houlton DHHS office
• November 18, 5:30 p.m. - Lewiston DHHS office
• November 20, 5:30 p.m. - Bangor DHHS office
• November 25, 5:30 p.m. - Portland DHHS office

We look forward to making DHHS transportation services more efficient, accountable and accessible.

Dear disability advocate,
 
Leading up to the February 11th primary, New Hampshire will be busy with many presidential candidate events. 
 
ANCOR will be in New Hampshire the week of November 4 to support providers and the people we support to participate in town halls and rallies that will be hosted by the 2020 presidential candidates. The goal is to get the issues important to us in front of the candidates while they are in New Hampshire campaigning.  See ANCOR’s Talking Points.
 
New Hampshire Public Radio’s events calendar is a good tool to track events, and the calendar is already pretty full. For example, in the past 24 hours, we’ve already attended a meet-and-greet with John Delaney in Manchester and a house party with Tulsi Gabbard in Exeter.
 
Are you available to attend an event or two?  If so:
 

• Complete this short questionnaire to let ANCOR know when you can be available during the week, the parts of the state you can visit, etc.
• Reach out to as many individuals, DSPs, staff members, family members and others as you can and encourage them to participate. If they are willing, please have them fill out the same questionnaire so ANCOR can offer support.

 
If you can’t participate this week but have time between now and the February 11th primary, you can reach out to Sean Luechtefeld, Communications Director for ANCOR, at sluechtefeld@ancor.org or 703.535.7850 x100.
 
Background Reading
You can find the Included. Supported. Empowered. Medium publication here. There, you’ll note a handful of stories that we’re slowly but surely adding to (we welcome guest contributions!), but of particular note, I’d call your attention to the first three installments in a series on DRCNH’s candidate survey. Another helpful read is this Quartz op-ed, in which self-advocate Bill Krebs (an ANCOR member in PA who ANCOR supported to place this op-ed) argues for the engagement of people with disabilities by 2020 hopefuls. 

NEWS FLASH! You’re invited!
Come join the conversation about a Continuum of Care for those with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism
 
What?        Listening Session of Interest to Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders, to Their Families, and to Those Who Care for Them
When?       Thursday, September 26, 5 to 7 p.m.
Where?      Community Concepts, 240 Bates Street, Lewiston (parking off Blake Street)
 
The Maine Developmental Services Oversight and Advisory Board (MDSOAB) and the Office of Aging and Disability Services (OADS) want to know how well the current system of care serves Maine citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities or autism spectrum disorder and how well it embodies these principles.
We invite comment on the following propositions, which we believe represent a set of principles that a good system of care should follow. 
​
Specifically:

• Where and how do shortcomings or obstacles in the current system of care get in the way of implementing and fulfilling this model?
• We’d also welcome suggestions on how services might be delivered in order to better embody these values.

Partnership. Support for an individual is a partnership among the individual, family, community and government. The role of each party varies by individual, and over the lifespan of support.
Lifespan. People need different types and amounts of supports over their lifespan. Formal supports [provided by government] complement and supplement natural supports provided by family and community.   Supports include affordable, stable housing; competitive employment; comprehensive healthcare; accessible, reliable transportation; financial stability; continuing education; and planning for aging.
Community Inclusion. People are included and engaged in their communities. Inclusion is promoted and facilitated by both natural and formal supports.
Person Centered. The person drives the planning process. The person, family, and community are all involved in planning supports as they evolve over time. Supports are based on the wants, goals, and needs of the individual and change over the lifespan. Self-advocacy and self-determination are primary values.
Choice and Flexibility. People are entitled to have a broad array of choices about how they live their lives and the form that supports take. Formal supports should be flexible and adaptable to individual preferences and needs.
Coordinated Access and Quality Outcomes. Supports should exist that are based on these principles, and if they do not there’s clear recourse and a path to solve problems or challenges.
 

Questions about this event? Contact Mark Kemmerle, Executive Director of the MDSOAB, at kemmerle.mdsoab@gmail.com  If you cannot attend, you may send written comments.