MISSION

• To improve the quality of supports and services for persons with disabilities through consumer direction
• To foster the development of inclusive communities that recognize and value the roles of older people and persons with disabilities

OBJECTIVES

• To identify, demonstrate and evaluate innovative and promising approaches for delivering supportive services to older adults and persons with disabilities
• To synthesize and share key insights and research findings with policy-makers and relevant others
• To advocate systems changes that emphasize consumer direction and empowerment and inclusive communities

The Center seeks to improve the quality of supports and services for persons with disabilities through consumer direction and foster the development of inclusive communities that recognize and value the roles of older people and persons with disabilities. Led by Director Kevin Mahoney, GSSW Professor, the Center seeks to become a clearinghouse of resources and information in this growing field.

Current projects include:

The Community Living Exchange Collaborative:
The Exchange is a vital hub of information sharing, training and technical assistance for more than 180 recipients of Systems Change Grants for Community Living in all 50 states, two territories and the District of Columbia. Through a variety of activities, The Exchange is breaking down long-standing barriers that often prevent news of community living innovations and ideas from traveling from one organization, city or state to the next. With easy access to technical support and a wealth of information about proven practices, grantees are freer to focus on the important work of changing systems to the benefit of people with disabilities. The Exchange is uniquely suited to provide technical assistance in whatever form or fashion an individual grantee may need. TA services are included in three broad categories:

• Information Collection, Dissemination and Resource Development - quantitative and qualitative information on resource tools, consumer information materials, policy briefs, etc.;
• Training-on-site, regional and national forums, audio conferences and Web casts;
• Individualized Technical Assistance-the most customized form of TA to help reduce barriers to systems change and advance coherent strategies for sustainable change.

For more information on the Exchange, please visit the Clearinghouse for the Community Living Exchange Collaborative at www.hcbs.org.

Cash and Counseling:
Giving financial control and choices to people who need services and support to lead more independent lives. The program provides a cash allowance, along with counseling; participants use the allowance to purchase their own care. For more information, visit the Cash & Counseling website at: www.cashandcounseling.org

Recent and upcoming products that fall under the umbrella of our new Center:

• “A Guide to Quality in Consumer Directed Services”
• “Addressing Liability Issues in Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Services (CDPAS)”
• “Lessons from the Implementation of Cash and Counseling in Arkansas, Florida and New Jersey”
• An online clearinghouse, www.hcbs.org, which organizes all federal and state data, seminal research and “best practices” in the field of home and community-based services and supports for older adults and persons with disabilities;
• A curriculum for re-training care managers switching from medical to consumer-directed models of service delivery
• A guide for making meetings accessible for persons with disabilities
• A tool for states to assess the degree to which their programs are consumer directed