Independence Plus Initiative
MICHIGAN
Grant Information
Name of Grantee
Michigan
Department of Community Health
Title of Grant
Michigan's Independence Plus Initiative
Type of Grant
Independence Plus Initiative
Amount of Grant
$478,600
Year Original Funding
Received
2003
Expected Completion Date
September
2007
Contact Information
Rob Curtner, Project
Coordinator
517-335-8710
curtnerr@michigan.gov
Michael Head, Project Director
Michigan Department of Community Health
Office of Long-Term Care Supports and Services
109 Michigan Avenue, Seventh Floor
PO Box 30195
Lansing, MI 48909
517-335-0276
head@michigan.gov
Subcontractor(s)
Mr. Scott Dzurka
Michigan Association of Community
Mental Health Boards
517-374-6848
sdzurka@macmhb.org
Dr. James Conroy
Center for Outcome Analysis
610-668-9001
jconroycoa@aol.com
ARC of Michigan
517-487-5426
Target Population(s)
Current or potential participants in state
Community Mental Health Services Programs (CMHSPs),
including adults with mental illness and persons with developmental
disabilities (DD), and participants in the MI Choice waiver for elders and
persons with physical disabilities.
Goals
- Implement a Project
Work Group composed of a variety of stakeholders, with primary guidance
from consumers and advocates experienced in Independence Plus design
features to oversee all of the goals, activities, and products developed
in the grant.
- Develop within the Michigan systems of mental health and DD services a
comprehensive capacity for supporting arrangements that provide consumers/beneficiaries
with a high level of choice and control over defining, selecting,
directing, and purchasing needed services and supports, in accordance with
Michigan's
Self-Determination Policy and Practice Guideline.
- Strengthen knowledge,
networking, and advocacy for consumers/beneficiaries, families, and allies
concerning the tools and techniques inherent in the Independence Plus
design features.
- Introduce into the MI
Choice 1915(c) waiver the concepts, principles, and practices for
supporting arrangements that provide consumers/beneficiaries with choice
and control over defining, selecting, directing, and purchasing needed
services and supports.
- Evaluate a best
approach for requesting additional waiver or state plan amendments to
expand self-determination via Independence Plus principles, utilizing a
work group made up of consumers and their allies, advocates, and selected
state resources.
Activities
- Determine best
practices for self-determination activities used by CMHSPs.
- Develop written
material that is specifically designed for consumers, families, and allies
on the proper principles, practices, and methodological tools available to
implement Independence Plus design features.
- Develop and deliver
statewide training, and produce a variety of products to support
Independence Plus principles, including (1) train-the-trainer programs,
(2) collaborative identification of best practices and support for the
person-centered planning (PCP) discovery process, (3) self-determination
leadership implementation seminars, and (4) technical assistance and
methodological guidance materials.
- Develop a specialty
waiver or state plan amendment to provide flexibility in PCP and
self-determination for a designated number of consumers from the MI DD and
MI Choice programs.
Abstract
Michigan has adopted the principles and practices of PCP as the
basis for planning and arranging consumer services. However, the adoption of
these principles and practices throughout the State has occurred slowly.
This project will expand implementation of
arrangements that support self-determination. It will identify and establish systemwide, self-determination options, creating effective
and flexible consumer-controlled service arrangements in the Michigan mental health system. It will also
incorporate the philosophy, information, methods, and practices of
self-determination into the MI Choice Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)
waiver system and build in methods to make flexible, consumer-directed options
available to beneficiaries who are elderly or disabled. The project will also
develop the framework for the approval of a new waiver arrangement or state
plan amendment to demonstrate, with a limited number of beneficiaries from the
mental health and/or the long-term care systems, the option of receiving a cash
allotment in lieu of formal Medicaid support services.
The project will involve consumers, advocates, and
other stakeholders through a work group, which will guide the project. Specific
accomplishments will include (1) the development of a standardized model for
individual budget development and fiscal intermediary services, (2) the
development and testing of models for using independent facilitators and
support brokers in PCP and consumer-directed care, (3) the development of
options for emergency backup systems, and (4) the establishment of incident
management systems.