PENNSYLVANIA

Grant Information


Name of Grantee
Department of Public Welfare
Title of Grant
Real Choice Systems Change Grant
Type of Grant
Real Choice Systems Change
Amount of Grant
$1,385,000
Year Original Funding Received
2002

Contact Information


Cheryl Martin, Director, HCBS Project
Health and Welfare Building
Room 323
P.O. Box 2675
Harrisburg, PA 17105–2675
717–783–2203
cmartin@state.pa.us

Subcontractor(s)

In the process of obtaining an administrative subcontractor.

Target Population(s)


Older Pennsylvanians, adults with disabilities and children.

Goals


  • Develop better methods to manage the overall system in support of community living.
  • Develop a system of access to home– and community–based services and supports for people of all ages that is cross–disability, comprehensive, understandable, and responsible to the needs of local communities.
  • Develop expertise and capacity to effectively serve individuals across the broad spectrum of disabilities and long–term illnesses.

Activities


  • Support the Home– and Community–Based Services Stakeholder Planning Team through training opportunities, mentoring for certain individuals, reimbursement for travel, attendants, and other costs for members who are either consumers themselves or family members of consumers.
  • Evaluate existing outreach and education efforts.
  • Develop comprehensive materials regarding HCBS.
  • Develop curriculum to train local agency staff, community, and state/local government personnel.
  • Fund demonstration projects that support better access and streamlined eligibility processes.
  • Evaluate the feasibility of an Independence + project.
  • Write and submit the proposal (upon approval of the administration).
  • Examine and make recommendations regarding barriers to home– and community–based services and supports.

Abstract


This grant program will address the identified weaknesses or barriers of Pennsylvania's current long–term home– and community–based system of care through the implementation of specific strategies designed to provide the foundation for enduring and effective systems change. Specifically, involvement of individuals with disabilities, older individuals, families, and advocates will be the keystone of this program. The Home and Community Based Governance Structure will play a vital role in the overall management of the grant program, while the existing expertise of agency staff and community providers will be tapped to capitalize on available knowledge of promising practices in the implementation of home– and community–based services and supports. Attention will be given to improving Pennsylvania's system of access, developing better informational materials that are culturally competent, and performing a feasibility analysis of an Independence + demonstration to begin to address the existing barriers by allowing for a consumer–directed cross disability approach that is driven by need rather than diagnosis.

 

 

 

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