U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Living Well-Model Approaches for Enhancing the Quality, Effectiveness and Monitoring of Home and Community Based Services for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

The Living Well-Model Approaches for Enhancing the Quality, Effectiveness and Monitoring of Home and Community Based Services for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities Program will fund the development and testing of up to five model approaches of a coordinated and comprehensive system that includes two interrelated core components for enhancing and assuring the independence, integration, safety, health, and well-being of individuals living in the community:

1. Community monitoring: Development and implementation of a coordinated system utilizing multiple community and state level partners for monitoring the safety, health, and well-being of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in a variety of community settings and identifying and reducing the risk factors for abuse, neglect and exploitation in community setting (as evidenced by a performance evaluation of the model approach).
2. Community capacity building: Application of evidence based practices and innovative strategies focusing on improving services that support people with developmental disabilities living in the community or those moving to the community from a more restrictive setting; access to and quality of community services through capacity building and scaling of evidence based and other promising practices; reducing and mitigating the incidence of and risk factors for abuse and neglect; and supporting empowerment, self-determination, self-advocacy, and an individual’s independence, autonomy and right to live alongside their non-disabled neighbors.

It is expected that such comprehensive model approaches that coordinate between these two components will work towards:

• Enhancing the health and safety of individuals by increasing their independence, social capital, self-determination, community integration, productivity, and participation
• Strengthening and rewarding the knowledge, skills, specialization, economic/career prospects, and work force stability, retention, and advancement of direct support professionals
• Incentivizing the effective adoption and use of evidence based or promising practices related to supported-decision making, person-centered thinking, competitive integrated employment, and similar strategies
• Strengthening and elevating the leadership roles that self-advocacy organizations, Centers for Independent Living and other peer support networks, working together with families and others, must play in improving and assuring the quality of home and community based services
• Enhancing the effectiveness and coordination of efforts by the state, the DD Act network and others to anticipate, avoid, investigate, reduce and remediate abuse, neglect, and other rights violations in the home and community-based services (HCBS) service delivery system for people with developmental disabilities
• Building the competencies of direct support professionals and capacity of HCBS providers through a continuum of evidence based and/or innovative tools and technical assistance to improve access to and quality of HCBS
• Reduce the incidence of and risk factors for abuse and neglect in HCBS by developing and implementing a coordinated system for community monitoring
• Developing and implementing data tools and evidence based practices to monitor and address health and safety of individuals with developmental disabilities who are at increased risk due to age, severity of disability, or some other high risk factor

Applicants must address the following key features of an integrated model of community monitoring and capacity building for enhancing and assuring the independence, integration, safety, health, and well-being of individuals living in the community:

• Partnerships in the design, implementation, and replication of the model (see minimum partnership requirement detailed in the eligibility heading below)
• Meaningful and active engagement with self-advocates and families throughout all phases and aspects of this project
• Designing, identifying, and implementing a range of evidence based practices and/or innovative strategies focusing on improving services in the community that support people with developmental disabilities living in the community or those moving to the community from a more restrictive setting

Amount: A total of $2,175,000 is available to make up to five awards that range from $300,000-$435,000 per budget period. The project period is 60 months (five 12-month budget periods).

Eligibility: Domestic public or private nonprofit entities including state and local governments, Indian tribal governments and organizations (American Indian/Alaskan Native/Native American), faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, hospitals, and institutions of higher education.

At a minimum, applicants must partner with:

1. At least one of the following:

• A protection and advocacy system
• State Developmental Disabilities Council
• University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service

2. At least one state agency:

• State Intellectual Disabilities/Developmental Disabilities agency
• The State Medicaid agency
• Self-advocacy organization(s)
• Consumer controlled organizations, such as Center(s) for Independent Living
• Family led organizations

3. Additional partners may also include:

• Nonprofit organizations led by persons with developmental disabilities and/or families of such individuals who have with demonstrated expertise and experience in improving outcomes for such individuals
• State Department of Rehabilitation agency
• Other entities with demonstrated expertise and experience in improving quality outcomes for these individuals

Link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=303673

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