HUD Issues Notice of Funding for Extremely Low-Income Non-Elderly People With Disabilities. Information Bulletin #358 (5/2012) On Tuesday, May 15, 2012, HUD issued in the Federal Register its “FY 2012 Section 811 Project Rental Assistance NOFA.” For background information, go to our Information Bulletin # 350 issued on February 10, 2012 at www.stevegoldada.com This Section 811 Project based rental assistance program makes $85 million available for housing subsidies, aka vouchers This is the first time that the federal funds require a connection between your State housing agencies (in most States it is the Finance Agency which administers your Low-Income Housing Tax Credits) and you State Medicaid agency. It is a joint effort between HUD and CMS. There must be a formal written agreement between these two State agencies. You may ask, what’s the importance of this written agreement for advocates of people with disabilities? The answer: Your State Medicaid/Waiver /MFP agencies will be able to ensure that people institutionalized, particularly those institutionalized primarily because they need financial housing subsidies to reside in the community, will have these Section 811 Project Rental Assistance to leave the institution and to reside in the community. It’s a real win/win for your State Medicaid/Waiver/MFP agencies. They can save a substantial amount of Medicaid expenditures by using these Section 811 housing vouchers for people who are unnecessarily institutionalized, and it costs your States nothing! It’s also a real win for your State Housing Finance Agency, because they can ensure that the lowest income people will reside in tax credit units. Here’s the kicker. Given the limited funds, your State must compete with other States and probably no more than 16 States will receive grants. We are confident that both HUD and CMS will look more favorably on those applications where advocates in the disability community have been real partners. We are also confident that if your State Medicaid agency disses you, that you will let HUD and CMS know! Therefore, this gives disability advocates a meaningful opportunity to get to the table to move folks out of institutions. Deadline for State applications to HUD is July 31, 2012. Disability Advocates “Get on your horses” now. Contact in writing your State Housing Finance Agency, your MFP folks, and your Medicaid administrators. Tell them you want to help them! Tell them you want to participate in this process and that “Nothing About Us Without Us.” A HOUSE KEEPING NOTE. A few folks have told me that these Information Bulletins have wound up in their spam. FYI – the list serve is about 8,000 people (directly) so that’s not surprising. Please add the address stevegoldada@stevegoldada.com into you contacts folder to prevent messages from being sent to the Spam folder or rejections up delivery. Also, that address is NOT the same for emails from which you want responses. The email address from which I respond is stevegoldada1@gmail.com Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues Back issues of other Information Bulletins are available online at http://www.stevegoldada.com with a searchable Archive at this site divided into different subjects. As of August, 2010, Information Bulletins will also be posted on my blog located at http://stevegoldada.blogspot.com/ To contact Steve Gold directly, write to stevegoldada1@gmail.com or call 215-627-7100. Ext 227.

Community First Choice Regulations Published. Information Bulletin # 357 (5/2012) Let’s hear the trumpets and the Halleluiahs chorus. Finally, the Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the final regulations for the Community First Choice option. The regulations state that CFC’s scope is “designed to make available home and community-based attendant services and supports to eligible individuals, as needed, to assist in accomplishing activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and health-related tasks through hands-on assistance, supervision, or cueing.” CMS listed CFC’s “Total Benefits” as providing “States with additional flexibility to finance home and community-based services and attendant services and supports.” The regulations state that CFC will “increase State and local accessibility to services that augment the quality of life for individuals through a person-centered plan of services and various quality assurances.…” CMS further noted that CFC “reduces the financial strain on States and Medicaid participants.” CFC is a win-win for States to save money and for people who need community-based and attendant services to stay in their homes and apartments. For many years, the Community First Choice was strongly supported and initiated by ADAPT, a national grass roots organization of people with disabilities of all ages and all disabilities. ADAPT organized large numbers of supporters, testified before Congressional committees, and last week demonstrated in front of HHS’ Washington offices demanding CMS release CFC’s regulations. Now that the federal regulations have been released, the struggle shifts to you – disability and aging advocates in each State - to make sure this program is implemented in your State. Nothing happens automatically. Unless advocates demand CFC state-by-state, it will not happen. Yes, another local effort but quire worth the effort. Here’s why your State should amend its Medicaid Plan to include the CFC – the federal government will pay an additional 6 percentages to your State’s Federal Medical Assistance percentages. (Go to http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/fmap.htm to see what the FMAP is now WITHOUT the additional six points.) That translates into a LOT of federal money! Another reason: yes, your State can save a lot of State funds while at the same time complying with the ADA/Olmstead requirements to prevent unnecessary isolation and institutionalization of people with disabilities. Here’s a brief summary of the final regulations: 1. CFC provides home and community-based attendant care services and supports to persons with disabilities. 2. Such services must assist the individual with activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living (e.g., shopping cleaning) and health-related tasks. 3. States can provide, at the State’s option, transition costs (rent and utility deposits, first month’s rent/utilities, basic kitchen/bedding needs). 4. Individual eligibility requires that the person with a disability meets your State’s institutional level of care criteria. The person need not be in the institution nor packing their bags or at risk of being imminently institutionalized. If the person meets the level of care for the institution, the CFC services can be provided. 5. Individual financial eligibility is the same as what your State has established for the institution. 6. Under the CFC, States must use a “person-centered service plan” and the services must be “self-directed,” either with “a self-directed service budget or an agency-provider model.” 7. This plan must be in writing and agreed to by the individual and must be based on a functional needs assessment. The regulations state that the “person-centered service plan … must reflect the services and supports that are important for the individual to meet the needs identified through an assessment of functional need.” 8. These plans “must be reviewed, and revised upon reassessment of functional needs, at least every 12 months, when the individual’s circumstances or needs change significantly, and at the request of the individual.” What advocates must do: 1. Your State Medicaid Plan must be amended to include the CFC. Advocates should be at the table to ensure the services meet your needs. 2. You need a statewide, multi-disability coalition and strategy to ensure your State amends its Medicaid plan to include the CFC. If your State does not already have such a coalition, the CFC presents an opportunity to develop one. If your State has such a coalition, convene it! 3. You need to show your Governor why s/he should amend your State’s Medicaid plan to provide CFC services. This will require real live people who want and need CFC services. They must be ready to speak out. CFC is a critical opportunity to end waiting lists. 4. You should get to your media and explain how this program will save your State money, while bringing into your State additional Federal funds. Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues Back issues of other Information Bulletins are available online at http://www.stevegoldada.com with a searchable Archive at this site divided into different subjects. As of August, 2010, Information Bulletins will also be posted on my blog located at http://stevegoldada.blogspot.com/ To contact Steve Gold directly, write to stevegoldada1@gmail.com or call 215-627-7100. Ext 227.