ACL Seeks Feedback on Opportunities to Integrate Services and Improve Outcomes for People with Disabilities

As announced by the Administration for Community Living:

“ACL seeks input on the Strategic Framework for Action: State Opportunities to Integrate Services and Improve Outcomes for Older Adults and People with Disabilities announced on June 10, 2020.

ACL developed the Strategic Framework to support state efforts to:

1. Address the holistic needs of older adults and people with disabilities through program coordination and integration with health care financing and delivery; and
2. Support partnerships across health care and social service organizations to improve health care outcomes and lower costs by effectively addressing social determinants of health.  

Please submit feedback via email at [email protected] by August 31, 2020.

ACL is particularly interested in receiving comments that answer the following questions:

1. What roles has your state played in supporting and enhancing Community Integrated Health Networks within your state? 
2. Are there other issues related to financial management and oversight that should be included in the review of oversight considerations?
3. Do your state and sub-grantee agencies use financing strategies (e.g., blending and braiding) at the federal, state, and local levels to integrate and align various funding streams to broaden the reach of services? Please describe and comment on any barriers to blending and braiding of funds that would be helpful to address.
4. How have your state and sub-grantee agencies mitigated actual or perceived conflict of interest, especially related to intake & referrals, options counseling, or other benefits counseling while ensuring compliance with relevant program specifications, including Medicaid regulatory requirements? 
5. How have your state and sub-grantee agencies ensured information will be used and shared in a way that appropriately maintains privacy and confidentiality protections?
6. The Strategic Framework discusses Older Americans Act implications extensively. Are there other statutory (or other) authorities or sources of funding that you think we should more robustly address in the Framework?
7. How has your state or agency approached the issue of risk and liability when considering potential revenue-generating partnerships?
8. In your experience, have you been able to successfully leverage Section 212 of the Older Americans Act to enter “into an agreement with a profitmaking organization […] to provide services to individuals or entities not otherwise receiving services” under the Act? If not, what barriers did you encounter?
9. This Strategic Framework seeks to identify best practices for engaging the aging and disability network to address social determinants of health. Are there other best practices in your state or region that we should include? Are there other social determinants of health that you think we should address?
10. This Strategic Framework also seeks to highlight effective approaches for collaboration across state agencies (Aging, Disability, Medicaid, Transportation, Housing, etc.) to improve program coordination and availability of services and supports to individuals in need. Are there approaches you have found to be successful or barriers to collaboration that need to be addressed?”