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OES > Community Options for Persons with Brain Injury

Community Options for Persons with Brain Injury

Invitation to submit letters of interest for pilot project grant funds

Background

The State of Maine has been awarded a three-year Real Choice Systems Change Grant – Money Follows the Person. The total award of federal funds from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the amount of $750,000 focuses on three distinct grant activities. Community integration in Maine is addressed through work on 1) consumer-centered budgets for persons with mental retardation, 2) community options for persons with acquired brain injury, and 3) cross-system performance measures to track success in community integration.

To that end, this announcement concerns the portion of the Systems Change grant that addresses community options for persons with brain injury. The State of Maine will analyze and test the feasibility of offering cost-effective community options that support individuals with brain injury currently living in facilities and who wish to live in a more integrated setting. The goal is to create more community options for persons with brain injury by redirecting resources toward more person-centered, consumer-driven services.

Objectives for pilot projects

  • Support the development and test of new community options for people with brain injury that support reintegration to the community from institutional settings.
  • Demonstrate conversion of “place-based” service packages to a flexible, mobile “person-centered” package of needed services.
  • Increase opportunity for independence in community settings.
  • Provide coordination of local, state, and federal resources and enhance natural community and family supports to promote transition to the most integrated setting possible.
  • Encourage innovation in provision of person-centered support services for people with brain injury in the post-acute stage of rehabilitation particularly in the areas of case management, supported housing and transition between settings of care.
  • Demonstrate measureable outcomes and person-centered goal setting.

Person-centered goals are goals established by/with the person to meet his/her wants and needs that optimize who the person is and what the person does individually and as an integral member of his/her community.

  • Identify cost-effective strategies for integrated community living options.

Integrated community living is a living arrangement in which those components of the community that are essential to a person’s whole and complete functioning are available and accessible to that person.

  • Test feasibility of revising eligibility criteria for existing services, modifying covered services, or developing new service options to meet the needs of persons with brain injury.
  • Present creative use of start-up funds along with existing resources with an eye towards sustainability of project idea.

Organizations that have history, experience and capacity to provide services for adults with a diagnosis of acquired brain injury may submit a letter of interest.

What funding is available

One-time grants will be available to fund pilot projects. A total of $100,000 is available for pilot activities, of which no more than $75,000 may be used for direct services to individuals. We expect to award several pilots in the $15,000 to $25,000 range in order to fund multiple projects.

Examples of pilot projects we are interested in

  • Assisted living arrangements with access to rehabilitation services and coordination of care.
  • Development funds to create new transitional housing options for those who currently live in residential care facilities.
  • Creation of a supported living option in private apartments in close geographic proximity to existing residential care facilities.
  • Case management development that focuses on the unique needs of those with brain injury requiring transitional services.
  • Innovative service delivery for individuals that have a high likelihood of success in non-institutional settings.
  • Collaborative activities between “generalist” service provider agencies (eg. CAP agencies) and “specialist” rehabilitative services agencies that support transition and community options.

Process

Organizations will be sent information about the pilot project grants. Interested parties should submit a letter of interest to the Project Director by August 2, 2004. The project team will review the submitted letters of interest and will contact applicants for an interview. Successful pilot project applicants will be notified of their award by September 17, 2004. It is expected that all pilot activities will begin on October 4, 2004 and be completed within one calendar year of award of funds. Technical assistance will be provided the project team which includes representation from the Institute for Health Policy at the Muskie School of Public Service, the State of Maine Department of Human Services, Brain Injury Association of Maine, and the Maine Disability Rights Center. Additional technical assistance is available from federal resources through the grant administration.

An informational meeting will be held June 15, 2004, 3-5 pm at the Dept. of Human Services Building, 442 Civic Center Drive, Augusta for all interested parties in order to encourage collaboration between applicants, sharing of ideas, and answer questions. Those interested in attending the informational meeting are encouraged to RSVP to Judy Tupper (see contact information below).

Letters of interest should be brief (3-5 pages) and include the following elements:

        Description of applicant organization including structure, capabilities and clients served

        A summary of pilot project idea

        Project staff to be involved

        Budget estimate

        Brief discussion of potential cost-savings and sustainability of project idea

        Simple timeline

        A plan for evaluating outcomes of pilot activities

The Community Options Grant Resource Teams will select the projects to be funded. Successful applicants will demonstrate their capacity to meet the objectives of this grant project. Funded organizations will be expected to report to the Resource Team on a quarterly basis concerning progress on the project and to the Project Director as needed.

Questions concerning the grant project or the letter of interest process may be directed to the Project Director:

Judy Tupper
Muskie School of Public Service
509 Forest Avenue, Suite 250
Portland, Maine 04104

(207) 228-8407
jtupper@usm.maine.edu