Thought you all might be interested.  Pass along if you wish.

Beth T. the OT

-----Original Message-----
From: John G. Reiss [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2002 8:06 PM
To: Children with Special Health Care Needs Listserv
Subject: [cshcn-l] New Freedom Initiative Progress Report Released


Edited from a news release from HHS

New Freedom Initiative Progress Report Released

The administration released a progress report on accomplishments since
the New Freedom Initiative was launched in February 2001. The report
also outlines next steps that the administration will take toward
meeting the New Freedom goals.

The New Freedom Initiative is the President's comprehensive plan to
reduce barriers to full community integration for people with
disabilities.

Also today, HHS Secretary Thompson unveiled two new waiver templates
that will help states better use the Medicaid program to enable people
with disabilities to choose services in their own homes and communities,
and he announced that HHS is making information on available technical
assistance on community-integration issues more readily accessible
through a new Web-based resource...

HHS' new "Independence Plus" waiver templates will give states tools to
create programs that will allow people with disabilities and their
families to decide how best to plan, obtain and sustain community-based
services, placing control into the hands of the people using the
services...

The electronic templates will provide guidance to states on how to
develop these programs within existing federal requirements using a
streamlined application process, which will ultimately result in faster
federal approval of state proposals. Similar programs have been shown to
promote cost-effective and flexible solutions for care while meeting the
individual needs of people receiving services...

The waiver templates recognize the essential role of the family or
individual in planning for and purchasing health care services while, in
many cases, delaying placing the individual in an institution or other
high-cost out-of-home facility. The templates fulfill just one of the
commitments that HHS made to promote community integration in the report
"Delivering on the Promise," which Secretary Thompson delivered to the
President on behalf of nine federal agencies in March of this year.

The templates were developed by HHS' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS), the federal agency that administers the federal-state
Medicaid program. More information will be available soon at

http://www.cms.hhs.gov


The administration's "Progress Report on Fulfilling America's Promise to
Americans with Disabilities" provides an overview of the
administration's accomplishments through the first year of the New
Freedom Initiative and provides a look at some of the next steps to
come, including a number of commitments from HHS. It is available online
at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/newfreedom


HHS also announced a new Web-based resource to provide states and the
public with information on available technical assistance related to
community-integration issues. The "Compendium of HHS Technical
Assistance Activities Related to the Administration's
Community-Integration Initiative" provides one-stop-shopping for
information related to the Medicaid program, family caregivers,
employment supports for people with disabilities, promoting
consumer-driven services and more. It is available at
http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/reports/Citarpt.htm and will be updated
regularly.

"Delivering on the Promise" outlines more than 400 specific solutions
that federal agencies will implement to support community living for
people with disabilities. That report and more information on HHS' role
and commitments under the New Freedom Initiative are available at

http://www.hhs.gov/newfreedom