Living Well Georgia Project

Enhancing the Quality, Effectiveness, and Monitoring of Home and Community-Based Services for Adults with ID/DD

Model Approaches for Living Well

These Projects of National Significance seek to strengthen HCBS systems and promote the health, safety, independence, and participation of people with disabilities. Grantees will work with a broad coalition of state stakeholders to:

• Support professionals working directly with people with disabilities
• Promote the leadership of self-advocates and families
• Promote the use of evidence-based and promising practices such as supportive decision making, person-centered planning, and competitive integrated employment
• Address abuse and rights violations in the HCBS delivery system
• Increase the capacity of states to provide HCBS in integrated settings.

Each grantee collaborates with a number of partners, including their State Medicaid Office, and at least one agency that provides direct services to people with developmental disabilities.

All are guided by advisory committees which include people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and family members.

The Living Well Georgia Project aims to:

1. Increase staff knowledge and skill in supporting people with IDD to be self-determined and included in the community through targeted training in Supporting Informed Decision Making and Supporting Social Roles.
2. Create career paths through professional development for direct support staff to meet demand for services through the implementation of Direct Course’s College of Direct Support and engagement with the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals.
3. Enhance monitoring using Therap’s electronic service tracking and reporting technologies including their Business Intelligence platform for data aggregation and trending.
4. Develop a replicable collaboration between HCBS stakeholders to enhance quality.

Living Well Georgia Project Blueprint

Living Well Project Goal: develop a replicable model which demonstrates how innovative capacity building and monitoring interventions at the direct support level improve the quality of supports and outcomes for people receiving support by providers in HCBS settings.

Advisory Council Stakeholders:

Therap Services, The Georgia Collaborative ASO, Georgia Advocacy Office, Georgia Statewide Independent Living Council, Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD), Self-Advocates.

Provider Partners:

Cross Plains Community Partners, Georgia Options, Inc., Hi-Hope Service Center, Hope Haven of Northeast Georgia, and Star Choices, Inc.

Project Domains:

Capacity Building / Monitoring

In-Person / Virtual Trainings

Supporting Informed Decision Making: A decision is defined as a choice from known options. This means we are informed of our options. However, many people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities have their decisions made for them. Often, they are unaware of what their options are and even how to weigh risk versus reward when making decisions. It is critical for Direct Support Professionals and others to understand how they can support informed decision making.

Supporting Social Roles: Examples of valued social roles are a parent, homeowner, friend, employee, etc. When we have valued social roles, we are in a better position to experience life. This includes friendship, love, respect, health, and safety. People with disabilities should be granted the same opportunity to experience the same social roles as others. We all want to experience the good in life, and people with disabilities should have every opportunity to share these experiences.

NADSP Code of Ethics: The National Alliance of Direct Support Professionals created a Code of Ethics meant to guide DSPs in working through ethical dilemmas they may face while supporting those with I/DD. This training walks learners through the 9 tenets of the NADSP Code of Ethics along with relevant scenarios and how they can be handled ethically.

Project Goals and Evaluation Indicators

Living Well Logic Model