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HHS ANNOUNCES NEW GRANTS, NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES
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HHS ANNOUNCES NEW GRANTS, NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES
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| HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced the release of nearly $70
million in grants to states to increase services and supports to persons with
disabilities of all ages.
The grants are designed to assist states in enabling people with disabilities
to reside in their own homes and participate in normal community life. This
work is vital to implementing the principles of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) and the preferences of most children and adults to live
in their own home in the community.
Secretary Shalala also announced the fifth of a series of guidance letters to
state Medicaid directors, in which the Health Care Financing Administration
(HCFA) outlined a number of tools available to improve state health and long
term service systems to better serve the needs of those with disabilities.
The grants announced today include $50 million in "Real Choice Systems Change
Grants" that are designed to help states improve their health and long term
service delivery systems. The funds will enable states to work with their
disability and aging communities to expand the supports and opportunities
people with disabilities of all ages have to live in their own homes and
communities. Grant funding may be directed towards improvements in quality
assurance mechanisms, long term service system reform and demonstration
projects.
Up to $15 million in grants and Section 8 housing vouchers are also being made
available to states to assist in the transition of people with disabilities of
all ages from institutional to community-integrated living. In partnership
with HHS, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has made 400
Section 8 housing vouchers available as part of this initiative, known as
Access Housing.
Finally, grants up to $8 million will be made available to support state
efforts to improve community-based personal assistance services that are
designed to ensure maximum control on the part of people with disabilities of
all ages. States will be able to use the grants in the development and
implementation of the infrastructure necessary to support an effective system
of long term services that offers maximum consumer control. Examples include
providing education and training to persons with disabilities in managing
workers, assisting persons with disabilities in hiring workers, and assisting
persons with disabilities in establishing their own businesses.
The grant awards will be made to states by the end of September 2001. More
information on the grants can be found on the HCFA Web site at
http://www.hcfa.gov.
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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are
available at www.hhs.gov/news.
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Source:
HHS Agencies
www.hhs.gov
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