The Administration on Community Living announced on October 1, 2016 that ADvancing States was awarded the Business Acumen for Disability Organizations Resource Center.  The new resource center will promote the development of business relationships between health plans and other integrated health services and community based disability organizations.  This 3-year grant will support training, technical assistance and a learning collaborative for disability organizations that want to cement their role in a changing Long Term Services and Supports delivery system.

ADvancing States partnered with leading national disability leaders in their application including the American Association on Health and Disabilities (AAHD), the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR), the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disability Services (NASDDDS), the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the National Council on Aging (NCOA), the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), the Community Living Policy Center at the University of California at San Francisco  (UCSF), and the Research and Training Center at University of Minnesota’s (UoM) Institute on Community Integration. Mercer Human Services Government Consulting will provide critical financial and business strategy expertise to support this effort.   

“I am proud to partner with a team that has such broad experience in providing training and technical assistance in the field of disability services” said Executive Director Martha Roherty.  “Disability CBOs bring decades of experience and focus on services that meet individual needs, provide choices to consumers, and support self-determination for persons with a disability and their families.  Our hope is that this resource center will serve as a center for promising practices for not only the CBOs, but also provide the key knowledge that integrated entities, including health plans, need to better serve the unique needs of individuals with disabilities.”

Click here to view the press release.