Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration
Creating a flexible, person-centered, family-oriented system of supports so people can have full lives. 
Transformation Update
The DDA Transformation Newsletter | April 23, 2018
Click on the image above to see the full-sized timeline. 
Developmental Disability Administration's
Transformation Journey

April 15th marked the four year anniversary of Deputy Secretary Bernard Simons coming to the DDA. The staff at DDA celebrated by decorating his door with illustrations of the progress of our state transformation.

The latest status of transformation projects are shown in the timeline above. The items in green are complete and the ones in blue are in progress. It has been a busy four years.

Deputy Secretary Simons would like to thank all of our stakeholders for engaging in this process with DDA.
LTSS Training and Implementation
The DDA is in the process of implementing the Medicaid Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) system. LTSS will eliminate paper-driven procedures and process variability across the state through the implementation of DDA’s functionality for service planning, programmatic, fiscal and administrative functions. The first release of LTSS functionality is planned for August 1, 2018 .

The first release is targeted for Coordinators of Community Services (CCS) agencies and focuses on person-centered planning components and other CCS-related activities. The DDA staff and CCSs will be the primary users for this release
businesswoman_laptop.jpg
in LTSS and will begin training on the system mid-

May through the end of June. This hands-on computer training will be conducted by FEi systems, the Maryland statewide LTSS developer, and DDA program staff. The CCSs will receive two days of training on LTSS functionality. Training dates for the CCSs are expected to be released this week. 
Supporting Families 

Last week, DDA’s Director of Supporting Families, Mary Anne Kane-Breshci, and the Director of Children's Services, Janet Furman, attended the Supporting Families Community of Practice 2018 Annual Meeting in conjunction with the Charting the LifeCourse Showcase in Kansas City, Missouri. This annual meeting is an opportunity for all state teams to meet and share best practices and policies around the nation for supporting families.
Housing
The DDA and the Maryland Department of Disabilities have entered into a partnership with the goal of expanding housing opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). The emphasis will be on assisting people currently on the waiting list for the Maryland partnership for Affordable Housing Program. This work will include the development of a strategic plan that addresses DDA’s housing mission and goals. This will help people with I/DD, their families, support systems, and service providers to find affordable and accessible housing opportunities in the community.
Employment
As part of the Maryland Employment First Initiative, the DDA is supporting Day and Employment providers in their organizational transformation efforts. There are six provider organizations receiving more intensive technical assistance from Employment First State Leadership Mentor Program Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with additional focus on Executive Leadership and collaboration with DDA. General technical assistance is available to provider organizations through DDA's monthly Employment First webinar series, resources shared in DDA's monthly Employment First newsletter and through consultation with DDA headquarters and regional staff.

In early April, the DDA gathered a group of stakeholders from the Tiered Standards group, families, Coordinators of Community Services (CCSs), partner agencies and other state agencies for a successful day of collaboration and planning related to employment community membership outcomes. The group will reconvene in June to begin identifying solutions to perceived employment barriers and to develop additional resources for all stakeholders.  
Self-Direction
The number of people eligible for DDA services who choose to self-direct their services continues to increase. As of this month, there are 842 people self-directing their services.

In order to support people in self-directed services, a compre-hensive program manual and participants handbook is being developed. This resource will assist people who selected self-direction understand their role and responsibilities as well as explore the services and benefits of self-direction.
The DDA has partnered with the national technical assistance arm of the National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services (NRCPDS) through Applied Self-Direction (ASD) to assist in identifying and implementing national best practices for self-direction in Maryland.
Self-Advocacy

Members of the DDA’s Advocacy Support Unit, Goli Balakhani and Nicole LeBlanc, recently attended People on the Go’s Project S.T.I.R. (Steps Towards Independence and Responsibility) in DDA’s central and southern regions to inform people about advocacy services. Also, an information session was held in the southern region about the Governor's Transitioning Youth Initiative (GTYI). 
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