April 2008 Newsletter
Volume 7, Number 4
How Many People with Disabilities Are There in Kansas,
Part 2
By Michael Fox, Sc.D., University of Kansas Medicaid
Infrastructure Change Evaluation Project
As readers of our last newsletter recall, an accurate estimate
of the number of persons with disabilities in the state using
either national Census or Kansas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System (KBRFSS) data depends on how tightly we define “disability.” Our
best estimates of the number of persons with disabilities living
in our state use key questions asked in these surveys. We identified
a low estimate of 352,606 in 2005 for non-institutionalized
persons age five and older using the
conservative definition of disability in the Census to a high
estimate of 435,190 persons based on looser criteria in the KBRFSS survey.
But are these numbers realistic, excluding infants, toddlers, and persons living in some forms of institutions or other group quarters, such as long term care facilities, college dormitories or the military? How many more persons with disabilities should be added to these totals to get a truer count?
We can do this be estimating the number of persons with disabilities
in group quarters based on the recent (2006) American Community
Survey (ACS) that interviewed a large sample of this population
nationally (http://www.census.gov/acs).
Here are the assumptions:
- 47% of all persons > 5 living in group quarters have some disability;
- 95% of persons > 65 living in group quarters have some form of disability;
- 25% of working age persons (16-64) living in group quarters
have some disability.
Nationally, just under 3% of the > 5 population reside in group quarters
(above citation). Making this same assumption in Kansas, that means that
we can add about another 38,000 persons
to our totals.
Okay, so now how many children under five can be added?
Again going to Census data, (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability/sipp/disab02/ds02t7.pdf),
we see that nationally, 2% of children under 3 and 3.6% of children 3-5 have
a disability. If an average of these percentages are used
to estimate the number of children under five from the numbers
used for the Kansas population under the age of five of 197,000
persons (taken from ACS for 2006),
this comes to an additional 5,516 children to add to the total.
So......our best estimate using all existing data sources is
that we have between 396,122 – 478,706 persons with disabilities
in Kansas. This amounts to between 14.4% – 17.4% of
the Kansas population, or about one in six of us.
Work Opportunities Reward Kansans
(WORK) Update
By Mary Ellen O'Brien Wright,
Working Healthy Senior Manager
It has been an exciting winter at the Kansas Health Policy Authority (KHPA)
as Working Healthy staffimplement our new program, WORK (Work
Opportunities Reward Kansans). WORK provides funding for personal
assistance and other services to Working Healthy enrollees
who meet certain criteria. Following four years of seeking
approval for a “cash and counseling” program,
CMS finally approved the program as a “
Benchmark Benefit” package in September 2006. Working with consumers,
advocates, and providers, KHPA staff designed the program during
the months following approval. The program officially began
July 1, 2007.
From one person enrolled in September 2007, WORK has grown to an enrollment of 50 as of April 1, 2008. Individuals who are currently enrolled have physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, and traumatic brain injury. These individuals are meeting new challenges such as deciding how much to pay workers, seeking alternative and cost effective ways of purchasing services, and deciding how to appropriately use unexpended funds. Several individuals have even completed the on-line fiscal management training program, allowing them to manage their own funds and increasing the amount of money they have to spend each month because they do not pay a fiscal intermediary.
Seventeen organizations have enrolled as WORK providers, including Centers for Independent Living, Community Developmental Organizations, and state-licensed Home Health agencies. Working Healthy staff continue to educate consumers and providers about WORK , for example to understand the difference between Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waivers and WORK, the role of the Independent Living Counselor, and how to develop an Individualized Budget for a “cash and counseling” program.
The WORK Program Manual, forms, training materials, and Self-Direction
and Fiscal Management training programs may be found on the
Working Healthy website at www.workinghealthy.org/WORK.html.
If you have any questions or would like additional information,
please contact the Benefits Specialist in your area.
Benefits Specialist Corner
The Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare systems can sometimes
seem like a maze and negotiating the rules and changes can be overwhelming.
The Working Healthy Benefits Specialists have developed a workshop to educate
consumers about these complicated programs. With knowledge about these programs,
consumers will be able to make informed decisions.
The workshops will be provided in small group presentations
in every region in the state. The small group format will
allow consumers to learn, ask questions, share experiences,and
will provide a great opportunity to network with others. For
information about the workshops and where they will be offered
in the near future contact your Working Healthy Benefits Specialist,
below. To find out more
about coverage areas for Working Healthy Benefits Specialists go to: www.workinghealthy.org/benefits.html
or call 1-800-449-1439.
Working Healthy Benefits Specialists:
Terry Cronin, Kansas City Metro Region, (913) 279-7173
Steve Curtis, Northest Region, (785) 296-5816
Dan Hallacy, Southest Region, (620) 231-5300 ext. 330
Stefania Markou, Wichita Metro Region, (316) 337-6427
Sherri Sherman, Northwest Region, (785) 628-1066 ext. 268
Earl Williams, South Central Region, (620) 342-2505 ext. 233
Karen Baessler, Southwest Region, (620) 672-5955
WORK Independent Living Counseling: Your Questions
Answered
By Nancy Scott, Working Healthy
Program Manager
Case management is an optional service for anyone in the WORK (Work
Opportunities Reward Kansans) program and it is called Independent
Living (IL) Counseling. The services may be used as needed
to support self-direction, independent living, and employment.
Agencies that provide the service are Independent Living Centers,
Community Developmental Disability Organizations and their
affiliates, and Home Health Agencies. Typically, a consumer chooses an
agency and that agency will
assign an Independent Living Counselor.
After it is developed and available, IL Counselors will be
required to complete an online WORK training and test to obtain
a completion certificate. Training on Independent living history
and philosophy and the 2 hour WORK overview/orientation are
also requirements for the counselors. In the meantime, several
ideas for training have emerged such as webinar training and
a case-management conference. Working Healthy Benefits Specialists
are available to provide the 2 hour orientation/overview for
IL Counselors and other agency staff. If you would like to invite a Benefits
Specialist to present at
your agency you can contact staff at 800-449-1439.
The first conference call between IL Counselors and WORK staff
took place. Recent issues related to the WORK program were
discussed. During this call we discussed the communication
process when a WORK case opened, we provided information about
the process of negotiating the cost when a person decides to
have an agency direct their services, Mary Koeppe from KATCO
discussed the process to develop an individualized budget using
the allocation, and Jill Enyart from Independence Inc. discussed
how she used the WORK assessment tool when meeting with someone
with cognitive disabilities.
Future conference calls will be scheduled and dates will be
available on the Working Healthy website.
This newsletter and other Working Healthy information can be found online
at: http://www.workinghealthy.org
Working Healthy is published quarterly by the University of Kansas CRL, Division
of Adult Studies and the Kansas Health Policy Authority. Additional copies and
copies in alternate formats are available upon request by writing the University
of Kansas Division of Adult Studies, Attn: Noelle, 1122 West Campus Rd.. JRP
Hall Rm. 517, Lawrence, KS 66045, by phone (785) 864-7085, by emailing: pixie@ku.edu
KU Research Team:
Jean P. Hall, Principal Investigator
Michael Fox, Co-Principal Investigator
Noelle K. Kurth, Project Coordinator and Editor
Emily Fall, Graduate Research Assistant
Shawna Carroll, Graduate Research Assistant
Emily Tonsfeldt, Student Assistant
Kansas Health Policy Authority:
Mary Ellen O'Brien Wright, Senior Manager
Nancy Scott, Program Manager
Daniel Lassley, Employment Consultant