If you have been told, or have concerns, that your child cannot be educated in the general education classroom because he or she takes an alternate assessment a brief published by the TIES Center, which is co-authored by Ricki Sabia, NDSC Senior Education Policy Advisor and TIES Center parent liaison, and Dr. Martha Thurlow, Director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) and Ties Center Advisor, may be a useful resource to you.  The brief can be downloaded by clicking on the link on the bottom right side of the TIES Center home page https://tiescenter.org/.

Money Follows the Person (MFP) Program Reauthorization Passes House; Calls to Senate Needed Now!

On June 18, the House passed a bill that included 4.5 years of funding for the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program. This is great news, but it is time for the Senate to act! Please call your Senators and urge them to pass the EMPOWER Care Act (S. 548) to reauthorize MFP. You can use our Action Alert.

The Money Follows the Person (MFP) program is a Medicaid program that has helped more than 75,000 people with disabilities and seniors move from nursing homes and other institutions into the community. First authorized in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 with strong bipartisan support, the MFP Demonstration program was designed to assist states with (1) supporting Medicaid enrollees who want to transition from institutional settings to community-based settings; and (2) developing infrastructure to promote and enhance access to Home and Community Based Services (HCBS). HCBS provides critical supports to people with disabilities to enhance their ability to be included and integrated into their communities instead of receiving care in restrictive, institutional settings. Each state can decide how to use the MFP funds, which they have used to expand or enhance HCBS programs, reduce waiting lists and fund housing supports.