Quality Assurance – Agencies will develop procedures to allow persons with disabilities to receive and evaluate the quality of the community-based supports.

Outreach – Accurate information about available community-based options will be developed for individuals with disabilities, their families, caregivers, advocates, and service providers through a multifaceted approach designed to effectively communicate to these constituencies. These approaches will ensure that stakeholders have access to current information regarding community services.

Communication – As each primary service agency develops and implements its individual agency plan to provide community-based supports and services to persons with disabilities currently living in institutional placements, communicating with and obtaining feedback from these individuals and their family members will become an integral part of the process. In addition to these efforts, each agency will identify and designate an agency Olmstead Liaison to communicate with stakeholders regarding their concerns and to convene an annual meeting to obtain recommendations from constituents.

Transition and Diversion – Each primary service agency will draft policies and guidance with criteria for identifying individuals ready for safe transitions from institutions to community-based settings. Families and caregivers will also play a vital role in the identification and transition process as agencies seek to provide accessible basic services such as housing, transportation, and employment with necessary supports.

Prioritization – Each primary service agency will collect data regarding the number of people it serves in institutional placements and assess the individuals it serves according to established criteria. These data and assessments will allow each primary service agency to set its own criteria for identifying who will be given priority for transitioning from institutional settings to the community.

Assessment – The District must determine what general services are necessary to prevent institutional placements and allow persons with disabilities to successfully participate in their community. On an individual level, determining the services an individual should receive in a community-based setting will be based on a comprehensive assessment of the person’s needs taking individual preferences into account. The agencies currently providing institutional services will develop agency procedures to properly evaluate the needs of these individuals as they transition to community-based services and supports. ODR provided the agencies with a prototype tool for collection and analysis of this needed data.

Data collection and analysis – Current data about the number of people with disabilities living in institutional settings as well as the number of people with disabilities living in the community is critical.