Case Management
Social and Emotional Wellness While Staying Home
Oregonians all across the state have worked hard to keep up with the changing rules and realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. It asks of us a near-constant recalculation that is exhausting: is it okay for me to engage in this action? How can I get this need met safely? Am I doing everything I can do for the people who matter to me? What can I do now to prepare for what’s next? Our logical brains are overloaded, and our emotions are all over the place, as we grieve habits and people lost to us, and worry about the world around us. How do we maintain our emotional and mental wellness, in this time and place? It starts with introspection. To know what you need to do to...
Read MoreCOVID-19 and Oregon’s Brokerage Community
Oregonians are all working incredibly hard to keep up with the changing rules and realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. For our social service entities, this has meant delaying long-term projects and other critical work in order to pick up the work of sharing goods, resources, and information with their communities. Health and safety in the time of COVID-19 is an ever-changing effort. It requires an immense amount of extra work, communication, and personal connection with people, even as in-person contact is limited. To hear a problem and figure out how to address it is at the core of what we do. We solve it through listening, identifying resources, and tapping anyone and...
Read MoreQuestions Corner: DD Services in the Time of COVID-19
If you are enrolled and receiving DD services, chances are you have felt the shift in those routines, along with everything else. You may be wondering what is allowed, in this new world, and how you can get your needs met. We’d like to help by sharing the information we have currently. Please note that, due to the incredibly fast rate of change in the pandemic situation, change in policy is happening quickly as well. It’s important that policy move quickly to keep up with changing needs. However, that pace of change means that what was true yesterday may not be true today. We hope you will have patience with your Personal Agents and providers as they...
Read MoreOregon Needs Assessment: The Power of Diverse Supports
Change can be scary. As we have talked about previously, the new Oregon Needs Assessment (ONA) will result in changes to personal resource allocations sometime in the next year or two. Our lives aren’t always predictable, and when our supports aren’t either, it can be difficult. We will always advocate for stable, secure DD service funding to improve the lives of Oregonians with developmental disabilities. But what else can we do to combat the ups and downs of public funding levels? Let’s talk more about that. Your paid service are funded through a mix of Oregon state funds, and federal Medicaid match funds. You’ll see us advocate each year...
Read MoreBlueprint Project Has Designs On Improving Case Management
If you or someone you care about receives developmental disability services in Oregon, then they have a case manager through a Brokerage, a Community Developmental Disability Program, or the state of Oregon Department of Human Services. And, chances are, you have some thoughts on how we can improve the process of connecting people to resources, advocating for their needs, supporting their goals, and helping them to navigate the service system in support of a good life. The Oregon Office of Developmental Disability Services (ODDS) has contracted with Health Management Associates (HMA) to make recommendations on how to improve Oregon’s case management for all people...
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