This week a new group started. The group is called Community NOW! This group is talking about changes to the Idaho adult DD Medicaid program. People with developmental disabilities who are in the program are part of the group. Some people are family members of people with developmental disabilities who are in the program. There are also people from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in the group. Some providers and people from the ACLU of Idaho in the group, too.

The group had its first meeting this week, on Wednesday. The day before, on Tuesday, the people with developmental disabilities and the family members of people with developmental disabilities met to get ready for the big meeting on Wednesday.

The group is going to focus on the services you can get in the DD Medicaid program. The group is talking about services at home, services in the community, and services at work. The group is break into smaller groups to talk about home, community, and work. The smaller groups will meet six times over the next six months. The whole, big group will meet two more times: in April and in June. At the end of all the meetings, the group will have some final ideas for changes.

At the meeting this week, people talked about what the group would be doing. You can read about it in the packet that people got. Here is the packet:

Cover of the Community NOW! meeting packet for January 3 and 4, 2017

After that, people broke into three groups. One group talked about life at home, one group talked about life in the community, and a third group talked about life at work. Then the three small groups told everyone else what they talked about.

Next, small groups will meet separately to talk more about home, community, and work. The next meetings will be on January 17 (home), 18 (community), and 19 (work). Although the meetings are just for those in the group, there are other ways to get involved if you are not in the group. You can start by contacting us.

If you have questions or comments, please just let us know!