Five Year Plan Goals

Goal  Implementation Timeline
1. Increase the number of individuals who are gainfully employed, including self-employment and double the number of people who are competitively employed. 
 2012-2016
2. Decrease the number of individuals in sheltered workshops and non-work day habilitation programs  that are typically called day support options (DSO).
2012-2016
3. Update the DDS Mission and Vision to reflect more emphasis on the family’s continued involvement across the lifespan, employment, and other socially valued roles for individuals with intellectual disability.
2012
4. Increase the number of individuals who self-direct their services (hire and manage their own staff). 
2012-2016
5. Increase the involvement of families and consumers in DDS policies. 
• Self advocates will meet with the Commissioner quarterly to review DDS policies
• There will be a new position of Individual/Family Advocate reporting to the Commissioner
• Contracts will specify that all provider agencies serving adults will have self advocates on their governing boards or will support self advocacy groups within their agencies or both
• Each Regional Advisory Council will include at least one self advocate
2012-2013
6. Finalize and implement a new policy on healthy relationships as developed by the self advocate coordinators and provide training for consumers, providers, and staff. 
2012-2013
7. Improve communication with families, providers, and staff. 
• Increase family opportunities for networking
• Redesign the website to be more user-friendly by recruiting families to be part of the design team
• Provide materials that will better help families to navigate the complex systems of DDS
• Provide more information for families on available resources both within and outside of DDS 
• Increase opportunities to share information with families that meets their needs
2012-2013
8. Increase outreach to siblings of persons supported by the agency by establishing “Sibshops” or other sibling networks.
2013-2014
9. Increase the diversity of person-centered residential options. 
2013-2015
10. Reduce the reliance on nursing homes by requiring the Commissioner’s approval before any individual supported by DDS funding is placed into a long-term care (nursing home) facility.  Develop a process by which private sector ICF/MR-certified homes will notify DDS prior to placing individuals in long-term care facilities.
2012-2013
11. Expand the number of private agencies that have the skills to support persons with complex behavioral or forensic needs which will allow more people to move through DDS transition units into private sector residential settings.  Develop more responsive public/private pilot projects in this area. 
2013-2015
12. Increase the number and availability of behavioral and psychiatric supports for individuals living with their families and develop effective public/private pilot projects in this area. 
2013-2015
13. Develop policies on end-of-life decisions for individuals with intellectual disability and their families
2012-2013
14. Expand the availability of supports that will allow more individuals to age in place wherever they live by building new partnerships with organizations that provide services to seniors.
2012-2013
15. Redesign the Quality Service Review, incorporating input from both the public and private sectors and increasing family and consumer involvement.
2013-2014
16. Redesign the DDS-required Continuous Improvement process for all providers, incorporating consumer reviews
2013-2014
17. Examine all Medicaid waiver requirements to seek a balance between quality and compliance
2012-2013
18. Do more with less by streamlining processes to eliminate redundant paperwork and make processes electronic where possible. 
2012-2013
19. Find valid ways to make information on provider quality available to individuals, families, and the general public. 
2012-2014
20. Minimize inconsistency in processes across the three regions
2012-2014
21. Continue to assess the effectiveness of current methods for assuring health and safety protections for all individuals and assess the need for additional protections.
2012-2016
22. Fully implement day service rates and design a rate conversion for residential supports from annual contracts to fee-based rates tied to each individual’s level of need.
2012-2013
23. Ensure training for all staff and providers on the new paradigm and revised Mission.
2013-2014
24. Create a pilot project for a public/private partnership for all types of training.
2012-2014
25. Expand training for service providers about evidence-based practices for autism spectrum disorder. 
2013-2014