Minnesota Transformation Initiative Opportunity Summary

Minnesota Transformation Initiative, Rethinking What Works, Minnesota Department of Human Services, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota

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Opportunity Summary

When: March, 2023 through June, 2023

What: Assistance for day and employment providers to develop or expand day supports that lead to community life engagement outcomes . Available assistance includes:

Technical Assistance
Communities of Practice
Organizational Mentoring

Registration: Complete a brief interest form if your agency is interested in participating in any of the assistance

Deadline: Submit the interest form by February 28, 2023

Overview

The Minnesota Transformation Initiative (MTI) is a project funded by the Minnesota Department of Human Services to support the transition of people with disabilities receiving subminimum wages into competitive, integrated employment. MTI provides individualized technical assistance to provider agencies, statewide training opportunities, and peer mentoring and education for self-advocates and families.

For many people with disabilities and their families, the availability of meaningful wraparound day supports during times the person is not working is essential for them to consider competitive, integrated employment. From March through June 2023, MTI is offering training and technical assistance for day and employment providers to develop or expand day supports that lead to community life engagement outcomes and are delivered exclusively in the community rather than at provider-owned sites.

Eligibility

To be eligible to participate in the MTI training and technical assistance opportunities listed below, a provider agency must:

Provide home and community-based services (HCBS) day and/or employment services in Minnesota
Be interested in developing or expanding day supports that are delivered exclusively in the community

The number of providers receiving technical assistance and mentoring will be limited based on project capacity; interested providers will receive technical assistance and mentoring on a first come, first served basis.

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Training and Technical Assistance Opportunities

Community of Practice

The MTI team will facilitate a monthly community of practice (CoP) virtual call for provider agencies across the state that are considering, planning, or implementing day supports that are based exclusively in community settings. The focus of the CoP meetings will be learning from and asking questions of other Minnesota providers as those in attendance share their experiences and knowledge of the topic. CoP meetings will occur between March and June 2023, with the possibility of continuing the CoP beyond June based on interest and project capacity. The intended audience for the CoP is agency leadership and upper-level management.

Technical Assistance

The MTI team will provide technical assistance to HCBS provider agencies on expanding their capacity to provide day supports for people with disabilities exclusively in integrated community settings. Participating providers will work with their MTI technical assistance team to develop a technical assistance plan that is highly individualized to meet the context and needs of each provider agency. Interested provider agencies may request time-limited, targeted assistance or broader assistance lasting several months (or something in between). Examples of support that can be provided through technical assistance include, but are not limited to:

Sharing service models used by other agencies
Identifying opportunities for people to receive supports in their communities
Developing messaging for stakeholders about supports
Training for staff to understand the difference between traditional day service delivery vs. community-based day supports designed to support the outcomes of community life engagement, including employment
Discussing strategies for collecting and using outcome-oriented data

Provider-to-Provider Mentoring

The MTI team can pair interested organization with an agency or subject matter expert who has implemented community-based day supports within their agency. They will share their experience and will walk alongside leaders and/or frontline staff of participating organizations. The MTI team will attempt to match mentors based on the expressed needs and priorities of the mentee organization. This program is highly flexible, and it will be up to agencies receiving mentorship and the mentor organization to determine how frequently and how long to meet.

Next Steps

All provider agencies interested in participating in the Community of Practice, receiving technical assistance, and/or being paired with an organizational mentor should complete this brief form . The MTI team will follow-up individually to connect agencies to their desired supports. Please submit the interest form by February 28, 2023.

If you have questions, please contact Danielle Mahoehney at mahoe001@umn.edu.

About MTI

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. This document is available in alternative formats upon request.

The University of Minnesota stands on Miní Sóta Makhóčhe, the rightful homelands of the Dakhóta Oyáte. We recognize the U.S. did not uphold its end of these land treaties. It is the current and continued displacement of the Dakhóta Oyáte that allows the University to remain today.

Ongoing oppression and discrimination in the United States has led to significant trauma for many people of color, immigrants, people with disabilities, and other oppressed persons. At ICI, we affirm our commitment to address systemic racism, ableism and all other inequalities and forms of oppression to ensure inclusive communities.