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Center for Studying Disability Policy at Mathematica Announces November Forum Date
Contact: Debra Wright, (202) 554-7576
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 15, 2008)—The Center for Studying Disability Policy at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., announces the second forum in a new bimonthly lunchtime seminar series aimed at providing policymakers and others with an opportunity to hear about the latest disability policy research findings. “Cash and Counseling: An Innovative Model for Consumer Choice Policies,” will be held Thursday, November 20, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Mathematica’s office at 600 Maryland Ave., SW, Suite 550, Washington, D.C. Speakers will be Randall Brown, Mathematica vice president, director of N.J. Health Research, and principal investigator of Mathematica’s Cash and Counseling study; Kevin Mahoney, Cash and Counseling National Program Office at Boston College; and Pamela Doty and Vidhya Alakeson, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Cash and counseling is a new model of consumer direction that enables Medicaid beneficiaries with disabilities to manage their personal care and choose who provides services. Mathematica’s evaluation of the Cash and Counseling Demonstration suggests that giving people with disabilities an allowance to pay for special services and counseling can be a cost-effective way to improve their lives. The forum will review the study findings, describe expansion of cash and counseling programs, and discuss promising opportunities for applying this approach in other settings. More information about the evaluation can be found at www.mathematica-mpr.com/Health/cashcounseling1.asp.
Future forums will cover innovative programs to serve TANF recipients with disabilities, health insurance for workers with disabilities, and strengths and weaknesses of existing disability data.
The new disability policy forums can be attended in person or via webinar. See www.disabilitypolicyresearch.org/researchforums.asp to view a schedule of upcoming topics, register to attend, or request any necessary accommodations. Lunch will be provided.
The Center for Studying Disability Policy’s mission is to inform disability policy formation with rigorous, objective research and data collected from the people disability policy aims to serve. The center, headed by senior fellow David Stapleton, was formed in 2007 to coalesce and further strengthen Mathematica’s extensive disability policy research and data collection efforts, and to ensure that the results of Mathematica’s work are accessible to the disability policy community.
Mathematica®,a nonpartisan research firm, conducts high-quality, objective policy research and surveys to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Washington, D.C., Cambridge, Mass., and Ann Arbor, Mich., has conducted some of the most important studies of healthcare, education, welfare, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs in the U.S.