Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) experience numerous situations in which they need to self-advocate, and their families need to advocate for them. Part of that process is being able to effectively evaluate services they receive, like case management, or settings in which they would like to live.

In today’s episode, our partners and guests from Mathematica, Inc. are sharing two innovative tools to help with self-advocacy and advocating for family members. One tool focuses on understanding and evaluating case management. The second focuses on evaluating prospective or current residential options.

In this episode, Alex Kobrin and Diane Beaver share how the tools were developed and how they can help individuals with I/DD and their families. We talk about how these tools work, how they can help individuals self-advocate, and how you can access them.

Links:

Find the tools and download the guides here!

Diane Beaver, MBA (Johns Hopkins University), is a Managing Consultant at Mathematica. Her passion is helping people with disabilities to successfully access needed services and supports, so they can live healthy, meaningful lives in their setting of choice. As a consultant, she combines subject matter expertise in home- and community-based service policy with lived experience research to elevate the voices of people with disabilities to decision-makers. Topics of particular interest include integrated care for individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, case management and system navigation, and work incentives counseling for Social Security beneficiaries. Prior to her time at Mathematica, Ms. Beaver oversaw community-based programs in Maryland, including supported employment, rehabilitation services, and benefits counseling. She has worked on the Best Practices in Case Management project with the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council (FDDC) since 2022 and supports other Council initiatives, including the Measuring Service Quality and the Access to Services through Knowledge projects.

Alex Kobrin, M.A. (University of Connecticut), is a Survey Researcher at Mathematica. Ms. Kobrin brings experience designing and developing tools and surveys, as well as conducting interviews and focus groups with a wide range of audiences. She has extensive personal and professional experience working with populations with I/DD and children and youth with special healthcare needs. She has worked on the Measuring Service Quality (MSQ) project with the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council (FDDC) since 2023. Beyond leading the MSQ work, Ms. Kobrin holds leadership roles in other Mathematica-contracted Council initiatives, including the Best Practices in Case Management and Research Provider Solutions projects.

Learn more at https://www.fddc.org/our-work-matters/