Concluded Project - end date

Oregon C-PASS Project

Contact:

Rollin Shelton
503-725-8097    sheltonr@pdx.edu

Approximately 9 million persons with disabilities use personal assistance services and supports (PASS), which are defined as, "One or more persons assisting another person with tasks which the individual would typically do if they did not have a disability" (Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), Task Force on Personal Assistance Services, 1992). PASS has been defined as the premier long-term care issue for working-age persons with disabilities. For many people with disabilities, quality PASS is a critical requirement for independence and community living.

In comparison to other disability groups, significantly less progress has been made in making consumer-directed PASS available to individuals with psychiatric disabilities. This is the case in Oregon; where only a small proportion of potentially eligible persons currently use the consumer-directed Personal Care Services Program, which funds up to 20 hours per month of personal assistance for eligible individuals in the mental health system. For many of Oregon's citizens with psychiatric disabilities, achieving increasing levels of community inclusion, independence and self-sufficiency necessitates having access to quality consumer-directed personal assistance services.

The goals of the Oregon C-PASS Project are to (a) increase the knowledge of consumers about the Personal Care Services Program; (b) increase the extent to which consumers are able to direct their PASS; (c) Increase the knowledge of mental health case managers about the benefits of the Personal Care Services Program; (d) Produce materials and disseminate “lessons learned” about effective C-PASS; and (e) Evaluate the impact of the use of the Personal Care Services Program on consumer use of mental health services, quality of life, and self-direction.

The C-PASS Project will improve community-integrated services by promoting mental health consumer access to and successful utilization of the Personal Care Services Program. Key activities include

•  Conducting focus groups to investigate how PCS is used, barriers to accessing the PCS Program and strategies for successful utilization;

•  Field-testing a comprehensive plan for marketing the PCS Program and educating consumer/survivors about PCS and self-direction through establishing PCS Learning Communities, and providing mini-grants to consumer drop-in centers for C-PASS outreach and training;

•  Carrying out a state-wide program of face-to-face and Internet-based training and technical assistance for consumers and case managers, including the development of C-PASS training materials and C-PASS planning tools and an application for consumers; and

•  Conducting a C-PASS Best Practices Conference.

The Oregon C-PASS Project is conducted by the Office of Consumer/Survivor Technical Assistance (OCTA), based at the RRI, and collaboratively implemented with the State Office of Mental Health and Addiction Services, consumer/survivor and family leaders and organizations, centers for independent living, and regional and county mental health programs.