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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

CIL-NET Presents… A National Teleconference & Webinar: Doin’ the Diversion Dance from Rehab to Community – One Center’s Approach to Early Intervention in Rehab Facilities

CIL-NET Presents… A National Teleconference & Webinar

September 29, 2016; 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Eastern

Register online or by using the printable registration form (PDF)

IL-NET Logo - CIL-NET + SILC-NETThe Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act created a new 5th core service for Centers for Independent Living (CILs). This new core services is actually a package of services related to community living for people with disabilities. One key piece of the new service directs CILs to “provide assistance to individuals with significant disabilities who are at risk of entering institutions so that the individuals may remain in the community.”

While the conversations around these services are relatively nascent, there are likely myriad ways to achieve this new directive – in fact, most CILs have been doing this work for years. But it’s still important to have this discussion, learn about best practices from around the country, and innovate to provide the best services possible to keep people in the community.

Join us on September 29th to learn how one CIL – Ability360 in Phoenix, Arizona – addresses nursing home diversion by reaching out to individuals new to their disabilities while they’re still in rehab facilities in the Phoenix area. They’ll share how they built and funded the program, how it works, and real-world examples and success stories from the program.

Registration Fee: $75.00. Fee is per site (connection) and does not apply per participant; registrants are encouraged to gather as many individuals as desired to participate by telephone. 

Target Audience:

  • Front line staff and managers at Centers for Independent Living interested in effective practices to address nursing home diversion and early intervention for people new to their disabilities.

Learning Objectives

After completing this webinar, you will have tools and resources that will enable you to:

  • Describe how CILs can use the new 5th core service of transition and diversion to assist patients in rehabilitation facilities to re-locate to the setting of their choice.
  • Describe best practices in setting up, funding, and implementing a successful outreach program to people in rehab facilities
  • Identify strategies to develop relationships and regional linkages that connect rehab patients to CILs and other resources
  • Describe helpful online tools and resources available to consumers to assist them after they return home post-rehab

Meet Your Presenters

Darrel Christenson is the Vice President of Community Integration for Ability360, formerly known as Arizona Bridge to Independent Living (ABIL). Programs under Mr. Christenson’s direction include: Information & Referral, Independent Living Skills Training, Empowering Youth with Disabilities into Adulthood, Early Intervention, Reintegration of Young Adults from Nursing Homes to Community, Community Living Options, Home Modification, Socialization through Recreation and Americans with Disabilities Act Services. ABIL is one of the largest Centers for Independent Living nationwide with an operating budget of over $45 million this year.

Mr. Christenson is an active member of the Arizona Fair Housing Partnership, was re-elected to the National Council on Independent Living’s (NCIL) Board of Directors in 2016 and has served on their Housing Sub-Committee for the past eight years which addresses national issues of increasing and promoting accessibility in all housing nationally. NCIL’s mission is to advance independent living and the rights of people with disabilities through consumer-driven advocacy and is the longest-running national cross-disability, grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities.

Prior to his arrival in Phoenix, Arizona, Mr. Christenson had worked with the Southeastern Minnesota Center for Independent Living (SEMCIL) based in Rochester, Minnesota for the previous 11½ years. There he was responsible for opening 3 branch offices in rural counties and provided services to consumers with disabilities and communities in 11 counties. Both his life-long experiences as a person with both a physical and sensory disability and as a person with a graduate degree in Guidance & Counseling from the University of Wisconsin – Stout, have given him the experience and knowledge to assist persons with disabilities adjust to life with a disability.

Don Price works for Ability360 as the Early Intervention Coordinator, a position he has held for eleven years. He enjoys helping other people and letting those with new injuries know that there is life after a disability. Don is also active with the Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association, and is currently President of their Board of Directors.

Originally from Wisconsin, Don moved to Arizona in 1986 to attend Arizona State University. Don sustained a spinal cord injury in a diving accident shortly after high school which left him a person with quadriplegia. After several winters in WI., Don sought a warmer, more wheelchair-accommodating climate. He received two bachelor degrees from ASU and is a proud Sun Devil and Tempe resident, winning the Tempe Mayor’s Award for Valued Community Service in 2013.

Don enjoys fishing, reading, writing, dining with friends and being an uncle to five nieces and two nephews.

 

Presented by CIL-NET: A program of the IL-NET national training and technical assistance project for Centers for Independent Living (CIL-NET) and Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILC-NET). The IL-NET is operated by ILRU, Independent Living Research Utilization, in partnership with the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL).