Department of Health and Human Services

Through coordination across multiple projects, New Editions works collaboratively to provide expert technical assistance and guidance to the Administration for Community Living (ACL), their grantees and partners, and other Aging Services Network organizations at the state, sub-state and community levels. Under a subcontract with The Lewin Group, New Editions coordinates relevant ACL activities with the initiatives of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Money Follows the Person (MFP) Technical Assistance Center.

New Editions supports the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS’s) New Freedom Initiative (NFI) Working Group, which is led by the HHS Office on Disability (OD). The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) is working through the NFI Working Group on a project to analyze and promote the Medical Home Model for children with special health care needs and all individuals with disabilities.

New Editions provides training and technical assistance on Section 508 and the Secretary’s Section 508 Implementation Policy to designated individuals in the HHS agency and the Office of the Secretary. Section 508 requires procured, developed, maintained or used electronic and information technology (EIT) to be accessible to its employees and customers with disabilities. New Editions staff members work directly with Section 508 Officials and Coordinators at each agency to ensure their understanding of the legal, technical and policy framework of Section 508 at HHS.

With our subcontractor JBS International, New Editions conducted a formative qualitative study to ascertain how primary care clinicians and patients conceptualize and discuss preventive services. We used focus groups and simulated clinical scenarios to gain insight into the shared decision-making process. This knowledge will be used to guide the development and improvement of print and electronic tools that prompt joint decision-making by clinicians and patients regarding the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations.

Funded under Medicaid’s Money Follows the Person (MFP) program, the New Editions contract, Housing Capacity Building Initiative for Community Living Project, was announced in June 2010 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sebelius. The Secretary lauded the project’s vision to assist older adults and those with chronic conditions find appropriate housing to live more independent lives.

Enacted by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Rebalancing Demonstration is part of a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to assist states (in collaboration with stakeholders) to make widespread changes to their long-term care support systems. This initiative assists states in their efforts to reduce their reliance on institutional care, all while developing community-based long-term care opportunities, and thereby enabling the elderly and people with disabilities to fully participate within their communities.

New Editions provides technical and logistical support to a national expert panel; a panel formed to assist the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) Rehabilitation Medicine Department develop a holistic definition of adults with chronic health care needs that can be used in national surveys and clinical settings.

New Editions provides technical assistance to state agencies on home and community-based services (HCBS) mechanisms, program design, service delivery systems and self-direction services. Under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), New Editions specifically provides assistance to states seeking to develop or improve HCBS under a variety of channels: Sections 1915(c) and 1115 waivers and Sections 1915(i), 1915(j) or 1915(k) State Plan Amendments. Technical assistance includes:

New Editions supports the ability of states, territories and localities in their efforts to be inclusive of people with disabilities when planning, delivering and evaluating public health programs.

New Editions provides planning, evaluation, research, technical assistance and logistical services to support the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research's (NIDILRR’s) program planning and improvement, as well as to meet accountability requirements.