Iowa's Money Follows the Person Program Ranked Third in Nation for I/DD Transitions (IA UCEDD)

January 27, 2020

There are now 761 great reasons Money Follows the Person (MFP) is on display at the Center for Disabilities and Development, Iowa's UCEDD. Since the launch of the MFP program in Iowa, 761 individuals with disabilities have made the transition from facilities to community living, and that number keeps growing. A total of 649 individuals have completed the 365 days of support, and made the transition to the Intellectual Disabilities Waiver or Brain Injury Waiver.

Since the launch in 2008, the program has received 1200 referrals, and 245 providers have enrolled to provide services. The MFP transition specialists, who guide individuals from their initial referrals to the program through the first year of community living, have helped participants find local providers and housing, roommates, jobs, health care providers, and more. Based on years of experience supporting individuals with I/DD, the transition specialists also do the important work of helping people navigate inevitable road blocks, such as making alternative plans if the community housing isn't ready when it's time for the move. They developed a Transition Planning Guide to help individuals, family members and providers with the transition process, and made the guide available online. At the 2019 AUCD Conference, program manager Lindsey Robertson and transition specialist Julie Adams shared the guide and lessons learned from Iowa's MFP experience in a hands-on workshop.

A recently published research brief from the Community Living Policy Center at Brandeis University, "Evidence for the Impact of the Money Follows the Person Program" by H. Stephen Kray, ranks Iowa's Money Follows the Person program third (based on population) among the nation's MFP programs for transitions from facilities to community living of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Read the entire article: https://clpc.ucsf.edu/publications/evidence-impact-money-follows-person-program

Visit the MFP page on the Iowa UCEDD website: https://uihc.org/ucedd/money-follows-person

Download the Transition Planning Guide: https://uihc.org/ucedd/sites/uihc.org.ucedd/files/transition_guidebook.pdf

Get in touch with Lindsey Robertson by email: [email protected].