The Center for Aging and Disability Education and Research at Boston University School of Social Work Receives New Contract with the U.S. Administrative for Community Living

The Center for Aging and Disability Education and Research at Boston University School of Social Work (formerly known as IGSW) has received a one-year $600,000 contract from the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL). The Center has been designated as the lead organization in a major new initiative of ACL and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to support the use of consumer direction in programs of long-term living services and supports for older adults and people with disability. The Center will develop a national training program for options counselors*, using the Center’s expertise in creating validated, skill-based multi-media online training programs. Options counselors provide participant-directed services to help individuals make better choices about where they live and the kinds of services and supports available to meet their needs. The Center will be working with eight states in a three-year demonstration, leading to a development of a national curriculum and certification program, with a national roll-out of the program scheduled for 2015.

Associate Professor Scott Miyake Geron, director of the Center, will be the principal investigator (PI) for the project. Bronwyn Keefe, associate director of the Center and BUSSW doctoral student, will serve as project director.

The Center for Aging and Disability Education and Research brings to this project eight years of success in developing skill-based online programs using a collaborative course development process that involves working with key stakeholders in the field; technical expertise using the leading edge learning management system as the platform for our online courses; extensive experience in developing workforce change projects in multiple states with thousands of learners; expertise in creating assessment measures and evaluating learner and organizational impact; and a highly-qualified and dedicated staff committed to strengthening the quality of online training available to workers serving older adults and people with disabilities.

* Options counselors operate out of Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs). Currently, all 50 states and four territories (District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands) are operating or are in the process of implementing ADRCs. Options counseling is a participant-directed service designed to address many of the frustrations older adults and people with disabilities consumers and their families experience when trying to find needed long-term information, services, and supports. The essential role of Options Counselors is to individuals make better choices about where they live and what kinds of services and supports they are able to receive to meet their needs.