Henry Claypool

The Health and Human Services Coordinating Council on Community Living is off to a good start, said Henry Claypool, director of the HHS Office on Disability.

The Office on Disability is leading an internal working partnership that is charged with coordinating HHS’s “Year of Community Living” efforts.

Seven HHS agency and office heads have come together — for the first time in a formalized capacity — for this initiative. They are seeking solutions that address barriers to community living and give people more control over their lives and the supports they need.

“Facilitating coordination between HHS agencies isn’t a glamorous step, but it’s an essential step toward making certain programs from all of these agencies work together in harmony to improve community living arrangements for people living with disabilities and older Americans,” Claypool said. “I don’t know of any office that has been given a charge that encompasses such a broad array of issues.”

Benefits of Inter-Agency Coordination

Strengthening working relationships between these agencies can benefit those who rely on services from HHS in multiple ways.

For example, care coordination — the purposeful integration of primary and acute care services with long-term care needs — is a potential benefit of the interdepartmental collaboration. Improving timely access to these services would benefit many older adults and people with disabilities, particularly those with low incomes.

“It’s been encouraging and energizing for everyone involved with the Council to work in a collaborative fashion, bringing good ideas forward by stepping outside of traditional agency and departmental structures to address issues that cut across these lines,” Claypool said. “We all want to be efficient in our service to those Americans that need assistance from the programs under the charge of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.”

Working Groups Established

The Council has established five working groups on key issues to achieve its goals:

• Housing
• Services
• Quality and Data
• Communications
• Workforce

“The Workforce group is just getting started but everyone is in touch with the notion that the quality of services that people receive depends on the workforce,” Claypool said.

The Workforce group plans to address workforce shortage issues and the pressures that this workforce faces.

“Caregiving is being looked at in a broader, more holistic sense, as agencies recognize the need to support paid and unpaid caregiving in a comprehensive fashion. Individuals that rely on the support of workers, friends, and family members should not have to be concerned with these distinctions to get the assistance they require,” Claypool said.

Participating Agencies

The agencies participating in the HHS Community Living Coordinating Council are the Administration on Aging, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Administration for Children and Families.

In late June, President Obama proclaimed 2009 to be the “Year of Community Living.” His announcement coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in the case Olmstead v. L.C., a landmark ruling supporting community living options for people with disabilities.