Community Personal Assistance Services and Supports

The Hawaii Personal Assistance Services and Supports (PASS) Grant will pilot and demonstrate consumer-directed systems and services by helping individuals with disabilities to explore personal support services and by linking them to supports offered by intermediaries. The project will combine best practice methodologies for developing community connections, person-directed planning, community awareness, and the development of social equality. The interventions (trainings) and methodologies will facilitate and build community connections and make available community resources, including the development of sustainable self-advocate, parent-identified stakeholder councils (self-advocate-majority, i.e., 51 percent) at the three demonstration sites and development of a system of natural supports for participating project self-advocates. Just as significantly, this project will pilot consumer directed services including person centered planning, individualized budgets, fiscal intermediary supports, and Personal Support Agents/Brokers referred to as Community Support Guides. 20-40 individual participants will take part in surveys before and after participation in the demonstration project. A self-advocate-majority, statewide CPASS Council will be a resource to the site councils. The project will lay a framework and make recommendations for a systems change promoting consumer directed services and supports.