The sessions will take place in-person and virtually, in communities across Iowa in October and November. Iowans who wish to share feedback to improve the state’s community-based services are encouraged to attend.
Community-based services allow older Iowans and people with disabilities to receive care in their homes and communities rather than in an institution.
The focus of these sessions is to hear from Iowans who use community-based services, caregivers, advocates, service providers, case managers, and others. These invested Iowans will also hear from Medicaid leadership about the goals of the HOME initiative and updates about recent accomplishments and upcoming activities.
“Since the start of the HOME initiative, we’ve made seeking the input of Iowans a key priority in informing the direction, and we are excited to continue that commitment through our upcoming community conversations,” said Iowa Medicaid Director Elizabeth Matney. “We are looking to Iowans with experience navigating these services to help us make the right decisions and guide how we move forward.”
The HOME initiative began in late 2022 with a collaboration between partners at Mathematica and the Harkin Institute who evaluated Iowa’s community-based services and published an evaluation outlining recommendations for how Iowa can improve services. Using the recommendations in the evaluation, HHS created a transformation plan to guide next steps and implement suggested improvements.
