No More FOMO on Business Acumen! New ANCOR Weekly Feature

Last week in our Weekly Update newsletter, we introduced our new segment on the Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) grant to create the HCBS Business Acumen Center! In case you miss the Weekly Update on Friday, we will have you covered by reprising the article in the next Monday ANCOR Capitol Correspondence. No more fear of missing out (FOMO)!

This project aims to equip community-based organizations (CBOs) supporting people with varying disabilities with business resources, information, and training that promote sustainability in a changing environment.

This project is a collaboration led by National Association of States United on Aging and Disability (NASUAD) and supported by ANCOR, National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS), National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), American Association on Health & Disability, University of Minnesota, National Council on Aging, and the National Disability Rights Network.

Within the structure of the project, there are two Learning Collaboratives:

The Business Acumen Learning Collaborative (BALC) was the first formed and has five state teams which include MD, MO, NH, NY, TX. These teams are comprised of individuals from Community Based Organizations (CBO), State Agencies, DD Councils, Disability Rights Organizations, Centers for Independent Living, UCEDDs and Managed Care Organizations. “The BALC is focused on developing and implementing business-related strategies to state-specific challenges to integrating long-term services and supports and healthcare services.” They have all identified system change projects for their states and are working collaboratively to create integrated service models.

The Business Development Learning Collaborative (BDLC) is structured a bit differently and have different goals. These teams are “focused on evaluating the CBO business environment and developing business strategies to strengthen and sustain community-based organizations that serve people with disabilities“. The states participating in this collaborative include IL, MN, VA and their teams are primarily comprised of representatives from CBO’s but also have participation from Advocacy Organizations, UCEDDs, Accreditation Organizations and State Provider Associations.

This column will bring you updates on the progress of the state teams participating in the collaboratives, lessons learned and other activities on the grant.

Currently we are preparing for the spring meeting where the teams will report out on the progress of their state teams and lessons they are learning as they work through the toolkit developed within the grant.

Next week we will take a look at the Toolkit and the resources available to all via the HCBS Business Acumen Center.