Iowa's Adult Literacy Program State Plan Extension, 2005

The major purposes of Iowa’s Adult Literacy Program State Plan Extension for Program Year 2005 are: • provide a comprehensive blue print for implementation of Title II of the Act; • serve as a basis for both immediate and long-range planning and continuous, systematic evaluation of program effectiveness; • provide basis for common understanding among Iowa’s literacy partners, other interested entities and the U.S. Department of Education. The plan extension is designed to update Iowa’s Adult Literacy State Plan for Program Year 2005 in line with the guidelines provided by the United States Department of Education: Division of Adult Education and Literacy (USDE:DAEL).

Iowa's Adult Literacy Program State Plan Extension, 2006

The passage of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) [Public Law 105-220] by the 105th Congress has ushered in a new era of collaboration, coordination, cooperation and accountability. The overall goal of the Act is “to increase the employment, retention, earnings of participants, and increase occupational skill attainment by participants, and, as a result improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Nation.” The key principles inculcated in the Act are: • streamlining services; • empowering individuals; • universal access; • increased accountability; • new roles for local boards; • state and local flexibility; • improved youth programs. The purpose of Title II, The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, is to create a partnership among the federal government, states, and localities to provide, on a voluntary basis, adult education and literacy services in order to: • assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency; • assist adults who are parents obtain the educational skills necessary to become full partners in the educational development of their children; • assist adults in the completion of a secondary school education. The major purposes of Iowa’s Adult Literacy Program State Plan Extension for Program Year 2006 are: • provide a comprehensive blue print for implementation of Title II of the Act; • serve as a basis for both immediate and long-range planning and continuous, systematic evaluation of program effectiveness; • provide basis for common understanding among Iowa’s literacy partners, other interested entities and the U.S. Department of Education. The plan extension is designed to update Iowa’s Adult Literacy State Plan for Program Year 2006 in line with the guidelines provided by the United States Department of Education: Division of Adult Education and Literacy (USDE:DAEL).

Iowa’s Adult Literacy Program State Plan Extension, 2007

The passage of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) [Public Law 105-220] by the 105th Congress has ushered in a new era of collaboration, coordination, cooperation and accountability. The overall goal of the Act is “to increase the employment, retention, earnings of participants, and increase occupational skill attainment by participants, and, as a result improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Nation.”

Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2004, January 2005.

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program operates as a unit within the Office of Elder Rights at Iowa Department of Elder Affairs. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing facilities, residential care facilities, elder group homes and assisted living programs. Iowa’s State Long-Term Care Ombudsman’s Office has gone through many changes this past year ranging from staff changes to increase in jurisdiction area. Jeanne Yordi is now the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, joining this promotion, will be three additional Long-Term Care Ombudsmen to the unit. With additional staff this office hopes to create more public awareness; however, cases and complaints are top priority as this office may begin to fulfill the mandates of the Older Americans Act.

Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2007, January 2008.

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program operates as a unit within the Office of Elder Rights at Iowa Department of Elder Affairs. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing facilities, residential care facilities, elder group homes and assisted living programs. With the addition of 2 ombudsmen, regional offices were closed and 7 local programs were established in 2007. Local long-term care ombudsmen are becoming more aware of issues that need to be addressed, yet as evidenced by the tables included in this report, the increase in work load has been phenomenal, and is reaching the point of being unmanageable with the current staff.

Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2006, January 2007

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program operates as a unit within the Office of Elder Rights at Iowa Department of Elder Affairs. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing facilities, residential care facilities, elder group homes and assisted living programs. With an increasing number of complaints for federal fiscal year 2006 this office continues to struggle with fulfilling all of the mandates of the Older Americans Act. Complaint investigations and working with residents and families remain the priority.

Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2005, January 2006.

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program operates as a unit within the Office of Elder Rights at Iowa Department of Elder Affairs. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing facilities, residential care facilities, elder group homes and assisted living programs. Cases and complaints remain to be this office’s top priority. Facility closures take a tremendous amount of time, and with 1 Long-Term Care Ombudsman per 10,500 beds this office struggles to meet all of the mandates of the Older Americans Act.

Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2008, January 2009

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program operates as a unit within the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities, residential care facilities, nursing facilities in hospitals, elder group homes and assisted living programs. The long-term care system in Iowa has changed significantly over the past 10 years. Local long-term care ombudsman programs in Iowa are now well established. Iowa still ranks near the bottom of 53 ombudsman programs in the nation for ratio of paid staff to residents with one ombudsman for each 7,400 residents compared to the national average of one ombudsman for each 2,174 residents. The Resident Advocate Committee Program remains stable at 2400 volunteers and Iowa continues to be the only state in the nation with this type of program. Because volunteers do not receive training as required by the Administration on Aging, volunteers are not certified volunteer ombudsmen and the work done by these volunteers cannot be included in Iowa’s annual federal reports. With the changing population living in long-term care facilities, this volunteer job is much more challenging than in the past. Helping to build a long-term care system in Iowa that provides individualized, person-directed quality care is the long-term goal for this office.

Iowa Department on Aging Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2009, (Federal Fiscal Year October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009), January 2010.

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program operates as a unit within the Iowa Department on Aging. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities, residential care facilities, nursing facilities in hospitals, elder group homes and assisted living programs. In order to carry out all of the mandates of the Older Americans Act this office recommends to increase the number of staff and create a volunteer ombudsman program. NOTE: The second file includes a correction to the report on page 8.

Placement of Students Ages 3-21 with Disabilities Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): A Policy Discussion, May 2010

The provision of free appropriate public education (FAPE), an Individualized Education Program (IEP), and the least restrictive environment (LRE) have been important cornerstones of educating students with disabilities since the enactment of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), Public Law 94-142, in 1975, and its subsequent reauthorizations, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990, 1997, and 2004. It is impossible to consider any one of these cornerstones without the others, when determining an appropriate educational placement for a student with a disability. The Iowa Department of Education has identified several practice issues regarding the interplay between FAPE, LRE, and the IEP in placement decisions for students with disabilities. To that end, this document will provide guidance for administrators of local education agencies (LEAs) and area education agencies (AEAs), as well as IEP teams (or other placement teams) within Iowa LEAs and AEAs when making placement decisions for eligible children with disabilities. This guidance will specifically discuss ten LRE and FAPE placement/program policy questions that have been identified by the Iowa Department of Education as needing attention. The policy discussions are consistent with the legal provisions of the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA (IDEA 2004) and its 2006 final federal implementing regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). This document is also consistent with the Iowa Administrative Rules of Special Education (2007) [hereinafter “Iowa Rules”]. In addition, the term local education agency (LEA) is used interchangeably for school district throughout this document. Prior to the discussion of specific policy questions, a federal and state legal framework for providing FAPE for students with disabilities within the LRE is briefly outlined. Pertinent FAPE and LRE court decisions that impact Iowa LEAs and AEAs are also included within Section II.

Iowa Department on Aging Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2010 (Federal Fiscal Year October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010), January 2011.

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program operates as a unit within the Iowa Department on Aging. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities, residential care facilities, nursing facilities in hospitals, elder group homes and assisted living programs. In order to carry out all of the mandates of the Older Americans Act this office recommends to increase the number of local long-term care ombudsman, develop a volunteer long-term care ombudsman program, clarify the definition of assisted living in Iowa, expand the long-term care ombudsman program into home and community based services, and reinstate the Iowa Office of Substitute Decision Maker.

Iowa Department on Aging, Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Annual Report 2012 (Federal Fiscal Year October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011), January 2012.

The State Long-Term Care Ombudsman program (SLTCOP)operates as a unit within the Iowa Department on Aging. Duties of all long-term care ombudsmen are mandated by the Older Americans Act. This office serves people living in nursing, skilled nursing, residential care, and nursing facilities in hospitals as well as elder group homes and assisted living facilities. In order to carry out all of the mandates of the Older Americans Act this office recommends to establish a fully functioning volunteer ombudsman program that meets the criteria set forth in the Federal Older Americans Act as well as to strengthen family & resident councils, and to increase collaboration between the SLTCOP and Iowa’s Aging Network.

Iowa Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2013

This report reflects the efforts of the Long-Term Care Ombudsmen by sharing program highlights, discussing issues encountered and making recommendations by the Office in carrying out its federal mandate to act as an advocate for the residents of long-term care facilities.

Iowa Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2014

This report reflects the efforts of the Long-Term Care Ombudsmen by sharing program highlights, discussing issues encountered and making recommendations by the Office in carrying out its federal mandate to act as an advocate for the residents/tenants of long-term care facilities.

Iowa Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Annual Report 2015

This report reflects the efforts of the Long-Term Care Ombudsmen by sharing program highlights, discussing issues encountered and making recommendations by the Office in carrying out its federal mandate to act as an advocate for the residents and tenants of long-term care facilities.