AMERICAN NETWORK OF COMMUNITY OPTIONS AND RESOURCES

ANCOR's Strategic Goals for 2020-2023 are:

Influence responsible federal public policy to protect and promote quality services

Obtain resources to attract, expand and retain a quality workforce

Be an invaluable resource to equip providers and partners in understanding and responding to impacts, opportunities, emerging practices and trends

Shape, innovate and transition to the emerging environment of long-term services and supports including health care integration.

- See more at: https://www.ancor.org/sites/default/files/final_2020-2024_strategic_plan_.pdf

o Influence responsible federal public policy to protect and promote quality services
 Ensure that federal reform addresses and advances workforce and increases capacity for quality services.
 Secure additional and expanding federal funding for new federal requirements and compliance with federal rules and policies, such as the Home and Community-Based Settings (HCBS) Rule.
 Educate and hold responsible federal agencies for oversight, consistency and transparency across all agencies on federal rules and policies that impact disability service providers.
 Promote federal policy that encourages the adoption of technology that improves meaningful outcomes for people and providers' operational efficiencies.

o Obtain resources to attract and retain a quality workforce
 Advocate for funding for increased wages for direct support professionals.
 Expand the traditional pool of the workforce.
 Educate the public on the value of our work.
 Advocate for workforce development incentives specific to direct support professionals and other critical staff.

o Shape, innovate and transition to the emerging environment of long-term services and supports including health care integration.
 Equip providers to understand and respond to impacts, opportunities, emerging practices and trends while achieving the triple aim: better health, better care and lower cost.
 Shape the integration of healthcare and long term services and supports

ANCOR has a full time staff of fifteen, several with advanced degrees and certifications, supplemented by consultants and advisors. We are supported by an active and engaged 14-member Board of Directors, subject matter experts within our members, Communities of Practice and Committees within our membership dedicated to communications, professional and organizational development and government relations as well as productive relationships with national and state advocacy and trade organizations.

ANCOR and its members are at the forefront of providing community supports for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through educating members on their regulatory and legal responsibilities, showcasing promising practices, highlighting emerging policy and fiscal trends, promoting the use of technology and other innovative strategies and visionary services, ANCOR helps its members position themselves to respond to the changing marketplace and expectations of funders and the people they support.

ANCOR's advocacy at the federal level has directly and positively impacted private providers' ability to offer quality services to individuals with disabilities who need them.

ANCOR has ensured that the voice of private providers are heard when rules, regulations and laws that impact those services are being developed. For example, most recently, ANCOR:
• Preserved and grew Medicaid funding for home and community-based services. More specifically, worked in coalition to prevent cuts to federal Medicaid funding to states and successfully advocated for the passage of federal programs to further enhance home and community based options for people with disabilities;
• Championed an increased understanding of the critical role direct support professionals play in providing lifelong care for people with disabilities. This is reflected in the 47 gubernatorial proclamations and U.S. Senate Resolution recognizing a Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week every September. ANCOR has led workforce issues for well over a decade and is proud to say the number of states recognizing DSP Recognition Week grows every year;
• Educated the Department of Labor, leading to an extended timeframe (15 months) for private providers to comply with the Department of Labor's “Companionship Rule," which altered the definition of what can be considered companionship care and how that is paid for. The extended timeframe was important to give providers as well as state funders the ability to respond to shifting expectations, but more importantly, speaks to a greater understanding by the Dept of Labor of the challenges ANCOR members face while providing services while relying almost completely on state and Medicaid reimbursement;
• Achieved industry-first clear, positive US Department of Labor guidance related to the FSLA applicability to host home/shared living, ensuring the continued sustainability of this important residential service option;
• Influenced the final language of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Home and Community-Based Settings (HCBS) Rule. The final Rule focuses on an individual's experience and outcomes and thus offers a more functional definition of community than was seen in draft versions;