"Prisons for Sick People": An Exploration of the Parallels Between Prisons and Nursing Homes
Jeremy Evans
June 2025
This brief documents parallels between the experiences of incarcerated individuals and nursing-home residents of color, particularly Black nursing-home residents. It describes three carceral themes present in nursing homes that restrict disabled people of color from transitioning into the community: limited freedom to venture outside, obstacles to transition, and nursing homes’ systematic retribution against their own residents. Nursing homes consistently cited resident health and safety concerns to justify arbitrary and punitive restrictions. When residents did speak out and advocate for themselves and others, nursing homes redoubled their efforts to subvert those residents’ autonomy.
The Quality of Race and Ethnicity Data Among Medicaid Beneficiaries Receiving Long-Term Services and Supports
Laurin Bixby, Elad Daniels, and Joe Caldwell
March 2025
This brief examines the completeness of race and ethnicity data among adult Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) users, including adults receiving Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) and institutional services. While the DQ Atlas assesses the quality of race and ethnicity data among all Medicaid beneficiaries, we focus our analysis on the quality of race and ethnicity data among adults who receive Medicaid LTSS. Researchers using the T-MSIS data to look at race and ethnicity among the LTSS population must be aware of the quality and limitations of the T-MSIS data or else risk putting out biased and inaccurate information.
States Should Use the Money Follows the Person Program More to Improve Access to Home and Community-Based Services and Outcomes
Ruby Siegel and Joe Caldwell
February 2025
This brief captures state participation of Money Follows the Person (MFP) and utilization rates of MFP from 2017 to 2021. We outline four reasons all states should use MFP: Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) access and outcomes of individuals, cost savings, new flexibilities for transitioning individuals, and strengthening HCBS infrastructure and quality.
Inclusion of Black and Latina Parents With Physical Disabilities in a Qualitative Research Study: A Peer Researcher Training Model
Jennifer Lee-Rambharose, Lauren D. Smith, Kim The, Willi Horner-Johnson, Linda Long-Bellil, Heather Watkins, Jennifer Senda, Nancy Garr-Colzie, Maria R. Palacios, and Monika Mitra
October 2024
Compared to a small but growing community of Black and Latinx academic researchers with disabilities, there is little inclusion in the research process of non-academic community members with similar intersectional identities. Lurie Institute researchers conducted a qualitative study examining the pregnancy experiences of people from Black/Latinx communities who have physical disabilities that involved training four peer researchers to conduct interviews and analyze the data. This article describes the researchers' approach and suggests how it might offer a model for training peer researchers in qualitative research methodology.