Rhodes to Independence

Rhode Island’s Rhodes to Independence initiative empowers people with disabilities to clear the path to competitive employment and locate the tools they need to get there. Rhodes to Independence (RTI) was created through the award in 2000 of a CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicaid Infrastructure Grant).

The MIG goal is to support people with disabilities in securing and sustaining competitive employment in an integrated setting.  Since its inception, RTI - which operates under the aegis of the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy - has worked toward systems’ change in support of this goal. Though the initial scope of the federal MIG has been to successfully modify states’ health care delivery systems to meet the needs of people with disabilities who want to work (primarily focused on Medicaid eligibility), Rhodes to Independence’s scope is much broader as it was clear that barriers to employment, self-sufficiency and independence crossed beyond health care to transportation, housing, lack of information regarding benefits and supports, and deep-seated attitudes (employers, providers, the general public, as well as individuals with disabilities themselves).

In the past six and a half years, RTI has built partnerships that previously did not exist in the state and has measurably improved employment and health care supports for Rhode Islanders with disabilities. 

Visit the Rhodes to Independence website http://www.rhodestoindependence.org for more information.

Contact Information: 
Elaina Goldstein, Project Director
Rhode Island Department of Human Services
Medicaid Division
600 New London Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920

Phone: (401) 462-6264
Fax: (401) 462-3677
Email: egoldste@gw.state.ri.us

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