Introducing: The Huddle

A New Discussion Series from The Self-Direction Center

What's a huddle? It's when a team comes together to strategize, solve problems, and figure out the next play. That's exactly what we're creating: a space where the self-direction community gathers to learn together, share real experiences, and tackle the questions that matter most.

Each session, we'll huddle up around a different topic. We'll provide context and foundational information, then open the floor to dynamic discussion with panelists and attendees. Your questions and experiences are just as important as our guests' - this is about learning from each other, not just listening to experts.

Applying Stakeholder Engagement to Today’s Self-Direction Challenges

In today’s environment, self-direction programs are facing real pressures, from tight budgets to growing concern about fraud and the use of paid family caregivers. Given this strenuous environment, many of those responsible for implementing self-direction programs may naturally pull back from participant/stakeholder engagement at the exact moment it’s needed most.

This Huddle brings together people who self-direct, advocates, state program administrators for an honest, cross-perspective conversation about how engagement has helped to address complex solutions even when resources are tight and tensions are high.

Together, we’ll move beyond surface-level discussions to explore:

• Why engagement often feels difficult
• How engagement can address complex problems head on
• Key strategies to make engagement cost-effective, productive, and impactful

Through real-world examples and open dialogue, panelists and participants will share what it takes to move from one-way communication to true partnership, where challenges are addressed collaboratively and solutions are stronger because of it.

This is not a traditional webinar. It’s a space to reflect, share, and problem-solve as a community.

Come ready to engage. Ask questions, share your experiences, and learn from others navigating the same challenges.

Our Huddlers:

• Nicole Pratt 
• Becky Thomas
• Jeremy Bigelow
• Jesse Wyatt

Our Facilitator:
Dr. Erin McGaffigan brings 23+ years of experience designing and improving community-based long-term services and supports for older adults and people with disabilities. Her expertise spans HCBS systems transformation, participant direction models, and the science of community engagement — including research on consumer advisory committee practices and cross-disability advocacy in policy design. Prior to founding Collective Insight, she served as Public Policy Lead at Boston College's National Resource Center for Participant-Directed Services. In 2017, Dr. McGaffigan was appointed Research and Policy Fellow for the University of Massachusetts Boston Gerontology Institute to support the growth of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMASS Boston.

Collective Insight is a Nationally Certified Women's Business Enterprise (WBENC, 2025) that brings 23 years of science-backed engagement leadership. Collective Insight designs and implements high-quality community engagement strategies that center lived experience in the design and improvement of policies, programs, and research.

About The Huddle

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Who Controls Your Budget - And How?

What happens when you don't just direct your services - you direct your budget? Whether your state offers budget authority, you're working to get it, or you're trying to understand what it could mean, this Huddle explores what's possible.

We'll establish common ground: What is budget authority, and how does it differ from employer authority? How do states calculate individual budgets - and what control do participants actually have?

Then we'll hear from panelists living it: What's it like to set your own wages and manage your spending plan? How do people use goods and services creatively? What's the difference between "budget authority on paper" and real flexibility?

We'll compare approaches across states: From full-fledged budget authority to more limited versions to states where it doesn't exist at all - what does the spectrum look like? What can we learn from states building this out?

We'll address the concerns and get strategic: Does budget authority mean people will misuse funds? What safeguards make sense? How do you advocate for it when decision-makers are worried about risk?

Come ready to engage. Ask questions, share your experiences, and learn from others navigating the same challenges.

What Does It Really Mean to Be an Employer?

If you hire and manage your own support workers, you have employer authority. But what does that really mean day-to-day? And how do we make it work well?

We grounded everyone in the basics: What is employer authority? How does CMS define it? What's the difference between being an "employer of record" and a "co-employer"?

We then dove into a discussion: Panelists from multiple states will share what employer authority actually looks like in their lives - the good, the challenging, and everything in between. How do you find and hire workers? What works when managing your team? What are the creative solutions people have found?

We'll tackled the tough questions together: When people worry about fraud in employer authority, how do we respond with the facts? How has EVV changed the experience of being an employer? What about worker registries and training mandates - what helps and what just gets in the way? How do different state approaches create opportunities or barriers?