Money Follows the Person Tribal Initiative

This Initiative is part of a national program funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Our Shared Work in This Initiative

• Helping American Indian and Alaska Native people return home from institutions in a way that supports their choice and their community.
• Working with partners to build services and providers that honor tribal values, traditions, and ways of caring for one another.
• Supporting long-term services that are delivered through tribal contracts and tribal partners.
• Helping tribal communities offer home and community-based services that support members returning home.
• Increasing home and community-based services so people who want to leave institutions can receive support in their own community.
• Reducing the use of facility-based placements.
• Offering choice for people who live in long-term care settings.

Why This Work Matters

Many tribal communities face barriers that make it hard to use certain Medicaid funds. These barriers can come from state law, state Medicaid plans, or state budgets. The initiative works with partners to remove these barriers so tribal communities can offer services that support culture, community, and choice.

In Washington, the program called Roads to Community Living has always helped people of all backgrounds return home from a facility. The Tribal Initiative focuses on building inclusive service contracts and working with partners at the state, tribal, and county levels. The goal is to improve services for American Indian and Alaska Native elders and people with disabilities in ways that honor culture, community, and choice.

National Participation

The Tribal Initiative is active in five states: Washington, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Each year, tribes and partners meet to share successes, learn from one another, and strengthen tribally inclusive services. These gatherings help build shared understanding across governments and organizations about the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native elders and people with disabilities.

MFTPI Tribal Initiative Medicine Wheel Logo

White is north. Image of a buffalo photographed in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Red is south. Image of a bird of prey, often depicted in the art, songs and oral histories of Native Americans including those of the south and southwest.

Yellow is east. Image of a loon and is a clan symbol for the Ojibwe people who have tribes in both Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Black is west, the image of a salmon which is often found in northwest tribal art.

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