1. AT3 Center & Pass It On Center AT Reuse Community of Practice Kickoff
Kathy Laurin, AT3 Center
Carolyn Phillips & Liz Persaud, Pass It On Center
February 22, 2017

2. Agenda for Today Meet your AT3 & Pass It On Center Team
Communities of Practice (CoP)
Goals & Vision of Your AT Reuse Community of Practice
And the Survey Says
Next Steps: Sub-Committees Work Groups

3. AT3 Center Reuse CoP
The Reuse CoP is a partnership of the AT3 Center and the National Pass It On Center at Georgia Tech who will serve as co-facilitators
The community of AT Act programs and their affiliated partners are critical team members
Other interested programs are welcome to participate

4. Your AT3 & Pass It On Center AT Reuse Team
Kathy Laurin Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs AT3 Technical Assistance Center Specialist Carolyn Phillips Director, Tools for Life Danny Housley AT Funding & Resource Specialist
Samantha Peters Program Specialist Liz Persaud Training Coordinator Martha Rust AT Specialist

5. What is a Community of Practice (CoP)?
“A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a craft and/or a profession. The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger in A CoP can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created deliberately with the goal of gaining knowledge related to a specific field.”

6. AT3 Communities of Practice
AT3 will facilitate four CoPs:
Device Demonstration and Loan
Reuse
State Financing
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Promote cross sharing and problem solving
Deepen knowledge and expertise through ongoing interaction to support quality implementation of AT Act programs

7. Goal of the AT Reuse Community of Practice
Provide technical assistance and training to the Assistive Technology Act Programs in the area of AT Reuse so they can conduct safe, appropriate and effective reuse activities for individuals with disabilities.

8. Vision of the AT Reuse CoP
Create positive change through safe, appropriate and effective AT Reuse CoP by:
Responding rapidly to AT Reuse Program needs and inquiries
Decreasing the learning curve of new and growing AT Reuse Programs (PIOC IQ-ATR)
Reducing rework and preventing "reinvention of the wheel“ through sharing of ideas, resources and experience (PIOC KnowledgeBase, PIOC YouTube Videos)
Spawning new ideas for AT Reuse

9. Immediate Activities
Identify priority training and technical assistance (TTA) issues to be addressed
Update Reuse knowledge base for AT3 web portal to ensure a comprehensive one-stop location for all state level activity information
Seek input and direction for priority reuse training sessions

10. Immediate Activities, continued
Share expertise with other state AT programs
Help identify quality and innovative Reuse programs and efforts that can be adopted and implemented by others
Identify states with an interest in implementing a Medicaid reuse program

11. Future Activities
Identifying specialized areas of reuse with high interest by grantees and high consumer need (e.g. electronic low vision equipment, hearing aids)
Investigating the feasibility of and potential for a national online AT device exchange system
Identifying new priority areas through proactive training and technical assistance (TTA)

12. Reuse CoP Survey Disseminated survey to Director’s of AT Act Programs
Intent was to obtain one response from each state/territory program grantee
Responded to by Director’s or their designated staff member
Received responses from 41 of 56 Programs

13. Thank you for Participating in the AT Reuse Survey
On January 23rd AT Reuse Survey was sent to AT Act Director’s of each state/territory
And the Survey Says…

14. Does your AT Program directly operate AT Reuse activities?

15. What type of AT Reuse activities?

16. AT Program contract with other organizations

17. Top Technical Assistance & Training Needs

18. What are the top 3 types of AT that your program currently reuses?

19. What resources have you accessed on the Pass It On Center (PIOC) website?

20. What resources on the PIOC website have best met your program needs?

21. I prefer to receive AT Reuse Training via:

22. How would you prefer to receive CoP updates & info regarding AT Reuse?

23. How often would you like to receive AT Reuse CoP updates and information?

24. Please, identify any quality and/or innovative program activities that your reuse program conducts that you believe could be of benefit to other programs.
28 comments:
Outreach
Marketing techniques
Community presence
Annual fundraising event
Partnerships
Hospitals
Therapy Centers
Local ALS
International nonprofit (overseas donations)
Employment Services
Rotary Clubs
Alternative Financing Programs (AFP)
Online Resources
Online Equipment Exchange/Classifieds
AT Databases
Minimize Shipping Costs
Partnership with Statewide Centers for Independent Living (CILS)
Utilizing a network of programs across the state

25. Do you have any other suggestions regarding AT Reuse TA and/or Training?
19 comments:
Explore new marketing strategies
AT Exchange program and website updates
Information in language to protect customers who sell equipment online
Recruiting and maintaining volunteers
Best practices for equipment inventory
Medicaid partnership
Learning and growing from each other in the AT Reuse community!

26. Do you have any suggestions regarding the collaborative efforts of the Reuse CoP group?
18 comments
Successful collaborations with Alternative Financing Programs (AFP)
Statewide sharing of resources, ideas, concepts and strategies
Publishing industry best practices in AT Reuse
More AT Reuse conferences
Document templates for MOUs, checklists, etc.
Utilizing postsecondary educational institutions - students donate time to assist with refurbishment and other program duties in exchange for "service learning" exposure and sometimes credits towards their degrees

27. Please, identify any areas of reuse expertise you are willing to share with the group.
19 comments:
Donations to other countries
Low cost AT modifications
Computer reuse
Establishing a partnership with DME dealer
AT Exchange sites - maintenance and support
Documents with safety precautions
Sharing reuse program proposal language
Community based reuse partnerships
Emergency preparation and equipment reuse information

28. 23 requested to add additional contacts to our CoP group – and we did!
If you prefer that someone other than the Director of your state AT program be the contact person for the Reuse Community of Practice, please provide their contact information (name, position, , phone)
23 requested to add additional contacts to our CoP group – and we did!

29. AT Reuse CoP Sub-Committees
Proposed AT Reuse CoP Sub-Committees:
PIOC IQ-ATR Revision to AT3 IQ-ATR
PIOC Knowledge Base Review & Revise
Medicaid & AT Reuse
Please, let Liz know if you would be interested/available to serve on these Committees.

30. We Need You!
Many of you spoke up and helped set our AT Reuse CoP Sub-Committees. They will be:
Outcome Oriented
Short-term (3 -12 months)
Focused on a specific topic, activity and/or area of need.

31. For the Next Month Please respond to webinar survey
Distribution list will be compiled by respondents providing contact information
Sub-committees will be formed to begin work on priority activities

32. Our Question to You: What additional input do you have for the Reuse CoP?

33. Webinar Evaluation
Please take 5 minutes to complete the webinar survey at:

34. Contact Us Your AT3 & Pass It On Center - AT Reuse Team
Kathy Laurin Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs AT3 Technical Assistance Center Specialist Carolyn Phillips Director, Tools for Life Danny Housley AT Funding & Resource Specialist
Samantha Peters Program Specialist Liz Persaud Training Coordinator Martha Rust AT Specialist

35. Our Partners