June 2026 | Member Learning Session

NASHIA Federal and Funding Updates 

NASHIA provided a brief staff update about various policy and funding topics. 

The Grassroots Project New Resource on Supporting Lived Experience Engagement in Medicaid   

This NASHIA Member Learning Session featured the Grassroots Project team as they introduced a new Toolkit developed by Collective Insight in partnership with the Human Services Research Institute. The Toolkit is designed to help State Teams strengthen and expand meaningful engagement with people with lived experience in Medicaid-related work.

The Toolkit includes practical strategies, self-reflection activities, and adaptable tools to support State Teams with varying levels of engagement experience, goals, and capacity. Recognizing the time and financial limitations many states face, the resource offers flexible, realistic approaches to building stronger community engagement efforts.

During the session, the Grassroots Project team provided an overview of the Toolkit and discussed how it can support states as they navigate evolving Medicaid priorities, including Medicaid funding changes, work requirements, and the development or strengthening of Medicaid Brain Injury Waivers.

Although the Toolkit was created primarily for State Agencies, NASHIA welcomed all members to attend. Community organizations and Brain Injury Advisory Councils play a critical role in representing and elevating lived experience perspectives, making their participation especially valuable. In addition, while the Toolkit focuses on Medicaid, many of the engagement strategies and recommendations are broadly applicable across other topic areas and initiatives.

As was mentioned in the Learning Session, NASHIA worked with ADVancing States and NASDDDS to develop slides providing an overview of the new Interim Final Rule on Community Engagement Requirements.