SERVICES

At HCBS Strategies, Inc we offer an array of services tailored to meet our client’s needs.

These services range from broad objectives, such as developing and implementing comprehensive system reforms, to more focused objectives such as grant writing and fiscal impact statements.

RESOURCE LIBRARY

HCBS Strategies Resource Library contains presentations, tools, and reports

TEAM PROFILES

Steven Lutzky, PhD, President

Steven Lutzky has extensive experience designing, implementing and evaluating home and community-based systems for older adults, individuals with disabilities and long-term illness for the federal government, states, and private sector clients.

He served as the Director of Division for Advocacy and Special Issues (DASI), within the Disabled and Elderly Health Program Group, Center for Medicaid and State Operations (CMSO), Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Steve has also served as the Chief of the Office on Disabilities and Aging within the District of Columbia’s Medical Assistance Administration and was a Senior Manager with The Lewin Group.

He received his doctorate in Gerontology and Public Policy from the University of Southern California, Davis School of Gerontology.

Melanie Thomasson, Senior Principal

Melanie Thomasson has worked in LTSS systems design and improvement for over ten years and joined the HCBS Strategies team as a Senior Principal in April 2023.  Also a Fellow with the research collaborative interRAI, Melanie has expertise in the implementation of standardized assessment systems and using the resulting data to support program operations and policy goals.

She has previously had roles in state agency, nonprofit association, and university settings, including serving as a research associate at the Arkansas Department of Human Services’ Division of Aging and Adult Services and the University of Michigan’s Institute of Gerontology.  Most recently, she served as Vice President of Data and Financial Policy at the Arkansas Hospital Association, where she provided broad-based, data-informed support to healthcare providers and supported evidence-based policy development.  She holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Health Systems and Services Research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.  Her doctoral research focuses on level of care policies in Medicaid HCBS programs.

Andrew Cieslinski, Principal

Andrew Cieslinski is an Associate with HCBS Strategies. He joined the team in January 2013 during his first year of graduate school at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. He has gained a wide range of experience around Medicaid funded home and community based services.

This experience includes developing standardized tools for intake, screening, assessment and support planning; development and redesign of 1915(c),(i),(k) and 1115 waivers; successfully working with states to procure a variety of competitive funding opportunities; planning and implementing major projects with States to meet the requirements for federally-funded programs including No Wrong Door (NWD) and Balancing Incentives Program (BIP); implementing and enhancing Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs); and creating and piloting initiatives to gain Federal Financial Participation (FFP) funding.

Andrew has played a primary role in developing assessment and support planning tools in several states and also conducts literature reviews and policy research and analysis, provides project management support, and assists with the development of a variety of project deliverables. As an Associate for HCBS Strategies, Andrew has been involved in projects for Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Texas.

Prior to joining the HCBS Strategies team, Andrew worked as a clinical research assistant at the University of Michigan’s Institute of Gerontology. He also has experience working as a lead resident care provider in an adolescent residential psychiatric facility and as a resident aide at an assisted living facility.

Ariel Keklak, Associate

Ms. Keklak joined the HCBS Strategies team in April 2020,  She completed her undergraduate degree at the Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s in Public Health from University of Utah.  She has provided support on a variety of projects in several states related to the provision of home and community-based services and long-term services and supports.

Shirley Patterson York, Consultant

Shirley York specializes in the human services areas of policy development, funding and reimbursement, service planning and delivery, financial/operational management, quality initiatives, and organizational leadership/governance.

She has over 30 years of experience in human services. Prior to her consultancy, she held a 10-year tenure as Director for Disability Services and HIV/AIDS at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS).