The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 24-042. This communication is to advise stakeholders that the Temple University Harrisburg Certified Investigator Program and ODP will be facilitating Forums for Certified Investigators (CI) and others involved in the incident investigation process. It also announces the posting of Q&A documents from past CI Forums on MyODP. Read the announcement for details.
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 24-041 and the accompanying survey. The purpose of this communication is to announce that amendments to the Consolidated, Person/Family Directed Support (P/FDS), Community Living, and Adult Autism Waivers were approved by CMS. The Department amended the waivers effective May 1, 2024, to allow providers to request a one-time supplemental payment to cover recruitment, retention, and any unusual staffing expenses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic for direct support professionals, frontline supervisors, program specialists, or supports coordinators (SC).
Providers must request a Workforce Recovery Supplemental Payment by completing the survey no later than Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
Information Overview and Performance Standard Webinar Sessions
Registration Now OPEN!
This webinar series will provide details on specific performance standards for Performance-Based Contracting for residential services. Each session will cover the required reporting, data source, data collection, and analysis for each performance standard.
A prerecorded General Overview Webinar will be disseminated on May 21, 2024, as a pre-requisite to the sessions outlined below. It is strongly recommended providers watch the General Overview Webinar prior to attending.
These sessions will each be unique in content and build upon one another. Providers are encouraged to attend all four sessions. Due to anticipated audience size, only two representatives from each Provider Agency should register to attend. All sessions will be recorded and made available on MyODP.
REGISTER:
You can send any registration questions you may have via email.
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 24-040. This announcement and accompanying Q&A document provide new and updated answers to questions ODP has received on the Community Participation Support service. Please view both documents for information and details.
Happy May! PA Family Network is sharing these important workshops and Good Life Groups! Register for upcoming events at their website. You can view the flyer for each workshop below.
Support Groups:
LifeCourse Workshops
Waiver Workshops
The Council of State Administrators for Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) is partnering with the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Management (VRTAC-QM) to assess the extent to which vocational rehabilitation (VR) service providers are experiencing a decrease in service capacity, the reasons for this decrease, and potential solutions to address reduced capacity. To that end, they have created a short survey that they are asking service providers to complete by Monday, May 27, 2024.
This survey is anonymous and will be recorded without any identifying information (unless you choose to include this information). The survey was developed to be taken by the leadership of service provider agencies, but can be taken by others within the organization if these individuals have knowledge of the capacity of the organization to serve individuals with disabilities referred by the public VR program. If you wish to participate, you can take the survey here.
Closing the Gap: Achieving a Workforce with Different Abilities
Registration Now OPEN!
In this second annual ODP Employment Regional Symposium, participants will hear from employers about how, what, and why they hired individuals with developmental disabilities. Individuals who are employed and their teams will describe how having a job made a difference in their lives and the lives of their families. Representatives from the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP), Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), and the Bureau of Special Education will discuss collaboration across systems and offices with a focus on things that you thought might not be possible.
Who should attend?
Anyone interested in advancing the employment of individuals with developmental disabilities including but not limited to: current and future employers, local education authorities, intermediate units, ODP employment/community participation support/residential providers, supports coordinators, administrative entities, transition counselors, regional employment coalitions, and OVR business liaisons.
All sessions will run from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Lunch will be provided. Morning beverages and snacks are on your own.
Session Dates and Location:
| June 5, 2024 | Tannersville, PA, Northampton Community College |
| June 12, 2024 | Butler, PA, Monarch Institute |
| June 18, 2024 | Malvern, PA, PaTTAN East |
| June 26, 2024 | Bellefonte, PA, Central Penn Institute of Science and Technology |
You will be prompted to select the location you wish to attend on the registration page.
Use this link to register. For questions, please submit via email.
The Deputy Secretary presented ODP updates at the Medical Assistance Advisory Committee (MAAC) meeting today, Thursday, April 25, 2024.
Updates included:
ODP will publish provider preparedness tools that will include a Residential Provider Performance-Based Contracting Preparedness Assessment and hold provider forums to support providers as they get ready for PBC implementation. View the full presentation here.
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