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Authors Posts by Carol Ferenz

Carol Ferenz

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The United States Senate Special Committee on Aging will be holding a hearing tomorrow to discuss the long-term care workforce. The hearing will be to address the shortages and legislation to improve the caring professions. U.S. Senator Bob Casey (PA), Chairman of the Committee, has invited Nick Smith, an NADSP-certified direct support professional from Philadelphia, to provide testimony. It is rare that direct support professionals have the opportunity to testify before the United States Senate, and NADSP invites you to watch Mr. Smith on Tuesday. Insights gained from such hearings can inform the development of legislation aimed at addressing workforce issues.

HOW TO WATCH:

The hearing will be livestreamed on the committee page. To access the livestream, visit here. Details are below:

United States Senate Special Committee on Aging
Full Committee Hearing
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
10:00 am (EDT)
Featuring Nick Smith, DSP-1, SPIN, Philadelphia, PA

LEARN MORE

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is hosting a series of public comment webinars to provide an overview of how it proposes to implement performance-based contracting for residential services effective January 1, 2025. Additional proposed changes to the Consolidated, Community Living, and Person/Family-Directed Support Waivers that are not related to performance-based contracting will also be covered.

The proposed changes have not been published yet. As soon as they are available to review, we will share the document with our members. We will also reconvene our Performance-Based Contracting Committee in order to develop our comments. We encourage our members to submit comments to ODP, and share your thoughts with us as well to include in our response.

Sessions will be held for specific stakeholder groups. Preregistration is required. To register, follow the registration link under the session that best defines your role. Registered participants will have the opportunity to provide verbal comments on the waiver amendment during the session.

Registration Link

Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

On Monday, April 8, 2024, there will be an eclipse event and parts of Pennsylvania will have a view of a total solar eclipse. The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is reminding everyone that it is not safe to directly view an eclipse with the unprotected eye. Severe eye damage or blindness can occur. It is only safe to view an eclipse through specialized eye protection for solar viewing. Regular sunglasses, even if they are very dark, will not protect your eyes. Viewing any part of the bright sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the lenses will instantly cause severe eye injury.

When considering any outdoor activities during the eclipse, be aware that some individuals may not understand the risk for eye damage and blindness by looking at the sun without protect eyewear or may be at risk to remove their protective eyewear.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has created a website with information about safe eclipse viewing.

Transforming Behavioral Health Systems Through Measurement-Based Care
April 25, 2024 at 1:00 pm EDT
Visit
here to register!

Greenspace Health has announced a highly requested and anticipated educational Measurement-Based Care (MBC) panel, featuring three key leaders driving behavioral health transformation from within a leading accreditation body, across a national system, and within a managed care organization.

As MBC adoption spreads rapidly within clinics, hospitals, large organizations, health systems, and national accrediting bodies like the Joint Commission recognizing it as a foundational component of any high-quality and evidence-based behavioral health service, there is a need for industry education surrounding large-scale and system-level implementations.

Hosted by Greenspace President and Co-Founder Simon Weisz, the panel will feature Melinda Lehman, Executive Director of Behavioral Health & Human Services at the Joint Commission; world-renowned applied psychologist and leading global expert on MBC Dr. David Clark; and Dr. Sandra Berg, Senior Director of Complex Health Solutions, Behavioral Health at CareSource. The panelists will dive deep on MBC, its relationship to value-based care, and share insights to inform any implementation.

The Institute on Disabilities has released its Statewide Report, which includes data gathered through the Independent Monitoring for Quality (IM4Q) Project in Pennsylvania during the 2022/23 fiscal year. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, data collection has shifted to a hybrid model, with some interviews taking place in person and others occurring remotely. Questions may be sent via email.

An Italian Down Syndrome organization called CoorDown has released an ad in recognition of World Down Syndrome Awareness Day, which is held on March 21. Its tagline, #AssumeICan, is being used by people with Down Syndrome to show that many of the assumptions about their drive and abilities are just that…assumptions.

Negative assumptions are extremely limiting. Instead of assuming limitations, Madison Tevlin, a young woman with Down Syndrome, offers a suggestion: #AssumeThatICan.

You can watch the inspiring ad here. Please note that the ad contains strong language and some mature themes.