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Authors Posts by Carol Ferenz

Carol Ferenz

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Join Greenspace Mental Health, the Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association (RCPA), and the Community Behavioral Health Association of Maryland (MDCBH) to learn from an esteemed panel of experts as they share their insights regarding the impact of measurement-based care (MBC) on behavioral health organizations and how it helps inform treatment planning, improve client outcomes, and future-proof organizations for Value-Based Care.

PANELISTS:

  • Fady Sahhar, PhD, Acting COO for ProVantaCare
  • Brandon Fisher, Chief Strategy Officer at Merakey
  • Lisa Serfass, LCPC, Regional Director at Villa Maria Behavioral Health, Catholic Charities Child & Family Services

HOST:

  • Simon Weisz, Founder and President, Greenspace Mental Health

DATE: Monday, November 15, 2021

TIME: 11:00 am EST

DURATION: 1 hour

REGISTER HERE
This is a free, online event hosted through Zoom Webinars. Registration is required.

We are very pleased to bring you this opportunity to hear fellow industry leaders discuss their views on the system-wide impact of MBC. Hope you can make it!

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Photo by Alena Shekhovtcova from Pexels

ODP Announcement 21-078 announces recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines. All three available vaccines, Pfizer, Moderna, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), now have available guidance regarding booster doses.

On Thursday, October 21, 2021, the CDC issued a recommendation for Moderna and Janssen booster doses for certain groups of individuals. This is in addition to the CDC’s earlier recommendation on September 24, 2021 for the Pfizer booster dose.

Eligible individuals are now able to schedule appointments and receive booster doses. The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) will not be coordinating vaccine clinics for booster doses.

This announcement provides ODP’s expectations for residential providers, long-term care facilities, individuals and families. Questions about this announcement may be directed here.

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A message from ACCSES:

A few minutes ago, the Rehabilitation Services Administration announced the release of long-awaited revised FAQs. The message from RSA reads as follows:

Today, the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is pleased to announce the release of frequently-asked questions titled Criterion for an Integrated Employment Location in the Definition of “Competitive Integrated Employment” and Participant Choice, published as RSA-FAQ-22-02. These FAQs provide guidance and technical assistance to VR agencies and community rehabilitation programs so they may assist individuals with disabilities to achieve high-quality employment and exercise their informed choice about the type of employment to pursue, either with assistance from the VR program or from other community resources.

While these FAQs do not change the Department of Education’s interpretation that has existed since at least the mid-1990s with respect to the criterion for an integrated employment location, they clarify and update a similar set of FAQs, issued January 17, 2017, entitled Frequently Asked Questions: Integrated Location Criteria of the Definition of ‘Competitive Integrated Employment.’ Therefore, OSERS rescinds the January 2017 FAQs effective as of this date. These updated FAQs take effect immediately upon issuance, and will enable VR program personnel to better carry out the purpose of the VR program and allow individuals with disabilities to maximize their employment potential.

Additionally, RSA issues a Response to Significant Comments that addresses changes in the updated FAQs made in response to comments received on the proposed FAQs (FAQ 21-03) published in the Federal Register and that provided the public with a 30-day opportunity to comment (86 FR 13511 (March 9, 2021)).”

ACCSES is in the process of reviewing the final FAQs and the RSA Response to Significant Comments and will provide additional information to ACCSES members on Monday.

Kind regards,
Kate

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Photo by Tai's Captures on Unsplash

ODP Announcement 21-077 provides updated guidance to providers of ICF/ID services related to infection control procedures and mitigation of the spread of COVID-19. This guidance replaces the DHS COVID-19 Provider Guidance on COVID-19 for Personal Care Homes, Assisted Living Residences, and Private Intermediate Care Facilities with the following guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as any future replacements of the referenced guidance from the PA DOH and CMS.

This announcement and the guidance contained within is intended to supplement—not replace—any federal, state, or local public health and safety laws, rules, and regulations with which providers of services in ICF/IDs must comply. Providers should take an individualized approach to determining appropriate risk mitigation strategies when working with individuals, including consideration of the Level of Community Transmission as identified in the CDC COVID Data Tracker.

Other news for ICF/ID Providers:

ICF Task Force Meetings

November 2 had been proposed earlier this year as a tentative date for another ICF Task Force meeting. That meeting is being rescheduled for a later date. Please let the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) know if you have any specific topic suggestions that you would like to have covered. You may submit suggestions here.

PA Health Alert Network (HANs)

This is a reminder to stay tuned in to the PA Department of Health’s updates impacting Long-Term Care facilities. Recent HANs contain updated information regarding the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant and recommendations regarding COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose. A list of the 2021 Health Alerts, Advisories and Updates can be found here.

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Message from ANCOR: 

The White House just released its framework for the Build Back Better Agenda this morning. The framework includes $150 billion for Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services. There is still no legislative text available for the budget reconciliation bill, which is how Congress will move forward this framework. Negotiations are still ongoing. We will continue to update you as we know more.

We are encouraged that reports indicate that HCBS funding will be included in the final bill. But we want to make sure we don’t let up on our advocacy in this final stretch!

Please join us TODAY as we participate in a Day of Action along with our coalition partners from disability, aging, and labor groups.

  • Please take action with our latest action alert and ask your members of Congress to support increased funding for HCBS. And please continue to share this widely with your networks!
  • Take a moment to engage on social media. You can tweet your members of Congress by using the directory linked here. Sample social media posts are below.

Here are some sample tweets you can use:

  • #Medicaid #HCBS is key to including ppl w/ #disabilities in the community, but the direct support workforce is in crisis. Read more from ANCOR about this devastating crisis and why #CareCantWait:bit.ly/3ASgUH9
  • Funding for home & community-based services is essential to the health and well-being of people w/ disabilities, but the #HCBS direct care workforce has been underfunded for too long. Congress must invest now because #CareCantwait bit.ly/3ASgUH9
  • Without funding for #Medicaid #HCBS, it’s only a matter of time before people w/ disabilities completely lose access to the options and resources needed to remain in their homes and in the community. Fund HCBS because #CareCantWait
  • 81% of American voters support increased funding for home & community-based services. Support funding for #Medicaid #HCBS now. #CareCantWait
  • “We have to look at how we are going to provide services for our most vulnerable adults and children in the coming decades, and we need to create a long-term, sustainable solution for that.” #HCBSCantWait bit.ly/3jDoS0b
  • Please support including HCBS funding in the Build Back Better Act to ensure people w/ disabilities & their families do not lose access to the options and resources needed to remain in their homes and in the community. #CareCantWait
  • Congress must include funding for HCBS in the budget reconciliation bill. People like Brandon depend on it. #HCBSCantWait RT twitter.com/POTUS/status/1451544259992203266

You are also encouraged to tweet your own stories. Below are additional hashtags to use:

  • #CareCantWait
  • #BuildBackBetter
  • #HCBSCantWait

We also wanted to make sure we shared with you ANCOR’s letter sent to Congressional leadership yesterday in a final push to support increased funding for HCBS.

Thanks for all of your hard work and please keep it going!

Here are the resources from the White House:

FACT SHEET

MICROSITE
The Build Back Better Framework: President Biden’s Plan to Rebuild the Middle Class

——————————
Elise Aguilar
Director of Advocacy
ANCOR
Alexandria, VA
(703) 535-7850
——————————

Donna Martin
Director for State Partnerships and Special Projects
ANCOR
1101 King Street, Suite 380
Alexandria, VA 22314
Office: 703.535.7850 x116
Direct Line: 571.781.0456

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Announcement 21-037 is to inform all provider agencies that the 2019–2020 IM4Q Reports have been published and are available on MyODP. As previously announced, provider-level Independent Monitoring for Quality (IM4Q) reports and provider profiles will not be issued with 2019–2020 data

Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) suspended completion of all face-to-face interviews by IM4Q local programs in March 2020. This resulted in a significant number of surveys not being completed. While ample data was collected to create a statewide summary report for 2019–2020, the data was not sufficient to provide reliable provider-level reports.

This has also prevented provider profiles based on 2019–2020 IM4Q data from being completed. A reduced number of IM4Q interviews resumed virtually in 2020–2021. Following the closure of the IM4Q cycle, ODP determined that there was enough data collected to release the 2019-2020 report, including a Statewide Summary for 2020.

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Time is running out to catch the recorded sessions on the Showcare Platform! Game prize winners will also be announced on Friday, October 29 at 11:00am, and we will award prizes to some lucky attendees who log in for this closing session.

In addition, it’s not too late to catch the vendors in Connections Hall that you may have missed and earn game points while you visit! Don’t miss out on earning as many points as possible before the deadline!

You can also continue to view sessions you didn’t get a chance to see or review sessions that you really enjoyed. You are able to watch each session as many times as you wish, and all documents are accessible on the sessions’ main pages. To view the sessions, log in to your account, then either:

  • Visit the “Full Schedule” page on the left-hand menu. Find the session you wish to view, select the time slot, then click on the title of the session. You will be taken to the session’s main page.
  • Visit the “On Demand” page for a list of previously prerecorded sessions. Simply select the session tile, which will take you to the session’s main page.

Lastly, as a reminder, please be sure to send in your request for continuing education or certificates of attendance by November 1 to RCPA.

Thank you once again!

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