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Authors Posts by Carol Ferenz

Carol Ferenz

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ODP Announcement 22-121 reports that the recording of the presentation provided by the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) staff during the webinar on December 1, 2022, which was to provide an overview of the heightened scrutiny process and to listen to public comments, is now posted on MyODP.

Public comments are being accepted until 11:59 pm on December 19, 2022. Please review ODP Announcement 22-117: Open for Public Comment: Proposed Heightened Scrutiny Service Locations to be Submitted To CMS. This announcement gives a background description of Heightened Scrutiny, the documents available for public comment, and how to provide public comment

Questions about this communication should be directed via email.

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The goal of this series is to provide information on how each diagnosis could impact communication and offer strategies to support effective communication. This series can be found on MyODP under Trainings > Special Populations > Infographics.

Diagnosis or conditions include:

Alzheimer’s Disease DeafBlindness Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Angelman Syndrome Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder Reactive Attachment Disorder
Apraxia of Speech Down Syndrome Rett Syndrome
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Dyslexia Schizophrenia
Autism Spectrum Disorder Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Sensory Processing Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder Hearing Loss Stroke
Central Auditory Processing Disorder Huntington’s Disease Stuttering
Cerebral Palsy Idiosyncratic Speech Tourette Syndrome
CHARGE Syndrome Language Deprivation Traumatic Brain Injury
Communication Disorder Limited English Proficiency Usher Syndrome
Conduct Disorder Long COVID Visual Impairment
Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Multiple Sclerosis
Cortical Visual Impairment Parkinson’s Disease

Please contact the ODP Special Populations Unit via email with any questions.

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Photo by Mikael Blomkvist from Pexels

Alice Burns; Follow @alicelevyburns on Twitter, Molly O’Malley Watts, and Meghana Ammula; Follow @meg_ammula on Twitter

Home and community-based services (HCBS) waivers allow states to offer a wide range of benefits and to choose — and limit — how many people receive services. The only HCBS that states are required to cover is home health, but states may choose to cover personal care and other services, such as private duty nursing. Those benefits are generally available to all Medicaid enrollees who need them. States may use HCBS waivers to offer expanded personal care benefits or to provide additional services such as adult day care, supported employment, and non-medical transportation. Because waivers may only be offered to specific populations, states often provide specialized benefits through waivers that are specific to the population covered. For example, states might use an HCBS waiver to provide supported employment only to people under age 65.

States’ ability to cap the number of people enrolled in HCBS waivers can result in waiting lists when the number of people seeking services exceeds the number of waiver slots available. Waiting lists reflect the populations a state chooses to serve, the services it decides to provide, and the resources it commits. In addition, states’ waiting list management approaches differ with regard to prioritization and eligibility screening processes, making comparisons across states difficult. States are only able to use waiting lists for optional services, so the number of people on waiting lists can increase when states offer a new waiver or make new services available within existing waivers; in these cases, the number of people receiving services increases, but so does the number of people on a waiting list. In many cases, people may need additional services, but the state doesn’t offer them to anyone or only offers them to people with certain types of disabilities. The unmet needs of those people would not be reflected in the waiting list numbers. Finally, although people may wait a long time to receive waiver services — 45 months on average — many of the people waiting for services receive other types of HCBS while they wait [read the full article].

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The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program that provides funds and discounts for families and households struggling to afford internet service. You are likely eligible if your household’s income is below 200% of the Federal Poverty Line. Visit here to check your household’s eligibility.

Eligible households may receive assistance of up to $30 a month in discounts for broadband service and/or a one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop, computer, or tablet purchased through a participating provider. See the flyer for more information. Visit here to apply for the Affordable Connectivity Program and learn more.

ACP Information Session
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development is hosting a webinar to provide an overview of the ACP for interested stakeholders. The webinar will cover more information on the ACP, who is eligible, how to apply, ACP outreach grant opportunities, and a Q&A session. Visit here to register for the ACP Overview webinar.

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ODP Announcement 22-120 communicates that registration for the January – June 2023 Certified Investigator (CI) Initial Certification Course classes (also known as cohorts) are now open on MyODP. Due to continued concerns regarding COVID-19, the January – June 2023 CI Initial Certification cohorts of the course will be provided virtually rather than in person.

If you do not have a MyODP account, use the MyODP login page and follow the instructions under “Is this your first time here?” If you are not sure whether or not you have a MyODP account, contact MyODP Support or Kiyona Duncan.

For assistance with registration, contact Kiyona Duncan. For questions regarding course content, contact Amanda Black.

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ACL invites you to a webinar in their series on strengthening advocacy in the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Settings Rule, “Getting the Services You Need From the Waiver,” on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EST. Register for the webinar here.

The HCBS Settings Rule can improve community-based services and supports for people with disabilities and older adults for decades to come. This webinar will provide insight into one of the main strategies stakeholders can use to get the promise of the rule into everyday life: influencing the services that are included in the waiver application.

The webinar will highlight why you should pay attention to the waiver application and what is in an application, with a focus on Appendix C – Services. It will also look at what states have to put into the application and highlight best practices for commenting on your state’s waiver application.

Live captioning will be provided. A video replay and transcript will be made available following the event on ACL’s HCBS Settings Rule web page.

Speakers:

  • Jill Jacobs, Commissioner, Administration on Disabilities, ACL
  • Nancy Thaler, Senior Advisor, ACL
  • Laura Miller, Managing Attorney, Equip for Equality

Contact Erin Shea with any questions.

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