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Authors Posts by Carol Ferenz

Carol Ferenz

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Today, ID/A associations met with Secretary Arkoosh and Dep. Secretary Kristin Ahrens to better understand the FY 2024–25 budget. The Secretary expressed gratitude for our collective advocacy over the past year. She relayed that this budget was a hard-fought battle. Although DHS did not receive the proposed amount, $354 million in new funding is a significant investment. The administration is committed to eliminating the emergency waiting list and made it clear Performance-Based Contracting is moving forward. The administration is committed to building a stronger system and wants to continue to work on these priorities together.

Here are a few technical updates regarding the FY 2024–25 budget:

  1. New rates are anticipated to be published on August 31st, to be effective October 1st, and retroactive to July 1st
    1. Non-residential rates expected to go up by 8% across the board
    2. Residential rates expected to go up by 6% across the board
    3. Providers are encouraged to bill at the current rates and expect a gross adjustment sometime after October 1st
  2. Changes to PBC are anticipated to be published on July 26th as follows:
    1. The rate add-on for clinically enhanced providers is expected to be 5%
    2. The rate add-on for select providers is expected to be 3%
    3. Pay for performance is expected to receive more funding, in order to open more categories for select and clinically enhanced providers

For any questions, contact Richard Edley or Carol Ferenz.

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ODP Announcement 24-069 provides an update to all stakeholders about the status of the Performance-Based Contracting (PBC) 1915(b)4 Waiver and 1915(c) Waiver amendment submissions to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has changed the date for submission of proposed waiver changes to CMS to Friday, July 26, 2024.

Due to the delay in submitting the waivers, ODP has also rescheduled the July 22 webinar for residential providers to Monday, July 29, from 9:00 am – 10:00 am. In this session, ODP will review revisions to the proposed waiver submissions and implementation plan, supporting documents, and instructions for tier determination and provider data submission. Anyone previously registered does not need to re-register and can expect an email notification of the change. If you are unable to attend on July 29, ODP requests that you unregister. This session will be recorded and posted on MyODP at the Performance-Based Contracting – MyODP page.

Register for the webinar here. Please direct any questions about this information electronically.

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Message from the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP):

Dear ODP Licensed Providers,

There is a worldwide Microsoft outage impacting many applications you may rely on for operations. This link will direct you to a Microsoft Forms questionnaire for you to report any impacts to critical functions. We would like you to complete the questionnaire as soon as you receive it, but at the latest by 1:00 pm today, July 19, 2024, or as soon as possible.

We are asking that all licensed providers complete the questionnaire even if you are not currently experiencing any interruptions. Licensed providers only need to complete the form one time, so please coordinate within your agency to ensure there is not duplication of reporting efforts.

Please be advised that the questionnaire was written to collect information across all Department of Human Services programs, so language may not be reflective of individual program offices.

If you are experiencing issues and require assistance, please reach out to your regional program office.

Thank you for your cooperation with this activity.

Lauren A. House
Director, Bureau of Community Services
Department of Human Services | Office of Developmental Programs
625 Forster Street Room 412 | Harrisburg, PA 17120
DHS Website
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

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The Institute on Disabilities at Temple University is inviting people to participate in a paid interview about the Direct Support Professional (DSP) workforce.

Who can participate?

  • Current and former Direct Support Professionals (DSP) or Support Service Professionals (SSP).
  • Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) or their family members with experience of migration and/or the DSP workforce crisis.
  • Direct support providers.

View the flyer for details about this project, including why and how to participate. To schedule an interview or learn more, please contact the team via email or at 215-204-7177.

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With the passing of the FY 2024/25 PA budget last week, intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism (ID/A) associations are attempting to obtain clarity regarding its impact on services. The Governor’s Office announced, however, that the scheduled meeting to review these impacts has been postponed in order to allow the Department of Human Services (DHS) more time to analyze the details of the budget. The Governor’s Office shared the following message:

The Commonwealth’s enacted FY24-25 budget includes a philosophical shift in how Pennsylvania approaches service delivery for individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism – a much needed and overdue course change to invest in dignity and opportunity for this community. In February, Governor Shapiro announced the intent to tackle the waiting list for services with a new approach, the Multi-Year ODP Program Growth Strategy. Accompanying this structural change is a substantial investment in services for individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism totaling $354.8M combined state and federal funds – an investment that supports providers, direct support professionals, and families who help make our vision of Everyday Lives a reality.

Included in the total funding is $280M in federal and state funds, which averages 7 percent rate increases for FY24-25. DHS is continuing the analysis of the funds appropriated for FY24-25 for ID/A services and how this will reflect in final rates that will take effect for FY24-25. Also included is an investment of $74.8M in combined federal and state funds for FY24-25 to put the commonwealth on a path to end the emergency waiting list by offering 1,500 adults enrollment in the Consolidated or Community Living Waivers and altering the management of home and community-based services capacity.

In addition to rate increases, the enacted budget includes funding for the implementation of performance-based contracting and the addition of sign language interpretation services. Performance-based contracting is scheduled to be implemented for residential services beginning in FY24-25. Sign language services will be added to ODP’s home and community-based waivers beginning January 1, 2025, pending approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

We know there is great interest to further discuss the impact of the enacted budget on your programs and services. DHS will provide additional information to stakeholders related to the necessary recalculation for the fee schedule rates for FY24-25 and performance-based contracting upon completion of the analysis.

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