RCPA Member Via of the Lehigh Valley Celebrates DSP Recognition Week With Their Spruce Awards
Carol Ferenz
Free Job Posting Redo Service Provided by RCPA Member MITC for DSP Week
It’s Direct Support Professional Recognition Week!
Early Bird Registration for the 2022 RCPA Conference Ends Today!
Early bird registration for the 2022 RCPA Conference Together! ends today! Be sure to register now to see our exciting workshops in person and earn continuing education credits. You won’t want to miss taking advantage of this opportunity!
Gathering in person at the Hershey Lodge October 11 – 14, 2022, attendees will see and learn from presenters from health and human services organizations all across Pennsylvania. Our full brochure is available, and some of our upcoming workshops include:
- Employment Strategies for Those With Prader Willi Syndrome
- Presented by Lisa Svidron of Mainstay Life Services
- TCV Community Services and Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health — A Case Study in Effective Affiliation
- Presented by Carl E. Clark II, Fran Sheedy Bost, and Robert Dunne of Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health
- Implementing Trauma-Informed Care in Children’s Mental Health Residential Treatment in Pennsylvania
- Presented by Gordon R. Hodas and Caren L. Rosser-Morris of OMHSAS
- Preparing for a Value-Based Payment (VBP) Future in Substance Use Treatment in PA: Using the Centers of Excellence (COE) as an Example
- Presented by David Loveland of Community Care Behavioral Health
- Managing Unique Challenges for Clients in the Workplace
- Presented by Thomas Tirney of Arlington Heritage Group
- Do Private Equity-Funded Start-ups and Services Have an Advantage Over Legacy Nonprofit Provider Organizations?
- Presented by Stacy DiStefano of Consulting for Human Services
- Ethical Considerations of Guardianship
- Presented by Lesley Mehalick of McAndrews, Mehalick, Connolly, Hulse and Ryan, PC
Note that sessions will be recorded to allow registered participants to view content after the event concludes.
In addition to an amazing roster of speakers, our 2022 Conference will have an exciting array of sponsors and exhibitors. We thank those who have committed to our conference thus far! If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting, visit here for more details.
We’d like to give a special shoutout to our Connections Hall sponsor Beacon Health Options as well as our Welcome Reception sponsor UPMC Community Care Behavioral Health Organization. Thank you for your support!
Questions about the conference may be directed to Carol Ferenz or Sarah Eyster, Conference Coordinators.
Philadelphia Health Law Project Resource: Writing a Letter of Medical Necessity
The Pennsylvania Health Law Project (PHLP) has a new resource for health care providers that explains how to write a strong letter of medical necessity when requesting Personal Assistance Services (PAS).
The brochure includes some sample language that may be useful in describing your medial opinion. The guide outlines seven key steps:
- Introduce Yourself and Why You’re Writing
- Describe Your Patient
- Explain WHY the Requested PAS Hours Are Medically Necessary
- Expand on Your Opinion With Helpful Details
- Restate Your Conclusion
- Proofread
- Sign, Date, & Deliver
The Nuts and Bolts of Job Coaching Training
The Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education is pleased to announce the following training opportunity:
The Nuts and Bolts of Job Coaching
Online Course
October 10, 2022 – December 5, 2022
This self-paced, five module, online course provides participants with relevant information regarding the role of a Job Coach to support students in community-based work settings.
Target Audience: Paraprofessionals, other support staff, teachers, transition coordinators, special education directors, or anyone interested in this topic.
Registration Information
Please register online by visiting the PaTTAN website.
For registration questions, contact:
Kristen Olszyk, 800-446-5607 x6848
For content related questions, contact:
Kaylee Wynkoop, 800-446-5607 x6888
Continuing Education Credit
Act 48 Clock Hours, Paraeducator Professional Development Hours
Individuals participating in this course must successfully complete and submit all required coursework before the end date of this course to receive Act 48 Professional Education hours and Paraeducator Professional Development hours.
Direct Support Professional (DSP) Recognition Week September 11–17, 2022
Governor Tom Wolf has signed an official proclamation dedicating the week of September 11 through September 17, 2022, as Direct Support Professional (DSP) Recognition Week. The proclamation, available to read here, recognizes the vital contributions DSPs provide to address the physical and mental health of individuals with disabilities as well as veterans and senior citizens. Furthermore, the Governor recognizes the immense care it takes for DSPs to develop close, respectful, and trusted relationships with those they support.
Please share any of your celebration pictures of stories with Carol Ferenz!
Still looking for ideas? To support efforts to celebrate your DSPs, ANCOR has compiled a few resources to help you say “thanks” and raise awareness about the important role DSPs play in helping people with disabilities access their community. These resources include customizable social media posts, creative ideas for celebrating DSP Recognition Week, and a DSP Recognition Week Store. Access the toolkit, and please use #DSPRW2022 in your social media postings!
Restrictive Procedures in the Adult Autism Waiver (AAW)
ODP Announcement 22-103 serves to inform Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) providers that there are specific regulations regarding restrictive procedures that must be followed. The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has been made aware that some AAW providers are implementing restrictive procedure plans for individuals being served in AAW without a corresponding BSP documented in the ISP in HCSIS. This practice is not allowed.
A restrictive procedure must always be part of the behavioral support component of the ISP as required by the AAW. In the AAW, the BSP is included in the ISP in HCSIS. The Desired Behavioral Outcomes (DBOs) of the BSP must be consistent with the Behavior Support Specialist service goals and objectives.
There must be an active Behavior Support Specialist goal for each DBO, and each Behavior Support Specialist goal must have a DBO. Additionally, every Behavior Support Specialist goal must have a corresponding Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) chart and be reported on at least quarterly in a Quarterly Progress Note (QPN).
To have a restrictive procedure plan in place for an AAW participant, the Behavior Support Specialist service must be in the ISP Service Details so that a BS qualified to provide services in the AAW can develop, implement, and train staff on the participant’s BSP and CIP with the goal of fading all restrictive procedures over time.
In the AAW, the Behavioral Specialist Service (BSS) is not bundled with the Residential Habilitation service as it is with other ODP waivers. Therefore, to meet the requirements above, AAW participants who are receiving residential habilitation services and have a restrictive procedure plan in place must also have active BSS authorized in their ISP. This ensures an AAW qualified BS is working with the participant when a restrictive procedure plan is in place.
Please refer to Chapter 6100 regulations § 6100.341 – 6100.346, Bulletin 00-21-01 Guidance for Human Rights Teams and Human Rights Committees and Attachment 2 — Individual Plans and Informed Consent for additional information. Any questions should be sent to the AAW Provider Support Inbox.
Report: Nearly 7 Million More Direct-Care Workers Will Be Needed Over This Decade
HCSIS 90.05 Release Newsletter Is Now Available
ODP Announcement 22-102 announces that the Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS) 90.05 Release Newsletter is available under the HCSIS Communique hyperlink found on the Learning Management System (LMS) located on the HCSIS home page.
Work items to highlight in this release include:
- Users being able to select the following incident statuses in the Incident Management Review Report: Select All, Open or Closed, Open, Closed, and Deleted;
- The Incident Detail Screen has been updated to include a font color change to indicate that an incident document is late or has been submitted late;
- The Created by Date has been replaced with the Submission Date on the workload dashboard; and
- The Incident Print Summary displays Status, Created Date, Due Date, Submitted Date, and Last Edit Date for all documents contained in the report.
It is important to note that the Due Date and Time is only displayed for the First Section document. For all other documents, the system only displays the Due Date. The number of report extensions filed for the Final Section is under the Incident Final Section document information.
Please review the HCSIS Release 90.05 Newsletter as part of this Announcement and also located on the secure LMS Home and Community website for more information. If you do not have an LMS Login ID and Password, contact your Business Partner Administrator (also known as your “BP Admin”).
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