National Council for Mental Wellbeing Annual Membership Meeting Registration
Emma Sharp
Child Welfare Case Management System Pause Announced
The following is a message from the Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF):
Effective immediately, due to a federal funding pause, OCYF has been directed to halt work with Accenture, the System Integrator for the Child Welfare Case Management (CWCM) system. This pause is due to concern raised by our federal partners at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) that must be resolved prior to our resuming work. The Department of Human Services/OCYF remains fully committed to developing a single case management solution to be used by both the state and all counties, rather than continuing to fund both the statewide Child Welfare Information Solution (CWIS) and the individual county systems.
As you know, Pennsylvania does not have a unified statewide case management system. Instead, we maintain a statewide repository that houses all reports of suspected child abuse (CPS), General Protective Services (GPS) reports, and the outcomes of those reports. Day-to-day case management and service information, however, resides within the counties’ own systems. Currently, five different county case management systems are in use across Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
Developing and implementing a CWCM system remains a top priority, as it will enhance data quality and accountability, improve efficiency, and support better outcomes.
The CWCM Steering Committee — which includes OCYF and county representatives — has been reviewing the multi-phase implementation plan to ensure a responsible rollout. There is consensus on the first two phases: (1) Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) compliance and (2) replacing CWIS. Next week’s Steering Committee meeting will still be held to gather participating county partner feedback. We believe strong partnership between county children and youth agencies and the state is essential to achieving our shared vision for CWCM.
To reiterate, this is a pause. We are committed to developing a path forward that will ultimately eliminate the need for counties to maintain and fund individual case management systems — freeing up resources for other critical needs. The current federated model is not sustainable given the costs and the time and effort required to update legacy systems.
This is all the information we can share at this time. We recognize counties may have additional questions about what this means, and we will continue to communicate more information about the next steps as it becomes available.
Please contact Emma Sharp with any questions.
Suicide Prevention Month Guide for September
The Jana Marie Foundation, Aevidum, Prevent Suicide PA, STAR-Center at the University of Pittsburgh, and Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) Youth Suicide Prevention Grant are pleased to share a resource guide for National Suicide Prevention Month. This September, the week of September 7 – 13 is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Week, with Wednesday, September 10 marking World Suicide Prevention Day. This year’s theme is a continuation from last year’s theme of “Changing the Narrative on Suicide,” with a call to action to “Continue the Conversation.”
The guide provides a variety of suicide prevention resources and activities that you can implement in your organization or community to raise awareness about suicide prevention. This includes infographics, ideas for events, social media posts, virtual backgrounds, a sample proclamation, and more.
We encourage you to share this resource guide with partners in your communities that can work together to save lives.
DHS and PDE Issue Update on Federal Guidance for Students in Foster Care
The Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services are pleased to share a Dear Colleague letter regarding important updates to federal non-regulatory guidance for students in foster care placement.
This updated guidance, issued jointly by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), represents the first significant update to federal guidance since the enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015.
Please see the letter for details about this announcement, and thank you for your continued dedication to supporting students in foster care.
Please contact Emma Sharp with any questions.
OCYF to Review Proposed Chapter 3900 Regulations
Providers are invited to attend a virtual informational session regarding the proposed regulatory chapters for Residential Services for Children. This session will provide highlights of the key changes being proposed to regulations governing child residential settings (including parent/child settings and outdoor programs), secure detention, and secure residential facilities. These proposed regulatory chapters are identified as:
- 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3900 Child and Youth Facility Requirements
- 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3910 Child Residential Facilities
- 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3920 Secure Residential and Secure Detention Facilities for Youth
These proposed regulatory chapters currently are under review within the Governor’s Office, and the Office of Children, Youth, Families (OCYF) is projecting publication in the last quarter of calendar year 2025. There will be a 60-day comment period following publication of the proposed regulations.
In advance of publication, however, OCYF is extending the opportunity to attend an informational session to highlight proposed key changes to existing practices.
DATE: There are two dates you can attend. The content will be the same at each session.
TIME: 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm (the same for both sessions)
RCPA, as part of the Children’s Residential Services and Children’s MH Division, will be assembling a regulatory review team as part of the regulatory promulgation and public comment process. RCPA has performed a similar review for the PRTF, Crisis, IBHS, and Outpatient Psychiatric processes, as well as a host of other DHS regulatory efforts.
If you are interested in being a part of this review, please contact RCPA Mental Health Policy Associate Emma Sharp. RCPA will convene a Chapter 3900 Work Group within a week of the OCYF presentation.
DHS Seeks Feedback on Commonwealth’s Rural Health Transformation Plan
Thank you for your participation in Pennsylvania’s rural health ecosystem, including those who attended a regional rural health summit. As a next step, DHS is gathering information, concepts, and additional ideas to shape the Commonwealth’s Rural Health Transformation Plan and reflect what they heard from rural providers, partners, and residents.
What DHS is asking for:
- Information and concepts in these summit-affirmed areas: Maternal Health, Mental and Behavioral Health, Aging and Access, Transportation and EMS, and the Rural Healthcare Workforce.
- Other ideas that improve access to care in rural communities, even if they fall outside those five areas.
Who can submit:
- Hospitals and health systems;
- Healthcare professionals;
- FQHCs and rural health clinics;
- State offices of rural health;
- Grantees providing services in rural areas;
- Healthcare leadership and administrators;
- Healthcare consumers;
- Community action organizations;
- Public and private business owners and organizations;
- EMS and transportation providers;
- Behavioral health, aging, and disability services partners, county commissioners, and other local or state government representatives, single county authorities, economic development organizations, professional organizations, community-based and faith-based organizations, philanthropy, and higher education and health provider training partners; and
- Other interested parties.
What to include:
Information to assist DHS in enhancing and transforming rural health, including core concepts, target problems, or opportunities for improvement, intended impact and success metrics, evidence or prior experiences, feasibility of ideas for rural settings, partners, costs and resources, innovation or adaptation, and sustainability.
Submit by: August 29, 2025
Find the Form Here
Questions or Accessibility Needs: Email
DHS may use the information gathered through this process in the development of future implementation; however, the Departments do not guarantee that this will occur.
Respondents should be aware that the responses will be public information and that no claims of confidentiality will be honored. DHS is not requesting, and does not require, confidential, proprietary information, or other competitively sensitive information to be included as part of a submission. Ownership of all data, material and documentation originated, prepared, and provided to the Departments during this process will belong exclusively to the Departments.
Please contact your RCPA Policy Director with any questions.
FFY 2026/27 Community Mental Health Block Grant Application Open for Public Comment
The FFY 2026/27 Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (CMHSBG) Draft Pennsylvania Application is now available for public comment. The CMHSBG is federal block grant funding that assists states in providing community-based services to adults with Serious Mental Illness and children with Severe Emotional Disturbance. This application provides a review of the current strengths and needs in the Pennsylvania mental health system and plans priority areas for improvement. The priorities were developed in consultation with representatives from the Pennsylvania Mental Health Planning Council. The CMHSBG Application public comment period will remain open until August 25, 2025.
Please access the application using the Webbgas Citizen’s login using the below credentials.
- Login: citizenpa
- Password: citizen
Submit any comments on this application to the CMHSBG Resource inbox.
RCPA is open to submitting members’ comments and feedback via our organization’s response to the public feedback process. If you would like to have RCPA submit comments on behalf of your agency, please contact RCPA Policy Associate Emma Sharp with any questions.
MHSN Urges General Assembly to Pass Budget
The Mental Health Safety Net Coalition (MHSN) is a group of stakeholders participating in a joint advocacy effort to protect and preserve our mental health service delivery system. This week’s communication urges the General Assembly to end the budget impasse to ensure the system’s ability to provide care. Without a budget, community mental health services will not receive any payment, putting vulnerable Pennsylvanians at risk.
The full letter can be read here.
Please contact Emma Sharp with any questions or if you are interested in joining the coalition.
OMAP Deputy Secretary Kozak Recognized for Excellence in Medicaid Leadership
Pennsylvania’s Office of Medical Assistance Programs (OMAP) Deputy Secretary Sally Kozak has been featured in the Center for Health Care Strategies’ Lessons in Leadership series, which shares stories from public sector leaders from across the country. Deputy Secretary Kozak shares how she has prioritized mentorship in her career to ensure sustainability beyond any one person and offers a blueprint for how intentional, adaptive mentoring can create lasting change for individuals and the institutions they serve.
Read the full article here.
Rural Health Transformation Program Overview
H.R. 1 created a $50 billion fund called the Rural Health Transformation program in an attempt to offset the losses that rural health providers will experience associated with the other devastating cuts to health care in the legislation.
Each state must complete a one-time application for the five-year program to be reviewed by CMS. Many aspects of the application are still undecided, including the submission period, due date, state entity that must submit the application, and the form of the application. The RHTP application must include a plan to describe how the state would use the funds to:
- Improve access to hospitals and other providers for rural residents;
- Improve health care outcomes of rural residents;
- Prioritize the use of new and emerging technologies that emphasize prevention and chronic disease management;
- Initiate, foster, and strengthen local and regional strategic partnerships between rural hospitals and other providers to promote quality improvement, increase financial stability, maximize economies of scale, and share best practices;
- Recruit and retain clinicians,
- Prioritize data and technology driven solutions that help rural providers furnish health care services as close to the patient’s home as possible;
- Outline strategies to manage long-term financial solvency and operating models of rural hospitals; and
- Identify specific causes that are driving standalone rural hospitals to close, convert, or reduce service lines.
The funds will be distributed between 2026 and 2030, allotting $10 billion each year. $25 billion of this fund will be allocated equally among all states with an approved application by CMS. Assuming that all fifty states are approved, each state will receive a minimum of $100 million per year for five years. The other $25 billion will be distributed to states with an approved application in an amount determined by CMS based upon the state’s rural population, proportion of healthcare facilities in rural areas, and the situation of hospitals that serve a high proportion of low-income patients.
The bill lists several allowable uses of the PHTP funds:
- Promoting evidence-based, measurable interventions to improve prevention and chronic disease management;
- Providing payments to health care providers for the provision of health care items or services as specified by CMS;
- Promoting consumer-facing, technology-driven solutions for the prevention and management of chronic diseases;
- Providing training and technical assistance for the development and adoption of technology-enables solutions that improve care delivery in rural hospitals, including remote monitoring, robotics, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies;
- Recruiting and retaining clinical workforce talent to rural areas, with commitments to serve rural communities for a minimum of five years;
- Providing technical assistance, software, and hardware for significant information technology advances designed to improve efficiency, enhance cybersecurity capability development, and improve patient health outcomes;
- Assisting rural communities to right-size their healthcare delivery systems by identifying needed preventative, ambulatory, pre-hospital, emergency, acute inpatient care, outpatient care, and post-acute care service lines;
- Supporting access to opioid use disorder treatment services, other substance use disorder treatment services, and mental health services;
- Developing projects that support innovative models of care that include value-based care arrangements and alternative payment models as appropriate; and
- Additional uses designed to promote sustainable access to high quality rural health care services, as determined by the Administrator.
RCPA will continue to share information on the program and applications as it becomes available. Contact Emma Sharp with any questions.
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