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Authors Posts by Hayley Myer

Hayley Myer

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Summer is flying by, and so, too, is the opportunity for early bird registration rates for the 2023 RCPA Annual Conference A Decade of Unity! Early bird rates end Friday, September 8, so be sure to register today and claim your seat, your hotel room, and your discount! View the full brochure for details as well as information on our roster of workshops, keynote speakers, and plenary sessions. You’ll be able to earn CEs from workshops such as:

  • Getting Past the First Meeting to the Contract Negotiation
    • Learn how to present a solution in health and human services to health plan payors based on what the payor needs and looks for.
  • Bridging Generational Differences in the Workplace
    • Explore the generational diversity in your workforce and how to leverage each generation’s strengths to your competitive advantage.
  • Transforming Organizational Wellness and Self-Advocacy Through an Evidenced-Based Practice: Improving the Lives of Employees and Individuals in Our Care
    • Identify the benefits of and methods for implementing a wellness program to improve employee wellness and support consumers and families served in MH/IDA.
  • Revealing the Potential of Smart Home Technologies for People With Disabilities Through Research and Resources
    • Examine smart home technologies, their uses for people with disabilities, and the expanding field of research and resources for the tech.
  • Our HAIR (Health Access Initiative for Recovery): Making a Difference With Health Equity
    • Listen to an in-depth overview of Community Care’s “Our HAIR” program, which was developed as a targeted intervention to address racial disparities in access to behavioral health care.
  • Implementing and Sustaining Evidence-Based Practices
    • Develop evidence-based practices for childhood trauma via CenClear’s Healing After Trauma program.
  • Selective Contracting or Managed Care: Either One Will Change Your World
    • Learn about the impact selective contracting and managed long-term services & supports will have on the IDD community.
  • Findings on Stakeholder Engagement for the PA Master Plan for Older Adults
    • Discuss what the Master Plan is intended to accomplish and learn of preliminary findings from the stakeholder engagement process.
Register today!

In addition to an impressive roster of speakers, our 2023 Conference will have an exciting array of sponsors and exhibitors. We thank those who have signed on thus far! If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting, visit here for more details or contact Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator, with any questions you may have. Keep up-to-date and register today for #rcpaconf!

For those in health and human services, keeping up-to-date with the latest in payment, treatment, and worker recruitment methods is essential. At the 2023 RCPA Annual Conference A Decade of Unity, you’ll have access to workshops that both highlight and educate on the latest developments in the field, including the use of AI, selective contracting, and telehealth. Our full brochure is available, and you can expect to see workshops such as the following:

  • Guiding the Use of Evidence-Based Practice to Drive Improved Quality Outcomes Across Levels of Care
    • Examine the use of evidence-based practices and the outcomes of value-based payment programs with the PA Opioid Use Disorder Centers of Excellence.
  • Recruitment and Retention of Front Line Workers
    • Focus on the HR challenges of recruiting and retaining workers by reviewing why workers are leaving and analyzing what HR can do to meet goals.
  • Preparing Your Organization’s Infrastructure for Selective Contracting for IDD Providers
    • Define what a preferred IDD provider is when it comes to selective contracting and discuss how to prepare for transitioning your organization’s infrastructure.
  • Not If But When You Use AI and Machine Learning – But is the AI Trustworthy? Some Things to Look For
    • Discuss AI use in the health and human services field in order to make informed decisions for your organization.
  • Connecting Through Movement: Bringing Accessible and Enjoyable Movement Experiences Into the Home and Community
    • Explore ways of staying physically active in community settings with home-based, telehealth methods.
  • A Brief Multi-Disciplinary Intervention for Supporting Adults With IDD and Co-Occurring Mental Health Conditions
    • Analyze the use of the ANSA-DD for holistic intervention and treatment for those with IDD and co-occurring mental health conditions.
  • Community Partnerships That Work: Community Mental Health Centers – School Districts
    • Identify the strengths in collaboration when school districts, community mental health agencies, and their communities work together to assist families struggling with violence and trauma.
  • Leadership and Navigating Change
    • Tackle resistance in a team that is going through significant adjustments and learn how to be a leader by focusing on the ‘people side’ of change.
Register today!

In addition to an impressive roster of speakers, our 2023 Conference will have an exciting array of sponsors and exhibitors. We thank those who have signed on thus far! If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting, visit here for more details or contact Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator, with any questions you may have. Keep up-to-date and register today for #rcpaconf!

If you haven’t registered yet for the 2023 RCPA Annual Conference A Decade of Unity, then don’t wait any longer! Our plenary sessions throughout the week are sure to inspire you with new ideas to tackle priorities in health and human services. Looking ahead, we have:

  • Returning speaker Michael Cohen, Esq., addressing practical ways for attracting high-caliber employees in a rapidly-changing job market;
  • A panel addressing the realities of the workforce crisis, featuring Tine Hansen-Turton of Woods Services, Toni Pergolin of Bancroft, Rita Gardner of Melmark, and Marco Giordano of Resources for Human Services; and
  • National updates from National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s Chuck Ingoglia as well as ANCOR’s Donna Martin.

Be sure to view our registration brochure to book your seat (and your hotel room) today!

We extend our thanks to those organizations that have already contributed and shown their support! Sponsor and exhibitor spots are filling up quickly, so complete the sponsor/exhibitor brochure today! As a reminder, sponsors, exhibitors, and advertisers who wish to be listed on the website, the mobile app, and in the conference program must submit all materials by September 8. In order to be considered for booth self-selection, a completed contract with payment must be submitted, and no reservation is considered complete without payment. If questions remain, please contact Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator.

Explore unique leadership and up-to-date support strategies in health and human services at the 2023 RCPA Annual Conference A Decade of Unity, as our speakers will be covering topics that touch on hoarding disabilities, handling subpoenas, and even tackling social anxiety with tabletop games! Held at the Hershey Lodge October 10 – 13, participants can earn CEs through these exciting and interactive workshops. Our full brochure is available, and below is a sampling of the many sessions being offered:

  • Hoarding Recovery and Maintenance Program
    • Learn about the Hoarding Recovery and Maintenance Program, which was designed to support individuals dealing with anxiety and stress as they let go of their hoarded possessions.
  • Make Difficult People Disappear: How to Reduce Stress and Eliminate Conflict in the Workplace
    • Obtain tricks and resources to not only managing stressful individuals but making them disappear without worsening the situation.
  • Investigating the Use of Tabletop Role-Playing Games as a Potential Therapeutic Intervention for Individuals With Social Anxiety
    • Discover how tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons can assist adults in dealing with anxiety, particularly social anxiety.
  • A Treatment Outcome Measurement System That Helps to Get & Keep Treatment Funding
    • Develop a simple yet effective treatment outcome measurement system in order to keep funding, including Medicaid funding.
  • Addressing Cultural Barriers to Treatment: How to Be Respectfully Curious When Working With Families
    • Address leadership tactics for being curious yet respectful when interacting with fellow employees in order to avoid causing more harm or enforcing one’s personal beliefs.
  • Subpoenas, Court Orders, and Requests for PHI: Obligations Under HIPAA, the MHPA, and Other Statutes
    • Delve into HIPAA and PA statues in order to learn about the complexities regarding subpoenas and court-related orders when working in health and human services.
  • Enabling Technology: The Why, What, and How Needed to Make it Happen
    • Understand how companies can improve organization capacity in order to provide up-to-date technology to disabled communities.
  • Leadership and Navigating Change
    • Tackle resistance in a team that is going through significant adjustments and learn how to be a leader by focusing on the ‘people side’ of change.
Register today!

In addition to an impressive roster of speakers, our 2023 Conference will have an exciting array of sponsors and exhibitors. We thank those who have signed on thus far! If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting, visit here for more details or contact Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator, with any questions you may have. Keep up-to-date and register today for #rcpaconf!

Join us at the 2023 RCPA Annual Conference A Decade of Unity for the latest in strategies and innovations within the health and human services sector. Held at the Hershey Lodge October 10 – 13, participants can earn CEs through workshops that will cover a wide variety of topics. Our full brochure is available, and we’ll be rounding out our first day at the lodge with:

  • Driving Pennsylvania’s Health Care Transformation: Integrating Perspectives for Advanced Patient-Centered Care
    • Discuss strategies and methods of health care system integration, including designing a roadmap for practical applications.
  • Purpose and Growth: Engaging and Retaining Your Teams in Challenging Times
    • Learn to retain employees in the face of generational gaps, the effects of the pandemic, and the economy by focusing on what they most want: purpose and growth.
  • Why Your Agency Needs A Specialized Telehealth Solution: Improving Health, Provider Cost Saving, Increased Satisfaction
    • Hear about StationMD and Mainstay Life Services’ telehealth partnership and how having a specialized telehealth solution can improve outcomes while lowering costs.
  • Data Strategies for Impact and System Transformation
    • Do more with your data by learning the stages of organizational development for data-informed decision-making.
  • Value-Based Purchasing: A Survival Guide
    • Review value-based purchasing and how it is a tool to be used to improve quality health care. This discussion will include best practices for utilizing data in real time.
  • Current Steps in Implementing Trauma-informed Care in Children’s MH RTFs
    • Learn about OMHSAS’s TIC Initiative for children’s mental health residential treatment facilities, which serves as part of PA’s commitment to becoming a trauma-informed state.
  • Individual Operations: Owning Your Own Influence
    • Understand what it means to be a leader and implement strategies that will strengthen your team, including utilizing and recognizing scheduling patterns, planning ahead, and knowing when to set and break boundaries.
  • Condition Support: Addressing Escalated Situations in the Health Care Setting
    • Analyze an overview of UPMC’s Conditional Support Process, which addresses patients or visitors who exhibit aggressive or hostile behaviors in order to protect medical professionals.
Register today!

In addition to an impressive roster of speakers, our 2023 Conference will have an exciting array of sponsors and exhibitors. We thank those who have signed on thus far! If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting, visit here for more details or contact Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator, with any questions you may have. Keep up-to-date and register today for #rcpaconf!

The 2023 RCPA Annual Conference A Decade of Unity plans to start off strong with a full lineup of workshops addressing current trends and ideas in health and human services. Held at the Hershey Lodge October 10 – 13, the conference will showcase a wide range of topics and host plenty of opportunities for CEUs. Our full brochure is available, and we’re starting off the week with sessions that include:

  • The Milieu Therapist Residency Program
    • Learn about UPMC Western Behavioral Health’s MT Residency program for bolstering staff confidence and increasing retention.
  • Restrictive Practices Across the States: Strategies to Advocate for Change
    • Listen to a panel of experts discuss the restrictions and inequities found in HCBS as well as practical solutions to tackling them.
  • Becoming a Data-Driven Provider: 10 Steps to Creating a Data-Driven Culture
    • Learn about Mainstay Life Services’ development of a “Data-Driven Culture,” including the initial state of infrastructure and tools used for implementation.
  • Devereux Ascend Career Accelerator Program
    • Explore professional development paths and ideas for your employees through the Devereux Ascend Career Accelerator Program.
  • Increasing Dental Care Access for the I/DD and ND Population With Visual Supports and Video Modeling
    • Discover new ways of using visual, audio, and video supports to support those with ID/A in accessing and addressing dental care.
  • The Happy Valley FitLink Approach to Inclusive Wellness
    • Improve health outcomes for those with neurodiversity and ID/A with daily fitness goals and activities.
  • OLTL Updates and Quality Initiatives
    • Engage with OLTL leadership to discuss quality initiatives, FY 2024 priorities, and more.

Be sure to register now to see these workshops in person and earn continuing education credits!

In addition to an amazing roster of speakers, our 2023 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. You can also contact Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator, with any questions you may have.

Today, June 5, members of the Coalition for the Preservation of Employment Choice and RCPA urged the PA General Assembly to preserve protections and programs meant for those with IDD, including preserving Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Those speaking detailed how a loss of such programs would limit those with IDD to education and workplace options.

Richard Edley, PhD, President and CEO of RCPA, defended the programs, stating, “When you systematically limit choice, you are taking away a basic principle of helping people with disabilities.”

Also speaking at the rally was Colleen Stuart, CEO of Venango Training and Development Center, Inc., President of the Coalition for the Preservation of Employment Choice, and incoming Board Chair for RCPA. Colleen spoke of those with IDD in the workforce and education, asserting, “Without adequate rates that cover the cost of services, they will lose this choice, as providers will not be able to maintain.”

George Gwilliam of Cori’s Place, who also serves as an RCPA Board Member, was present, as well, speaking on behalf of those with IDD who would be impacted by the loss of protections.

Read the full press release here.

RCPA held a Legislators’ Breakfast at the Capitol today, April 26, to discuss issues related to health and human services as well as to meet the new legislators. We thank everyone who attended, including Rep. Mike Schlossberg and Rep. Joanne Stehr, who both spoke with RCPA President and CEO Richard Edley.

 

 

 

 

 


RCPA Policy Directors were also in attendance. Policy Director Jason Snyder spoke with Sen. Christine Tartaglione, while Policy Directors Jim Sharp and Carol Ferenz spoke with Rep. Stephen Kinsey. Carol Ferenz then spoke with Rob Labatch of RCPA member Hope Enterprises, Inc. and Rep. Paul Takac. Policy Director Melissa Dehoff was also busy speaking with several representatives and members, including Rep. Lisa Borowski, Rep. Tarik Khan, Bridget Lowery of RCPA member Success Rehabilitation, Inc., and Jack Poplar of RCPA member Acadia Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Alongside RCPA Policy Directors was Board Member Susan Blue of Community Services Group. She spoke with several legislators, including Rep. Nancy Guenst, while Policy Director Jack Phillips spoke with Nick Troutman, who serves as Chief of Staff for Senator Yaw.

 

 

 

 

 


RCPA thanks its members who attended and spoke one-on-one with those who can shape the policies affecting health and human services. Employees of RCPA member Chimes Holcomb made an appearance, in addition to Hope Enterprises, Inc., Acadia Inc., and Success Rehabilitation, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 


We thank everyone who attended and supported our Legislators’ Breakfast. It was an incredible experience discussing health and human services in the Commonwealth while meeting all the new faces! We look forward to continuing to work with the legislature.