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Authors Posts by Jason Snyder

Jason Snyder

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Rep. Carrie Lewis DelRosso introduced legislation yesterday that would require the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs to promulgate regulations in any of the following instances that affect licensed drug and alcohol treatment providers:

  • The implementation of new or additional licensing requirements for drug and alcohol facilities;
  • The implementation of new or additional drug and alcohol staff credentialing requirements;
  • The implementation of new or additional drug and alcohol counselor staffing ratios; and
  • The implementation of new or major programmatic changes and requirements imposed on drug and alcohol facilities, including the requirement of adding programs that significantly increase the cost of delivering care and meeting staffing requirements.

The legislation includes any proposed regulatory requirement not currently in effect or any regulatory requirement that the General Assembly has delayed through legislation, meaning the PA-specific requirements of the ASAM transition could not be implemented until approved through a regulatory review process.

The House Human Services Committee is scheduled to vote on the bill Tuesday, October 26. Rep. Frank Farry, Chairman of the Committee, is a co-sponsor of the bill.

If the bill becomes law before January 1, it would bring much needed relief to a treatment system already struggling with major workforce issues and chronic underfunding.

Contact Jason Snyder, Director of RCPA’s Drug and Alcohol Division, with any questions.

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The Wolf Administration today announced creation of the Interagency Substance Use Response Team (ISURT), a new tool for collaboration across state government to combat the disease of addiction. ISURT replaces the Opioid Command Center (OCC), which was originally created under the governor’s opioid disaster declaration. In replacing the current OCC structure, this newly-established group will shift its focus from solely opioids to all SUDs due to the increase in polysubstance use, stimulant use, and additional SUDs emerging in Pennsylvania.

For more information, contact the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

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The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), in partnership with Shatterproof, will be implementing the ATLAS® (Addiction Treatment Locator, Analysis, and Standards) platform in Pennsylvania over the coming months. This free, multistate, web-based platform will help ensure that Pennsylvanians are able to quickly and easily access addiction treatment resources and information that meets their individual needs. Shatterproof will be contacting providers later this month with instructions for the completion of the Treatment Data Survey. Provider participation in ATLAS is not mandatory.

For more information about the ATLAS implementation, including dates for ATLAS Provider Roundtable Webinars, please read DDAP’s letter.

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Pulling from the fields of research, advocacy, policy, and practice, the National Council is launching a new interest group for members to explore the latest innovation and guidance from across the field and throughout the full continuum of substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery.

For more information on the Substance Use Interest Group and other interest groups, visit National Council’s website. As a reminder, membership in RCPA includes National Council membership.

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More than $12 million in federal grant funding for services and supports designed to improve outcomes for individuals in recovery from substance use disorder has been awarded to Pennsylvania grantees.

The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) will administer funding to grantees to provide employment support services, expand and enhance community recovery supports, and provide supports services to pregnant women and postpartum women in recovery from SUD. The grants are part of $55 million in federal funding awarded to Pennsylvania through the SAMHSA Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Program COVID-19 Supplemental Awards.

Please read the press release.

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On Friday, October 1, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) resubmitted to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) its Final-Omitted Regulations on Standards for Drug and Alcohol Recovery House Licensure, as well as its response to IRRC’s disapproval order of Aug. 24, 2021.

The regulations are publicly available on IRRC’s website.

The submitted regulatory package includes the updated regulations (p. 98–129), as well as:

  • a regulatory analysis (p. 1–12);
  • IRRC’s disapproval order (p. 86–92);
  • DDAP’s response to IRRC’s disapproval order (p. 93–97);
  • a preamble that includes public comments and DDAP’s response to comments (p. 48–85);
  • a sample recovery house licensing application (p. 13–14);
  • a sample recovery house licensing checklist (p. 15–22); and
  • additional DDAP forms (p. 23–35), as well as a description of forms that must be provided by the recovery house (p. 36–46).

The above linked documents reflect the changes made to the regulations since DDAP appeared at IRRC’s public meeting in July. The revised regulations are scheduled to be considered at IRRC’s next public meeting on Thursday, October 21.

Upcoming Timeline:

  • DDAP expects that the new regulations will be in effect by October 2021.
  • DDAP expects to require compliance with the new regulations by April 2022.

Which Recovery Houses Will Need a License?

Once the new licensing program is in place, drug and alcohol recovery houses must have a license to:

  1. Receive referrals from state agencies or state-funded facilities; or
  2. Receive federal or state funding to deliver recovery house services.

In addition, the law imposes two additional requirements on referrals to recovery houses:

  1. People whose treatment is funded with state or federal funds shall only to be referred to licensed recovery houses.
  2. Courts shall give first consideration to licensed recovery houses when residential recommendations are made for individuals under their supervision.

Additional information on drug and alcohol recovery house licensing can be found here.

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Rep. Seth Grove, chair of the House State Government Committee, has reintroduced legislation that would eliminate Pennsylvania’s HealthChoices behavioral health carve-out and instead integrate physical and behavioral health care into one managed care program. On Thursday, his bill (HB 1940) was referred to the House Health Committee.

In 2018, RCPA wrote a position paper in support of continuing the behavioral health carve-out. In 2019, RCPA signed onto a letter from the Coalition to Preserve Behavioral HealthChoices opposing what was then HB 335.

Read Rep. Grove’s co-sponsorship memo.

Read HB 1940.

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The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) sent out guidance on June 14, 2021 regarding three temporary regulatory suspensions granted by the governor’s declaration of a disaster emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. House Bill 1861, which was signed into law today by Governor Wolf, further extends those regulatory suspensions from September 30, 2021 until March 31, 2022 unless terminated sooner. In addition to the suspensions noted in DDAP’s previous communication, one additional regulatory suspension from the Department of State, also relevant to the field, is added to the chart below and also suspended until March 31, 2022.

Statute/Regulation Statute/Regulation Purpose Waiver benefit/explanation
28 Pa. Code § 715.16(e) Prohibits narcotic treatment programs (NTPs–methadone clinics) from permitting a patient to receive more than a 2-week take-home supply of medication. In response to COVID-19, SAMHSA is allowing up to 28 days of take-home medications for patients on stable dosages, if the physician deems appropriate.
28 Pa. Code § 715.9(a)(4) Requires NTPs to make a face-to-face determination before admission to treatment, for those clients who will receive buprenorphine treatment. In response to COVID-19, SAMHSA is allowing initial evaluations for a patient who will be treated with buprenorphine to be completed via telehealth.
28 Pa. Code § 715.6(d) Requires NTPs to have narcotic treatment physician services onsite. In response to COVID-19, SAMHSA is allowing initial evaluations for a patient who will be treated with buprenorphine to be completed via telehealth.
49 Pa. Code § 16.92(b)(1)

(Department of State)

 Before a patient can be prescribed any controlled substance in Pennsylvania, a person licensed to practice medicine and surgery in the commonwealth, or otherwise licensed or regulated by the State Board of Medicine, must take an initial medical history and conduct an initial physical examination,

unless emergency circumstances justify otherwise.

 In response to COVID-19, the Department of State suspended the initial medical history and physical examination requirement specifically for the treatment of opioid-use disorder with buprenorphine.

Please email the Bureau of Program Licensure or call (717) 783-8675 with questions.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) announce a funding opportunity to support the implementation of evidence-based approaches to prevent overdose, substance use disorders (SUD), adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and other potentially traumatic events in the homes and families of those most at risk of overdose. Through this funding opportunity, NACCHO and CDC will award up to seven applicants to implement or expand programs that prevent SUD or overdose and that also have the potential to simultaneously prevent ACEs within the selected communities and populations of focus. Applicants may request up to $450,000.

For full details about the funding opportunity, please review the Request for Applications. Please email your questions about the RFA and application process.

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The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), along with partners from other state agencies and treatment providers across the continuum, is beginning a monthly ASAM technical assistance series. Each month, DDAP and its partners will present up-to-date information regarding ASAM alignment or will provide training on a specific topic related to ASAM alignment. This is a time-limited series running monthly from October 2021 to October 2022 with the purpose of providing resources, training, and information to support providers with ASAM alignment across all levels of care.

More information, including dates, times, and other frequently asked questions, is available here.

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