DHS Releases Annual 2022/2023 Executive Budget
Jim Sharp
Funding Update: Round 4 of Federal Provider Relief Fund Payments
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is making more than $560 million in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 General Distribution payments to more than 4,100 providers across the country this week. Providers will receive an email notification by Thursday, February 24 if their application was among those processed in this latest batch. HRSA is working to review all remaining applications as quickly as possible.
With today’s announcement, a total of nearly $11.5 billion in PRF Phase 4 payments has now been distributed to more than 78,000 providers in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and five territories. This is in addition to HRSA’s distribution of American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments, totaling nearly $7.5 billion in funding to more than 44,000 providers since November 2021.
Learn More
- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a press release on February 24 and an updated state-by-state table detailing all Phase 4 payments made to date.
- As individual providers agree to the terms and conditions of Phase 4 payments, it will be reflected on the public dataset.
If you have any further questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.
RCPA Joins CCAP in County-Based Mental Health Funding Campaign
The sustained funding of community-based mental health services, such as community residential programs, family-based support, outpatient care, and crisis intervention, are critical to the wellbeing of our constituents and our communities. Funding levels for county mental health services have direct impacts on whether these important community and family supports will be available. Yet for too many years, state funding for mental health services has lagged far behind its needs. Counties find themselves advocating to prevent funds from being cut instead of achieving the increases that are needed to catch up from years of underfunding.
This year, RCPA and other system stakeholders have teamed with the County Commissioner Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) through the Mental Health Safety Net Coalition. We join this campaign to bring awareness of the critical funding needs of mental health services for vulnerable Pennsylvanians. We ask our members, stakeholders, and partners to join us in this collaborative effort by engaging with your legislators. “County mental health services provide a critical piece to the public safety net for people in need,” notes Richard S. Edley, PhD, President and CEO of RCPA. “The system sustained cuts over a decade ago with little relief since then. It is time to restore those dollars and further enhance the system. Not only will it provide critical funding for the individuals receiving services, but there are positive benefits — both financially and clinically — to the entire community.”
The time to act is now for engaging with your representative, as local communities and providers have come together to sustain the safety net and serve those who need it most. The reality is that the demand for service far outweighs capacity and rate structures to serve this population. CCAP has created the following materials to assist in providing strategic talking points for our outreach:
- Appropriate Funding to Support the Crumbling Mental Health System – FAQ
- Mental Health Community Base Investment: Key Talking Points for Community Coalition
If you have further thoughts or questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.
OCYF Offers Registration Discount at National Conferences on Children’s Law
The American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law invites you to attend their national conferences to be held in person April 5–8, 2022, in Tysons Corner, Virginia (a suburb of Washington, DC). Thanks to the generosity of the PA Department of Human Services’ Office of Children, Youth, and Families, the ABA Permanency and Education Barriers Projects are pleased to offer a 50% discount on registration fees for either one or both of these conferences to all attorneys or child welfare professionals currently practicing in Pennsylvania. Please see the flyer for more information, including a link to the agendas, registration information, and a hotel discount.
PDE/DHS/OCDEL Policy Clarification on HHS Head Start Vaccine Mandate
PDE and DHS are offering the following policy clarification on the Head Start/Early Head Start vaccination mandate:
PDE and DHS are cognizant of the staffing challenges that many providers are facing. Providers are thus encouraged to work creatively to ensure that children continue to receive a free and appropriate public education during these trying times. In this regard, providers should examine whether unvaccinated individuals may continue to provide services in accordance with an allowable exemption, and, where appropriate, consider whether parental agreement to alternative delivery of services may be prudent.
OCDEL has clarified that this is to include all individuals working with Head Start enrolled children and families, including early intervention and behavioral health. OCDEL further requests that agencies work with Head Start partners to address this requirement and asks for support considerations, including; encouraging staff and contractors to become fully vaccinated; working to identify fully vaccinated EI personnel to support children in Head Start; when possible, working to provide written assurance to Head Start partners to only send fully vaccinated staff and contractors to go into classrooms; and exploring technological solutions to help support children within their Head Start classroom activities and routines.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has implemented an Interim Final Rule (IFR) requiring all staff who work with Head Start/Early Head Start (Head Start) children and families in any capacity to be vaccinated. According to HHS guidance, this includes those individuals who do not have any contact with children. The IFR also requires contractors whose activities involve contact with or providing direct services to Head Start children and families and volunteers in classrooms or working directly with Head Start children and families be vaccinated. The IFR is now understood to apply to all individuals working with Head Start children and families, including but not limited to services provided by Preschool Early Intervention, 0-3 Early Intervention, and behavioral health specialists in Head Start programs, including those provided pursuant to a memorandum of understanding or other agreement by which Head Start programs provide for or permit the provision of such services.
The Federal Office of Head Start (OHS) is responsible for ensuring compliance with the IFR through their identified monitoring processes. PDE or DHS is not responsible for monitoring programs for compliance with this mandate.
Head Start IFR and guidance do allow for exemptions for individuals who are not vaccinated. In the event individuals meet this exemption, OHS has issued guidance regarding circumstances in which unvaccinated individuals may be able to continue to work with Head Start children and their families.
‘I Didn’t Choose Autism. Autism Chose Me’: Allentown Mom’s New Book in Spanish Highlights Challenges Faced by Latino Parents
RCPA Early Intervention Steering Committee Meeting — March 1, 2022
OMHSAS Releases HCBS Workforce Funding FAQ
The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has just published an FAQ on the Home & Community-Based Services (HCBS) workforce support payments. Any remaining questions may be sent to the RA Account.
Please note that after receiving anticipated payment amounts on the attestation forms that were sent to providers at the locations of qualifying services, some providers alerted us to apparent irregularities in the payment amounts. OMHSAS is pulling our data and rerunning our formulas to ensure that payments are based on proper calculations and a balanced distribution of funds. Revised attestation forms will be sent to any providers who may have been impacted in their total allocation (positively or negatively) with a new due date in early March.
RCPA continues to work with its members and OMHSAS on the attestation and allocation process. Please contact your RCPA Policy Director for guidance or questions.
A Call to Crisis: Pennsylvania’s Youth With Complex Behavioral Health Needs
Allegheny County DHS Announces Change for HealthChoices Oversight
As the state’s primary contractor for Medicaid-funded behavioral health (BH) care services (HealthChoices), Allegheny County DHS is responsible for $420M in state-managed care funding to deliver behavioral health services to approximately 260,000 county residents through its contracted partnership with Community Care Behavioral Health.
Historically, as the primary contractor to the state for the HealthChoices program, DHS has delegated its oversight and monitoring functions for this program to Allegheny Health Choices, Inc. (AHCI), and AHCI has done tremendous work helping the county to meet state obligations over the years. Increasingly however, the county has determined that making a structural change to bring monitoring and oversight in-house can streamline those functions and further strengthen the HC program for Allegheny County.
For this reason, the county, together with DHS, has made the decision to transition HealthChoices oversight and monitoring functions from AHCI to DHS, with expected changes to occur in the first quarter of 2023.
See below for further information:
Prev