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The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has established the procedures for infant and toddler programs to report any incidence of suspected child abuse by an early intervention (EI) provider who works with infants and toddlers. The announcement also includes the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) definition of child abuse and the process mandated reporters must follow to report any incident of suspected child abuse.
As CPSL regulations require, all providers within the EI system are mandated reporters. Mandated reporters must report suspected child abuse, including neglect and exploitation, to ChildLine, Pennsylvania’s Statewide Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-932-0313 or through the Child Welfare Portal.
The guidance includes an overview of the process and standards as well as the following reportable incident forms:
If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Division Director Jim Sharp.
The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) is positioned to advocate for federal relief funds to assist the behavioral health system in Pennsylvania throughout the public health emergency (PHE). We know that people are struggling and that the need for services will continue to grow; there are daily reports in the national news of increased suicides, increased calls to crisis services, and increased deaths by overdose.
OMHSAS is asking for valuable information to support their allocation requests. Please provide specific, measurable data to help support the need for dollars to aid the behavioral health system. A sample of metrics can be found in this OMHSAS correspondence.
This information will be most helpful if each data point is related to a certain service or population. OMHSAS is not currently looking to gather anecdotal information.
The turnaround time is very quick as responses are due on Friday, February 5, 2021. These responses should be sent via email to this contact.
If your RCPA policy director can be of assistance, please contact them directly.