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Authors Posts by Jim Sharp

Jim Sharp

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Please find the details below regarding the application process for the upcoming Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Certification courses. These trainings are funded through a Federal SERG Grant; funds may also be used for trainings throughout the Commonwealth.

                                                                                                                                                           

Pennsylvania has been awarded a Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Emergency Response Grant (SERG) as a response to the tragic shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue last fall. One component of the funding includes expansion of Mental Health First Aid across the Commonwealth. The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) will be hosting instructor certification courses to candidates interested in training in their region. Youth and Adult Certification Courses are three full days with a limit of 16 people per class.  Additional details are included below:

Dates:
Adult Mental Health First Aid Instructor Course
November 18, 19, and 20, 2019
8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor Course
December 10, 11, and 12, 2019
8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Location:
BHARP – Behavioral Health Alliance of Rural Pennsylvania
301 Science Park Road | Suite 308 | State College, PA  16803

Registration:    Interested participants should contact Brandon Bennet by October 14, 2019.

Expectations:

  1. MHFA instructors must submit an application that will be reviewed by the National Council for acceptance.
  2. Once admitted, participants must attend three full days of training and pass a proficiency exam.
  3. Instructors are required to train a minimum of three times per year and log their courses and evaluations on the national website to maintain their certifications.
  4. In addition, participation in this free course includes the expectation to train at least one course to a target population in their area impacted by the Tree of Life tragedy. Course materials will be offered at no cost for these trainings.

The training application is available here.

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The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has released a report describing the essential community mental health services that must be expanded to divert people with significant psychiatric disabilities from the criminal justice system: Diversion to What? Evidence-Based Mental Health Services That Prevent Needless Incarceration.

Diversion to What? is designed to provide guidance to stakeholders engaged in efforts to reduce incarceration of people with psychiatric disabilities, laying out the types of services that should be the focus of such efforts. The report describes what those services do and how they are structured, and identifies the evidence demonstrating their success in reducing incarceration. The report is also available to download on the Bazelon Center’s website.

The Bazelon Center gratefully acknowledges the essential support for this report provided by the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge and the Ford Foundation.

If you have any questions or feedback, please contact RCPA Children’s and Criminal Justice Director Jim Sharp.

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As a follow-up to the IBHS Implementation WebEx last week; RCPA wanted to provide an update and links to the documents sent out following the OMHSAS presentation. In the event you were unable to participate in the presentation, it is available on YouTube via this OMHSAS/IBHS resource page.

This website is where all OMHSAS IBHS materials will be posted going forward. In addition to the training video, RCPA is providing the links below to those documents that were reviewed during the training. Included in these documents are the Presentation PowerPoint, Licensing Applications, Training Schedules, EBT Lists, and the Service Description checklist, among other information. Please review all documents to ensure you are fully informed prior to your IBHS Regional Summit.

Please see the links below to the documents:

  1. IBHS Trainings-External 10-4-19 FINAL (FRIDAY’S WEBEX PRESENTATION)
  2. IBHS Initial Provider Outreach letter
  3. IBHS SD Checklist 7-19
  4. HS 633 electronic
  5. License Application Instructions – 9-2019
  6. IBHS Acronyms
  7. BH-MCO IBHS Contact and Counties Served
  8. Statewide County Administrators List
  9. Enrollment Handout
  10. Waiver Bulletin 2016
  11. OMHSAS IBHS Contact List
  12. Additional Regional Training Dates Flyer
  13. IBHS Approved EBT List 091719
  • Any regulatory questions should be sent to the IBHS resource account for clarification.
  • For all licensing questions, please use the OMHSAS IBHS Contact List of regional field offices and direct your questions to those appropriate regional staff.

If you have any further questions or feedback, please contact the RCPA Children’s Division Director Jim Sharp.

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On October 1, 2019, the PROMISe Service Location Enrollment process was effectuated. RCPA understands that many providers have submitted their requests and are awaiting the PROMISe numbers for their programs.

In conversations with the Office of Medical Assistance Programs (OMAP) and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS), we have been advised that as providers await confirmation on program PROMISe numbers for service locations, providers can continue to utilize their main physical site address for billing pending site enrollment.

This link will provide access to the bulletin. If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Division Director Jim Sharp.

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The Bureau of Family Health is holding meetings to collect input on the potential priorities that will guide which issues Pennsylvania’s Maternal and Child Health Services Title V Block Grant programs will address over the next five years. The meetings will be in Norristown on October 8 and in Harrisburg on October 18, both at 4:00 pm.

Please see the below attachments for site specific information:

If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Division Director Jim Sharp.

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The Office of Children, Youth and Families is pleased to announce the following upcoming training opportunity for staff who complete Title IV-E eligibility or reimbursability determinations for children and youth in placement:

Accurate Title IV-E eligibility and reimbursability determinations are key to claiming Title IV-E foster care placement maintenance and administrative funds appropriately. Over the last two years, there has been extensive turnover in the staff who complete the Title IV-E eligibility/reimbursability determinations and invoicing for the Title IV-E Foster Care program. Accordingly, we’re offering training that will support staff’s understanding of Title IV-E eligibility and reimbursability criteria. Learning will be supported through practical application.

The training will be held at five different locations throughout the Commonwealth, on five separate days, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, as listed below.

  • Tuesday, October 22, 2019 – Cumberland County, Child Welfare Resource Center
  • Wednesday, October 23, 2019 – Allegheny County, Mon-Valley Regional Office
  • Thursday, October 24, 2019 – Lackawanna County, Lackawanna Children’s Services
  • Friday, October 25, 2019 – Mercer County, George Junior Republic
  • Tuesday, October 29, 2019 – Montgomery County, Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth

Parking at each location is $5.00 or less. A lunch break of one hour is built into the schedule, but lunch is not provided.

When deciding who should attend, please keep in mind that this training will be focused on the eligibility and reimbursability determinations for the Title IV-E Foster Care program. We will touch on completion of the eligibility determination forms during the practical application, but this is not the focus of the training. This training will not cover Title IV-E eligibility determinations for Adoption Assistance and Subsidized Permanent Legal Custodianship, completion of Title IV-E invoices, or details regarding completion of the Title IV-E Administrative cost pool, Random Moment Time Study case counts, or Administration for Children and Families child counts.

To register for this training, please use this email and include:

  • Your name;
  • Name of the training;
  • Location you would prefer to attend;
  • County and agency that you work for;
  • Position title; and
  • What part of Title IV-E your job focuses on (for example – eligibility determinations, claiming, etc.).

Seating is limited and priority will be given to staff from counties with low compliance rates in recent Title IV-E quality assurance reviews and/or a high amount of turnover with their eligibility determination and claiming staff. We recognize that you may be unable to attend a session near you or simply unable to participate at this time, so we will be hosting another round of trainings early next year. If you have any further questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Division Director Jim Sharp.

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Available here is the Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) Bulletin 3130-19-04 entitled, “Serving Child Victims of Human Trafficking (CVHT) in Pennsylvania.” The purpose of this bulletin is to inform county and state officials; public and private children, youth, and family service agencies; children’s advocacy programs; community-based domestic violence programs; rape crisis centers; and stakeholders of the federal and state statutory requirements, to ensure a multidimensional and interdisciplinary plan and approach to the identification, protection, and provision of comprehensive and coordinated services for child victims of human trafficking. This bulletin has a number of attachments, including the “Practice Guide to Serving CVHT in Pennsylvania,” which provides detailed information related to Commercial Sex Trafficking of Children, Standards of Practice for Serving CVHT, Children Who are Missing From Out-Of-Home Placement Settings, Collaboration, and Advocacy and Legal Considerations.

Questions regarding this bulletin should be directed to your OCYF Regional Office. You may also reach out to Ms. Treasure Gallagher, Human Services Program Specialist in OCYF’s Bureau of Policy, Program and Operations. If you have any further questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Division Director Jim Sharp.

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OMHSAS has added additional sessions to accommodate registration requests. Please see below and make sure you register with the DHS staff noted for your region. The intent of these forums is to have a discussion regarding the information presented during the October 4 statewide WebEx and to gather outstanding questions.

*ONLY REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ADMITTED TO THE FORUMS*

WESTERN REGION
Thursday, Oct 10, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Westmoreland Case Management and Supports
770 E. Pittsburgh St, Greensburg, PA

OR

Friday, Oct 11, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
George Junior Republic
233 George Junior Road, Grove City, PA 16127
Please register by contacting Phyllis Knott via email or 412-880-0488

CENTRAL REGION
Wednesday, Oct 16, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Keystone Building, Hearing Room 1
400 North St, Harrisburg, PA 17102
Please register by contacting Angela Douglas via email or 717.346.5943

SOUTHEAST REGION
Monday, October 21, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

OR

Monday, October 21, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Norristown State Hospital Building 33 in the Multi-Purpose Room
1001 Sterigere St, Norristown, PA 19401
Please register by contacting Julie Croce via email or 610-313-5844

NORTHEAST REGION
Tuesday, October 22 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
John Heinz Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine
150 Mundy Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA  18702

OR

Thursday, November 14, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Sacred Heart Hospital Auditorium
421 Chew Street, Allentown, PA 18102
Please register by contacting Leigh Ann Ksiazek via email or 570-963-4944

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RCPA would like to congratulate Jonathan Rubin and Amy Grippi on their new positions with the Department of Human Services. We look forward to collaborating in the future, to continue improving the quality of life for our children across the Commonwealth.

(From DHS Secretary Teresa Miller)

DHS Staffing Update

I am excited to announce that Jonathan (Jon) Rubin will join the Department of Human Services as the Office of Children, Youth, and Families’ Deputy Secretary. Jon has led Bucks County’s Housing and Human Services division since 2014, overseeing the county’s child welfare agency, behavioral and developmental health programs, drug and alcohol services, mental health and developmental programs, housing services, and Area Agency on Aging.  As director, Jon has focused on creating a more integrated approach to Housing and Human Services’ work, encouraging two-generation, whole-family focuses and facilitating public-private partnerships and generative program development.

Jon started his career spending 15 years with the Bucks County Children & Youth Social Services agency, beginning as a social worker and eventually serving four years as a child protective services manager. He has also worked to strengthen the child welfare system on a state level, working at the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center, providing technical assistance and training to children and youth agencies around Pennsylvania, and later with Deloitte as a senior consultant and child welfare subject matter expert, helping implement the Child Welfare Information Solution project. Jon has also worked at the national level supporting child welfare systems across the country when he served as an Organizational Effectiveness Consultant for the American Public Human Services Association.

Jon will join DHS on November 4. At that point, Amy Grippi will transition into a new role, Child Services Executive Director, in the Secretary’s Office. This role will focus on synthesizing initiatives and priorities around child services and create a stronger bridge between OCYF and the Office of Child Development and Early Learning. Amy will be focused on strengthening services provided to children around Pennsylvania, including our work to implement the enterprise case management system and Family First, increasing the incorporation of predictive analytics and trend analyses through improved data collection, and other initiatives.

I think this new role will be an invaluable asset to help enhance and support the work done at DHS and at the county level, and I know Amy’s skills and experience will help us do more to support children and families around Pennsylvania.

I want to thank Amy for her tireless work and leadership as OCYF’s Acting Deputy Secretary over the last few months, and I am so excited to welcome Jon to the agency. I look forward to seeing the good work that DHS and OCYF will accomplish as we move forward.

Thank you,
Secretary Teresa Miller

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Concept of important day, reminder, organizing time and schedule - red pen marking day of the month on a calendar

The next RCPA Children’s Committee meeting, originally scheduled for October, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, November 21, due to the OMHSAS Central Region IBHS Training. We apologize for the inconvenience; however, many members will need to attend the IBHS sessions.

The meeting on November 21 will have the Steering Committee from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, followed by the Children’s Committee meeting in the afternoon, 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm. The invitation for this November meeting will be forthcoming. Thank you for your flexibility and understanding. Please contact Jim Sharp, RCPA Children’s Division Director, with any questions.

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