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ODP Announcement 23-008 announces that the amendment to the Adult Autism Waiver (AAW), effective January 1, 2023, was approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 13, 2023. The amendment to the AAW includes the following substantive changes:
The waiver application approved by CMS and the record of change document are available here.
ODP will be holding a webinar to discuss major changes made in the approved AAW amendment. Webinars specific to Remote Supports will be scheduled and communicated in the coming weeks. The date, time, and registration link for the general AAW amendment webinar are as follows:
Editor: Providers who care for individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism are pummeled by a workforce shortage driven by low wages and high vacancy and turnover rates.
The Arc of Pennsylvania recently partnered with other social service associations to get a better picture of the state’s workforce in the field.
The survey evaluated critical data on pay practices, hourly wages, scheduled positions, filled positions and separations for more than 9,000 employees representing 40 different positions in 52 organizations, including many in Northeast Pennsylvania.
The findings are stark.
Wages for direct support professionals who help children and adults with their basic daily living needs average $16.61 per hour — less than wages at some fast-food restaurants. The turnover rate for direct support workers is 38% with providers reporting a vacancy rate of 28%. The numbers are similar for other residential and program supervisors.
The study also found that 14% of all direct support professionals’ hours are paid at an overtime rate, and 41% of providers now engage in a more costly practice of contracting for staffing services to manage the workforce shortage.
Because human services for those with intellectual disabilities and autism are funded primarily by Medicaid, providers cannot raise prices like private businesses to pay higher wages. So, chronic underfunding by the state only exacerbates these operational challenges.
Service providers simply do not have the staff they need to serve thousands of Pennsylvanians receiving or waiting for critical services. This is a system that is strained past its breaking point, and it needs our support now.
SHERRI LANDIS
THE ARC OF PENNSYLVANIA
HARRISBURG
Former Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) Secretary Jennifer Smith has been named Deputy Secretary for the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS). As DDAP Secretary, Smith led DDAP’s efforts to fulfill its mission of engaging and coordinating the commonwealth’s efforts to prevent and reduce substance use disorder and problem gambling and to promote recovery. Smith was integral in the formation and implementation of Pennsylvania’s first licensure program for recovery houses as well as leading Pennsylvania’s treatment system transition away from the Pennsylvania Client Placement Criteria to ASAM Criteria.
Dr. Dale Adair, who has served as Acting Deputy Secretary for OMHSAS, will continue to serve as the Chief Psychiatric Officer for OMHSAS.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released the Unified Regulatory Agenda and Regulatory Plan, which outlines regulatory actions federal agencies are considering in the coming months. Regulations can be searched by specific agency, such as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) is making available $4 million in grant funding for organizations to establish or expand substance use disorder (SUD) services, community outreach and education to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.
In 2020, overdose death rates increased 39 percent for black Pennsylvanians, compared to 2019. In 2021, black Pennsylvanians died from an overdose at a rate that was nearly two times higher than white Pennsylvanians.
Grants up to $400,000 each will be awarded for a 12-month period beginning July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. Funds can be applied toward a range of activities, including construction and building infrastructure, staffing, and evidence-based programming.
Eligible applicants include organizations that provide services, outreach, and/or education to BIPOC communities in any of the following areas:
Funding for these grants is provided from the opioid settlement funding that the General Assembly appropriated to DDAP.
Download the Grant Initiative Funding Application.
Who We Are: Powered by People in PA is one of two Pennsylvania-based teams selected to participate in The National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems (NCAPPS) self-direction learning collaborative. We are a diverse team that includes a supports brokerage, Supports Brokers, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), people with disabilities with expertise and lived experience to share, family members, a representative of our state Office of Developmental Programs, a Pennsylvania Agency with Choice, and a member of our vendor-fiscal advisory committee.
What We Seek to Accomplish: The goal of the learning collaborative is to promote high-quality self-direction on both a state and national level. Our learning collaborative seeks to recruit and train Support Service Professionals, Supports Brokers, and Peer Mentors to support self-direction.
We developed four (4) surveys to gather feedback from stakeholders about the training needs of Supports Brokers. The feedback will be used to inform recommendations to the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) for a Supports Broker Recertification training curriculum.
What We Need from You: We are asking stakeholders to complete the survey that is relevant to their role. The survey is anonymous and will take less than 10 minutes to complete.
Select the appropriate link below to complete the survey:
The surveys will open on January 2, 2023, and close on February 3, 2023.