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The COVID-19 pandemic has created existential challenges for agencies that provide supports and services to individuals who have disabilities and/or health issues. Staffing has been an area that has been significantly affected. Legislative and State Stakeholders have requested RCPA to quantify the impact of the pandemic on our workforce so that we might effectively lobby for the welfare of the agencies that support and serve individuals with disabilities and health issues.

We recently distributed a work force survey to our members that did not include a section specifically to address the issues support coordinators in the IDD, MH, and OLTL fields are facing. The SC Workforce survey asks questions specifically directed to the challenges that supports coordinators, or service coordinators, are experiencing.

If you have already completed the survey that was released last week, please do not complete this survey. We will extract the data from your submission to add to the data collected here.

The survey responses seek to gather data related to hiring, retention, vacancy rates, pay structures, vaccinations, and COVID-19 impacts on programs as well as access to care associated with the pandemic.

RCPA is making the survey available to providers across Pennsylvania, not just RCPA members. Please be assured that response data will be de-identified and aggregated for reporting by an independent research entity, and your individual data will be shared with no one. A copy of the results of this survey will be available to all participants at the conclusion of the study.

We thank you in advance for your time in completing this survey and would ask that you share this information with your colleagues, fellow leaders, and Human Resources teams. The more information collected, the more we will be able to provide to stakeholders, which will affect not only RCPA members but all providers within the Commonwealth.

If you have any questions, please contact Director of Intellectual Disability Services Carol Ferenz or your RCPA Policy Director.

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Source: City & State Pennsylvania, Sept. 27, 2021
Wolf Announces $655 Million for Child Care Providers

More American Rescue Plan dollars are being allocated for the kids.

The Department of Human Services is distributing about $655 million in funding to the child care industry in the commonwealth, Acting Secretary Meg Snead announced at a press conference Monday afternoon.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on Pennsylvania’s child care industry – from increased expenses and decreased demand early in the pandemic to the current challenges of staffing shortages and waiting lists for families that need affordable child care to get back to work,” Snead said. “Our goal with this funding distribution is to offset those challenges and create a pathway for recovery from this pandemic – not just for child care, but for our economy as a whole.”

This will be the fifth round of funding given out to child care providers since March 2020. Nearly $400 million in stimulus grants have been given to child care facilities hit hard by the pandemic through the first four rounds. The most highest demands are addressing increased costs related to COVID-19 health and safety guidelines and the need to offset the impact of reduced enrollments.

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning, known as OCDEL, partnered with Penn State Harrisburg’s Institute of State and Regional Affairs to develop the methodology for distribution. The institute’s report states that this round of stabilization grants will use a “methodology that incorporates individual provider data and extensive cost-basis research that is specific to Pennsylvania child care.”

Licensed providers can submit applications for one-time grants, and if approved, they will have nine months to use the funds and provide a report to DHS.

RCPA has discussed this funding stream and its application for Early Intervention providers, and it would not be applicable unless they are a licensed child care provider. RCPA continues to advocate with Pa. General Assembly on accessing the ARP funds to stabilize and sustain Early Intervention programs across the Commonwealth. If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Director Jim Sharp.

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The Federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), has announced a new application cycle for $25.5 billion in COVID-19 provider funding. Applicants will be able to apply for both Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments during the application process. PRF Phase 4 is open to a broad range of providers with changes in operating revenues and expenses. ARP Rural is open to providers who serve rural patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The application is open now and will close on October 26, 2021 at 11:59 pm ET. Providers who have previously created an account in the Provider Relief Fund Application and Attestation Portal and have not logged in for more than 90 days will need to first reset their password before starting a new application. In order to streamline the application process and minimize administrative burdens, providers will apply for both programs in a single application.

Technical Assistance Webinars
HHS recently hosted a briefing session to provide information about these upcoming funding opportunities – view the video. HRSA will be hosting webinar sessions for Phase 4 and ARP Rural applicants, featuring guidance on how to navigate the application portal.

Real time technical assistance is available by calling the Provider Support Line at (866) 569-3522, for TTY dial 711. Hours of operation are 8:00 am–10:00 pm CT, Monday through Friday.

RCPA will continue to monitor this new round of funding and update members on the implementation process. If you have questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.

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Source: Spotlight PA, Sept. 29, 2021

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania legislature unanimously voted Wednesday to extend dozens of regulatory waivers put into place last year to help health-care providers fight COVID-19.

Without action, the waivers would have expired Thursday, potentially exacerbating ongoing staffing crises in hospitals and long-term care institutions, which are again facing rising COVID-19 cases. Health-care workers and their advocates had warned any lapse in the relaxed rules would have renewed administrative burdens and made fighting the ongoing pandemic more difficult.

Wednesday’s action will keep the waivers in place until March 2022 while the legislature considers a number of bills that would make the regulatory suspensions permanent. Gov. Tom Wolf will sign the bill.

“The governor is thankful the legislature engaged the administration and stakeholders and ultimately agreed with most of the administration’s recommendations on extending COVID-19-related waivers that are still in use,” spokesperson Lyndsay Kensinger said.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Wolf approved nearly 100 waivers to ease some of the rules governing health-care workers and ensure as many professionals as possible were on the ground in hospitals, vaccination clinics, and long-term care facilities.

The temporary changes were made under a disaster declaration that later became a target for legislative Republicans unhappy with the administration’s business closures.

Buoyed by two successful constitutional amendments that curtailed the executive’s power, the GOP-controlled General Assembly ended Wolf’s emergency order in June, while allowing the waivers to remain in place until Sept. 30.

Under the bill passed Wednesday, all suspensions under the Department of Health, Department of Human Services, and the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs will remain in place until March unless Wolf and the agencies decide to terminate them sooner.

Among the waivers extended are those allowing out-of-state practitioners to treat patients in Pennsylvania, permitting retired or lapsed professionals to return to medicine, and expanding who can give a vaccine.

The waivers also allow patients to access care via telemedicine, which as of now is neither allowed nor prohibited in Pennsylvania law, creating a gray area for health-care providers and insurance companies.

Lawmakers have introduced bills in both the House and Senate to provide rules and regulations surrounding telemedicine, but past efforts have broken down over partisan disagreements. Wolf vetoed a telemedicine bill last year because it would have prevented health-care providers from prescribing abortion-inducing medicine.

As a number of other bills that would make regulatory suspensions permanent await consideration, two removing administrative barriers for physician assistants passed Wednesday.

The Joint State Government Commission is studying the impact of the waivers and which should stay in place to remove barriers to employment in the state. Glenn Pasewicz, executive director of the committee, said a report should be out by late October.

Separately, lawmakers on Wednesday directed various state agencies to post a report listing which waivers were and were not extended by Nov. 1.

RCPA will continue its efforts with DHS to determine the status of any waivers that may not fall under this regulatory extension. Please contact your RCPA Policy Director if you have any questions.

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Tablet on a desk - Questions and Answers

ODP Announcement 21-066 serves to distribute Version 3 of the FAQ document on questions received in regards to Incident Management Bulletin 00-21-02. The FAQ document contains both updates and changes. The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has received multiple questions from stakeholders through email, conversations, and dialogue during trainings, phone calls, etc. A FAQ was developed to answer some of the questions received. This FAQ does not contain all questions received; ODP chose questions that were asked frequently by multiple stakeholders.

ODP expects to continue to receive questions based on the IM Bulletin; therefore, this document will be updated on a routine basis. Stakeholders will be notified when there are additions added to this FAQ. The new questions that were added have a blue background, and any updated answer from a previous question is italicized. The Q and A begins on page three of the announcement.

For questions, please contact your ODP Regional Office or email directly.

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NEW EDITION!
Includes 32 NEW Funding Resources for Assistive Technology

We are excited to announce the publication of the long-awaited second edition of our guide, Funding Your Assistive Technology: A Guide to Funding Resources in Pennsylvania.

Assistive technology (AT) empowers people with disabilities to live more independently, work, and participate in the community. However, one of the obstacles for obtaining AT is finding the money to pay for it.

We wrote this guide to help people with disabilities, older Pennsylvanians, and their families navigate the complex web of funding options for AT devices and services in Pennsylvania so they can acquire the AT they want.

We hope this guide will provide the information you need to fund the AT that will make a difference in your life. Download the guide. 

New in this edition:

  • 32 new public and private funding resources, with 66 total
  • Comparison of saving options: PA ABLE and Special Needs Trusts
  • Detailed information on how to access AT through PA waivers

Also included:

  • Introduction to AT devices and services
  • Questions to consider when choosing your AT
  • Steps to create a successful AT funding strategy

In addition to the digital version in English (508-compliant PDF), this funding guide will soon be available in other formats:

  • English in print
  • Spanish in print
  • Spanish digital (508-compliant PDF)

Get on the waiting list to receive one of the upcoming versions. Request a copy here.

About Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation

Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF), founded in 1998, is a statewide non-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Alternative Financing Program under the Federal Assistive Technology Act.

PATF provides financing opportunities, education, and advocacy for people with disabilities and older Pennsylvanians, helping them to acquire assistive technology devices and services that improve the quality of their lives.

Support PATF.

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ANCOR Urges All Members to Take the Following Action:

The Ask: Use our action tool to insist that your members of Congress fully fund the $400 billion investment in Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) in the budget reconciliation package.

The Details: Congress is currently negotiating its budget reconciliation bill, which could include an investment of billions of dollars in the HCBS program. The House version of the bill included $190 billion in the HCBS program, falling far short of the promise President Biden made in his American Jobs Plan to invest $400 billion in HCBS and failing to meet the funding level outlined in the Better Care Better Jobs Act.

While we celebrate this historic investment in the HCBS program, the level of financing is insufficient to sustain access and stabilize the direct care workforce. The dire conditions facing our nation’s direct care workforce demand a greater investment.

Why It Matters: A $400 billion investment in dedicated support for HCBS is essential for building a sustainable HCBS infrastructure that can begin addressing the magnitude of unmet need in our communities, and frankly, increased funding for HCBS can’t wait any longer. Not only does investing in this program enjoy wide bipartisan support—81% of voters want to see this funding in the reconciliation bill—but ANCOR’s recent research shows how badly community services need resources to stabilize a workforce in crisis.

Our new report, The State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis 2021, reveals deep concerns from our providers, including:

  • 92% of providers report that the pandemic continues to inhibit their ability to recruit and retain workers; the majority of these respondents point to the fact that industries that previously paid comparable wages now pay employees more than they can afford to do.
  • 77% of providers have had to stop accepting new referrals due to high turnover or lack of staff.
  • 58% of providers have had to discontinue programs or services due to high turnover or lack of staff.
  • 84% of providers have had to delay the launch of new programs or the opening of new homes due to high turnover or lack of staff.
  • 81% of providers report difficulties achieving required quality standards due to high turnover or lack of staff.

The findings of this survey reveal the significant need for an immediate federal response. As the House and Senate continue to move this historic legislation and enter negotiations on the final package, it’s essential that every member of Congress hears from you now.

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Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

2021 Pennsylvania Autism Training Conference
#PATCIntegrate2021
October 5 – October 7, 2021

Watch this short promo video  

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
Full admission is $10.00 for professionals and allows access to all conference sessions over all three days. Admission is cost-free for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

To register, go to this link and fill out the registration form. Payment can be made by credit card or check. Payment instructions can be found at the bottom of the registration form. For additional information about the conference, and access to resources, personal stories, and other features during the conference, please visit this page on MyODP.

Please see the flyer for additional information.

General questions can be sent here.

Questions about registration?
Email | Telephone: 610.494.8044

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Message from ANCOR:

New research finds COVID-19 pandemic further decimating a direct care workforce in crisis.

Like you, we have long understood that the direct support workforce crisis our community has grappled with for years can be traced directly to long-standing underinvestment in community-based I/DD services. We have also long suspected—though couldn’t say for certain—that the onset of new pressures and hazards wrought by the pandemic has significantly exacerbated challenges related to recruitment and retention. 

Unfortunately, we now have stark evidence to confirm what we believed was true: the direct support workforce crisis has been made much, much worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a key takeaway from ANCOR’s newest research, which we published this morning.

The State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis 2021 summarizes the findings of ANCOR’s survey of providers, which we fielded for a five-week period beginning in August 2021. The survey, which followed up on our 2020 research, garnered 449 responses and sought to understand the human and financial impact of the direct support workforce crisis. The survey measured the same dimensions we asked about in 2020, along with additional measures targeted specifically to the impact of COVID-19 on DSP hiring and retention.

Key findings from ANCOR’s 2021 State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis survey include that:

  • 77% of providers are turning away new referrals, a 16.7% increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • 58% of providers are discontinuing programs and services, a 70.6% increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • 81% of providers are struggling to achieve quality standards, a 17.4% increase since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • Nearly 3 in 10 providers report spending at least $500,000 annually on costs associated with high turnover and vacancy rates.
  • 92% of providers report that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to complicate their ability to recruit and retain qualified direct support professionals.

To say the least, these results are troubling. But for those of us committed to moving beyond the direct care workforce crisis once and for all, it is imperative that we understand the true impacts of the crisis and the ways in which it is colliding with the COVID-19 pandemic. For these reasons, we invite you to download The State of America’s Direct Support Workforce Crisis 2021 and read lead author Lydia Dawson’s analysis today.

Download the State of America’s Direct Support Workforce 2021 issue brief today.

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