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The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 25-075. This announcement informs stakeholders of the submission of amendments to the Targeted Support Management State Plan, 1915(b)(4) Waiver, Consolidated Waiver, Community Living Waiver, and Person/Family Directed Support Waiver (P/FDS) to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the availability of supporting publications.

Links are provided throughout the announcement to the waiver amendment submissions and to the supporting documents and resources.

Please submit questions about this information electronically.

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Photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels

Kehinde “Kenny” Solanke, MSW, LSW, will become Commissioner of the City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS), effective September 2. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker announced the selection of Solanke for the role on July 30. Solanke succeeds Interim Commissioner Marquita Williams and former Commissioner Jill Bowen.

As Commissioner, Solanke sets the vision and direction for the entire department. She administers all six DBHIDS divisions and is responsible for aligning priorities, coordinating efforts, and ensuring that everything the 1,000-plus team members do reflects the DBHIDS mission, vision, and values.

Solanke oversees a vast network of providers offering treatment and services to address mental health challenges, substance misuse, and the impact of social determinants of health on behavioral health and wellness.

Solanke most recently served as Senior Director of Operations for Crisis Services at DBHIDS, where she led transformative citywide initiatives, including the implementation of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, expansion of 24/7 mobile crisis teams, and the launch of Philadelphia’s first Behavioral Health Urgent Care Center. She has also overseen critical city responses, including DBHIDS’s behavioral health strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, managed multi-million-dollar funding portfolios, and championed the department’s equity framework to align services with community needs.

Throughout her career, Solanke has been a respected thought leader and advocate for transforming public behavioral health systems. She has testified before City Council, chaired statewide policy work groups, and represented Philadelphia at national forums — including coordinating with the US Secretary of Health and Human Services to mark the national rollout of 988. Her work has positioned Philadelphia as a leader in crisis system transformation while deepening public trust and strengthening the behavioral health safety net for thousands of residents.

A licensed social worker, Solanke holds a Master of Social Work degree from Temple University and has spent her career within the city’s behavioral health ecosystem, serving previously as Director of Policy and Planning at DBHIDS and Director of Clinical Management at the DBHIDS Division of Community Behavioral Health (CBH).

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The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared Bulletin 00-25-03 and its two accompanying attachments. The purpose of this bulletin is to announce the performance standards Supports Coordination Organizations must meet as part of ODP’s implementation of performance-based contracting for Supports Coordination and Targeted Support Management services. Attachment 1 outlines the performance standards and measures. Attachment 2 provides the expected timeline for implementation of performance-based contracting for Supports Coordination and Targeted Support Management services.

Please view the bulletin and attachments for additional information and details.

Attachments:

  • Attachment 1: Supports Coordination Performance Standards
  • Attachment 2: Supports Coordination Organization Performance Standard Evaluation Timeline

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The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has announced the launch of the Multi-Year Program Growth Strategy (MYPGS) training for SCs on MyODP. This three-part training series is designed to prepare SCs for successful implementation of the Multi-Year Program Growth Strategy (MYPGS).

The series covers:

  • An overview of MYPGS and its system-wide goals, including efforts to expand waiver capacity and reduce the Emergency Waiting List;
  • Recent updates to the PUNS Manual and guidance for accurate documentation of need; and
  • The critical role of SCs in aligning services with assessed needs, ensuring PUNS accurately reflects those needs and clearly communicates any changes to service plans.

Through practical examples, clear guidance, and collaborative strategies, this series empowers SCs to lead with confidence and provide timely, person-centered support to individuals with intellectual disabilities/autism (ID/A).

View the MYPGS course here.

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Included in the July 7, 2025, Pennsylvania Bulletin was a notice from the State Board of Physical Therapy (PT) regarding the final-form rulemaking that allows physical therapist students and physical therapist assistant (PTA) students to sit for requisite examinations up to 90 days prior to graduation from their respective programs. It also allows PTs and PTAs to receive a limited amount of continuing education credit for providing clinical instruction to student PTs and student PTAs at clinical facilities affiliated with accredited programs.

In addition, this final-form regulation allows applicants to directly register for the national examination with the examination provider by removing the requirement that the applicant first seek the Board’s permission, and it allows applicants to sit for a third or successive examination, after two failures, without first seeking the Board’s permission.

This final-form regulation became effective on July 7, 2025.

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On Tuesday, July 29, the Governor’s Office of the Budget provided an update on the status of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/26 state budget. The update outlines projected impacts across various departments within the Department of Human Services (DHS) over the next six weeks resulting from the ongoing budget impasse. Although the Governor, Senate, and House leadership have described ongoing negotiations as respectful, they have also been described as inching along. The letter from Secretary Monson cites funding for public schools and mass transit as top challenges in finalizing a budget.

Following is a summary of payments from Pennsylvania health and human services departments that will be delayed without a budget.

Department of Aging cannot distribute:

  • $12.88 million in payments to the Area Agencies on Aging, for July and August.

Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs cannot distribute:

  • $9.95 million quarterly payments to the Single County Authorities.
  • $187,000 quarterly payments for training of substance use disorder and problem gambling service professionals.
  • $21 million quarterly payments for State Opioid Response funding.

Department of Health cannot distribute:

  • $9.405 million in anticipated quarterly reimbursements to County Municipal Health Departments.
  • More than $4.7 million in quarterly funding to support operation and administration of EMS services.
  • $9.405 million in quarterly funding to school districts for health services.
  • More than $3.466 million in quarterly payments for the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, beginning in July.
  • Payments for critical health services, including, but not limited to: Tuberculosis screening, Cystic Fibrosis, Lyme Disease and Cancer Screening, beginning in July.
  • More than $1 million in quarterly payments for Maternal and Child Health services and $1.8 million in quarterly for Newborn Screening.

Department of Human Services cannot distribute:

  • $15 million in quarterly advances for Behavioral Services, beginning in July.
  • Quarterly advances for Breast Cancer Screening services.
  • $390 million in County Child Welfare payments for July and August.
  • $8.5 million in payments for Domestic Violence for July and August.
  • $3.5 million in quarterly advances from the Human Services Development Fund.
  • An estimated $33 million in Child Support Enforcement payments, for July and August.
  • $3.4 million in payments for Rape Crisis for July and August.
  • Approximately $10 million for Community-Based Family Centers for July and August.
  • $5.6 million in quarterly advance payments for Homeless Assistance.

Read the letter from Secretary Monson here. If you have any questions, please contact your respective RCPA Policy Director.

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From Risk to Reward: Strengthening Your Hiring Process
Free RCPA Members-Only Webinar

Wednesday, August 13, 2025
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Register Here

In this session, we will review how introducing value-based tools early in the hiring process has shown to reduce an employer’s risk for turnover, safety incidents, counterproductive employee behavior, and workers compensation claims. We will review recent case studies showing the measurable impact of this process.

Presenter: Mark Walker, MBA, Managing Partner, Safer Hire LLC

Objectives: Following this course, the learner will:

  • Identify a value-based hiring process;
  • Describe how this hiring process can reduce risk of turnover; and
  • Describe how the hiring process can reduce risk of safety & claims.

Certificates of attendance are available to RCPA members who attend this webinar; anyone interested in a certificate should contact Cathy Barrick. To apply for CEs, you will need to register for the RCPA Annual Conference Strive to Thrive and indicate you attended the webinar in your CE packet, which will be made available on the mobile app.

Contact Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator, for details, or visit the RCPA Conference website for information on workshops, sponsors, exhibitors, and more!

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