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Governor Wolf signed Act 24 of 2020, which allocates funding from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act – also known as the CARES Act – to assist providers with COVID-19 related costs. Funding from Act 24 must be used to cover necessary COVID-19 related costs incurred between March 1, 2020 and November 30, 2020 that have not been otherwise reimbursed by Federal, State or other source of funding. To qualify for the one-time payment, a person or entity must have been in operation as of March 31, 2020. Under Act 24, $259.28 million of COVID-19 relief funds were allocated to providers of Intellectual Disabilities – Community Waiver program.

Any person or entity accepting a COVID-19 payment must provide documentation to the Department of Human Services (DHS), upon request, for purposes of determining compliance with Act 24 requirements. Providers were previously advised to keep documentation to demonstrate how the funds were used for a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in case of an audit.

DHS has developed the attached reporting forms to collect information about the use of Act 24 funding. The reporting form captures provider information; COVID-19 related staffing, expenditures and revenue losses; and COVID-19 related revenue to determine the net impact. Providers are advised to review guidance for eligible COVID-19 costs on the U.S. Department of Treasury website: Coronavirus-Relief-Fund-Guidance and  Coronavirus-Relief-Fund-Frequently-Asked-Questions and DHS guidance DHS Frequently Asked Questions.

DHS is requesting the following two reports from providers:

An interim report which identifies the total COVID-19 related costs each provider projects to incur by November 30, 2020. This interim report is due by October 20, 2020. To assist providers in projecting eligible costs, DHS recommends using the cost report attached and reporting costs that appear in cells H92 and H125. Provider must report the projected costs through a web-based portal.

Providers are required to complete a final cost report and upload it through the web-based portal by no later than December 21, 2020. Providers should keep all documentations related to the costs reported in the final cost report for a minimum of 5 years.

In advance of the report’s due date, DHS recommends providers review the attached cost reporting form and instructions and begin compiling the required information. Information on how to access the web-based reporting portal will be sent through a separate email to each provider.  This information will be provided in advance of the submission due dates noted above.

Thank you for your ongoing assistance during these trying times.  Please submit any questions about ODP Act 24 expense reporting to Rick Smith.

Rick Smith  l  Director

PA Department of Human Services  l  Office of Developmental Programs

Bureau of Financial Management and Program Support

625 Forster Street Room 412  l  Harrisburg, PA  17120

717.783.4873

www.dhs.pa.gov  www.myodp.org

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The Office of Developmental Programs’ (ODP) is very interested in better understanding your experience during this pandemic. More specifically, we would like to capture your thoughts and perspectives regarding ODP’s actions during the pandemic, as well as your agency’s response to the pandemic. The purpose of this survey is to have information to guide future decision making during and after the pandemic.

We are asking the providers of the following services to complete this survey:

  1. Intellectual Disability/Autism (ID/A) Waivers and Adult Autism Waiver (AAW): Residential, Employment, Behavioral, Nursing,
  2. ID/A: In Home Community Support and Companion, and
  3. AAW: Community Support and Systematic Skill Building.

Please note that there are other information collection efforts underway to collect the experiences for other service types. Specifically, Community Participation Support providers should not complete this survey.

We have taken much effort to design a survey that ensures the feedback will be useful in making additional decisions during the remainder of and after the pandemic. Therefore, you will note that this is a rather robust survey. While piloting the survey with providers, we noted that it took an average of 60-90 minutes to complete. This was dependent on the service type chosen as that determines how many questions are asked of the respondents.

We are asking that you complete one survey for each service you provide as an agency but understand that this may be burdensome. If you cannot dedicate staff to completing for each service you provide, please complete for at least the top two or three services by volume that you provide. For large providers that cover a broad geographic area we encourage you to complete surveys that will represent the diversity of experience your organization may have experienced since the pandemic began.

Generally, the feedback should represent the agency’s opinions. To support this, we have developed a document capturing all survey questions that you can review prior to completing the survey in QuestionPro (see attached). We would very much appreciate if you would find the time to complete this survey, at least once, so that your perspectives are included.

You can access the survey here: https://afteraction2020.questionpro.com

The survey will be open until Friday, October 9, 2020.

Kristin Ahrens
Deputy Secretary
PA Department of Human Services | Office of Developmental Programs

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The Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance has created a resource with helpful tips on how to recognize abuse and/or neglect when interacting with children virtually as well as other helpful information and resources. For any questions regarding this resource or mandated reporter training, visit their website at www.pa-fsa.org.

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

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) provider preview reports have been updated on the iQIES site and are now available for Quarter 1 of 2019 through Quarter 4 of 2019 data and the annual update of the claims-based measures data from Quarter 4 of 2017 through Quarter 3 of 2019. The information contained within the preview reports contains the data that will be published on IRF Compare during the December 2020 refresh of the website. The December 2020 refresh is the rescheduled IRF Compare refresh that was initially scheduled for September 2020.

The deadline for providers to review their data is October 26, 2020. Corrections to the underlying data will not be permitted during this timeframe; however, providers can request CMS to review the data during this preview period if they believe the quality measure scores that are displayed in their reports are inaccurate. Six new measures will be displayed publicly beginning with the December 2020 refresh and will be removing one quality measure (Percent of Residents or Patients With Pressure Ulcers that are New or Worsened) from the IRF Compare and Care Compare websites. The six new measures include:

  • Changes in Skin Integrity Post-Acute Care (PAC): Pressure Ulcer/Injury,
  • Drug Regimen Review Conducted with Follow-Up for Identified Issues – PAC IRF QRP,
  • IRF Functional Outcome Measure: Change in Self-Care Score for Medical Rehabilitation Patients (NQF #2633),
  • IRF Functional Outcome Measure: Change in Mobility for Medical Rehabilitation Patients (NQF #2634),
  • IRF Functional Outcome Measure: Discharge Self-Care Score for Medical Rehabilitation Patients (NQF #2635), and
  • IRF Functional Outcome Measure: Discharge Mobility Score for Medical Rehabilitation Patients (NQF #2636)

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Frontline Supervisor E-Badges Are Here 

Written by Dan Hermreck, Director of Certification and Accreditation

It’s been a little over a year and a half since the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) launched the E-Badge Academy. We now have 51 badges that represent various skills and accomplishments in direct support which can be stacked into three levels of national certification for direct support professionals.  DSPs from participating organizations across the country have been submitting examples of their work, which are being evaluated by trained NADSP reviewers. As they earn individual badges, DSPs are also making progress toward a national DSP certification.

The E-Badge Academy is based on some of the core beliefs of NADSP. That quality is best measured at the point of interaction, and that quality direct support requires …

 

READ MORE

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Advancing Substance Use Prevention in HIDTA Communities | Thursday, October 8, 2020

The Advancing Substance Use Prevention in HIDTA Communities virtual summit has the following goals:

  • Discuss advances in substance use prevention policy and strategies over the last five years in the context of national substance threats.
  • Describe evidence-based practices, programs, and strategies for substance use prevention led by public safety and public health partnerships.
  • Describe critical insights into implementing substance use prevention practices, programs, and strategies.
  • Compare different methods for measuring the impact and value of prevention programs.
  • Identify national, state, and local prevention resources available to all HIDTA communities.

 Review the agenda and event flyer, and register today.

 

Naloxone Distribution Strategies Webinar Recording

Offered for Centralized Coordinating Entities (CCEs) and their partners, this webinar recording showcases real-world examples of community-based initiatives used by CCEs across Pennsylvania to increase availability of naloxone and prevent overdose deaths. Panelists also discuss how they have adjusted their naloxone distribution efforts in light of COVID-19.  Learn more about PCCD’s Naloxone for First Responders Program.

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