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Cooling centers are designated locations with air conditioning where people can go to escape the heat during extreme temperatures. They are typically open during the hottest parts of the day and offer a cool environment, water, and sometimes other support services.

Types of locations that typically serve as cooling centers during a heatwave include:

  • Senior centers;
  • Libraries; and
  • Other community spaces.

Please call PA 211 or visit the Search Pennsylvania 211 website for more current and up-to-date information.

Additional resources about cooling centers:

Please note:

This is not an all-inclusive list. There are more cooling centers than those listed on the PA211 map link.

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Photo by Hannah Skelly on Unsplash

There are more than 700,000 veterans in Pennsylvania, and over half of them are age 60 and older. Veterans may be eligible for a wide array of benefits from both the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA or VA). One such benefit is a VA pension.

Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous people who are preying on veterans, particularly older veterans, to profit from the veteran’s desire to apply for the benefits they earned while defending our country and our freedoms.

The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) wants you to know that free and safe assistance is available to help veterans and their beneficiaries apply for veteran benefits including VA pension.

You can access the Pension Poaching Toolkit, filled with educational materials for you and your community to print and post, or continue sharing electronically.

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The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) released a communication that focused on the update to the Health and Welfare Performance Measure #8 (HW-8) that was included in the OBRA Waiver amendment that was approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and took effect on January 1, 2025. The update includes:

Number and percent of incidents for waiver participants each month with more than three reported incidents within the past 12 months where results of trend analysis were addressed by the Service Coordinator (SC). Numerator: Total number of incidents for waiver participants each month with more than three reported incidents within the past 12 months where results of trend analysis were addressed by the SC. Denominator: Total number of incidents for waiver participants with reported incidents within the past 12 months where a trend analysis was performed.

In accordance with this requirement, for any participant with more than three critical incidents within a 12-month period, the Service Coordinator (SC) must perform an analysis (trend analysis) and take action as necessary to prevent or mitigate further incidents. The SC must commence the analysis and implement the actions to address potential issues related to the health and welfare of the Participant within the 30-day investigation period. If additional time is needed to investigate and to implement any necessary actions to address potential issues related to the health and welfare of the Participant, the SC must document an extension in Enterprise Incident Management (EIM). The trend analysis document must be provided to a Critical Incident Management Unit (CIMU) team member for review upon request and subsequently uploaded to the respective EIM entry upon completion and submission of the critical incident report’s final section. If necessary, OLTL’s CIMU staff will provide additional feedback to the SC via the State Management Review in EIM.

For any questions regarding this change, please contact the CIMU via the resource account. Additionally, questions related to critical incidents may be emailed to the CIMU team member identified in any case-specific communication.

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There’s been a lot of talk — and a lot of concern — about the federal budget and what it could mean for Medicaid. We’re all hearing it from you, too: “What’s actually happening?” “What does this mean for our funding?” “Are these changes final?”

This guide will help answer those questions. It lays out what’s in the current House bill, what’s at stake for providers, and what we’re watching next as the Senate and CMS weigh in.

Inside, you’ll find:

  • What changes are being proposed, like new work requirements and copays
  • What it could mean for your clients and funding
  • What we know, what we don’t, and what comes next

These updates aren’t always easy to follow, so we’re breaking them down in plain language, and we’ll keep doing so as things evolve. Stay up to date with our Medicaid Intel here.

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Pharmacists on the Frontlines: Expanding the Reach of Care Teams 
Free RCPA Members-Only Webinar

Tuesday, July 8, 2025
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Register Here

Pharmacists play a vital role in improving patient outcomes through enhanced adherence strategies and collaboration with healthcare teams. This session will explore how pharmacy teams support prescribers with patient-centered services, such as medication monitoring, adherence programs, and injection administration. Attendees will gain insights into real-world approaches that strengthen care coordination and reduce treatment barriers. Through case studies and success stories, this workshop will highlight the tangible impact of pharmacy-led interventions on patient health. Whether optimizing medication management or enhancing continuity of care, pharmacists are essential partners in driving better outcomes.

Presenters:
James Steigerwalt, PharmD, Pharma Clinical Director, Altuix
Dan Kohler, PharmD, Pharmacy Manager, Altruix

Objectives: Following this course, the learner will:

  • Define the pharmacist’s role in the healthcare team, focusing on strategies that improve medication adherence, enhance care coordination, and drive better patient outcomes;
  • Evaluate how pharmacy teams collaborate with prescribers through patient support services, medication monitoring, and administration of long-acting injectables; and
  • Analyze real-world success stories to identify best practices and measurable impacts on patient care.

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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Through a contract with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance (PFSA), the Department of Human Services’ Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) is supporting a specialized training on the reporting requirements for incidents involving children served in Child Residential and Day Treatment Facilities. This training is designed for child residential facility staff, their related purchasing entities, law enforcement agencies, OCYF Regional Office Reps, MCO staff, and staff of other entities that interact with Child Residential and Day Treatment Facilities.

Title of Training: Reporting Requirements for Children Served in Residential Care Facilities

Training Hours: Three (3) Hours

Format: Live Virtual

Register for an Upcoming Training:

Training Summary:

This training is for providers and other child serving entities and clarifies what allegations must be reported to ChildLine as suspected child abuse and/or HCSIS as a reportable incident, and further clarifies when an alternative plan of supervision must be put into place. This training also teaches minimal facts interviewing skills to better determine when to make a report, and then explains how those reports of suspected child abuse are categorized and handled at ChildLine. Lastly, internal follow up recommendations and communication are discussed. Other entities that interact with these 3800 facilities are also welcome to attend – OCYF Regional Office Reps, Law Enforcement, MCOs, etc.

This training mirrors the information outlined in the OCYF Bulletin # 3800-21-01 issued January 19, 2021, and is meant as additional training (not a replacement for the mandated reporter training).

Please contact Emma Sharp with any questions.

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A new Center for American Progress (CAP) analysis estimates that if H.R. 1 were to become law, more than 1.6 million Medicaid-expansion enrollees receiving SUD treatment would become uninsured. Although these estimates reflect the House-passed bill, the Senate’s more extreme Medicaid cuts could cause even greater coverage losses and disruptions to care.

KFF developed a table that provides a summary comparison of Medicaid provisions, including details on work requirements, in the House and Senate budget reconciliation bills.

The reconciliation legislation still needs to pass the Senate, and the House and Senate will need to reconcile any outstanding differences. President Trump expects to have the reconciliation bill on his desk for signing by July 4.

The bulk of those coverage losses would come from the bill’s proposed burdensome work-reporting requirements on adults enrolled in Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act’s expansion option. Specifically, the bill would require nonpregnant, nondisabled, non-caregiver adults ages 19 to 64 to document at least 80 hours of work per month or other qualifying activities (such as job training or volunteering) in order to maintain their Medicaid coverage. Individuals unable to meet the requirement would risk losing coverage. The Senate Finance Committee text goes even further, eliminating the exemption and requiring compliance from parents with children older than age 14.

Though the bill includes an exemption for individuals with SUD from work-reporting requirements, it remains unclear how states would implement or enforce that exemption.

CAP estimates that the states with the largest coverage losses among Medicaid enrollees being treated for SUD include California (nearly 170,000), New York (nearly 166,500), Ohio (134,500), and Pennsylvania (nearly 118,000). These coverage losses reflect the size of each state’s Medicaid expansion population as well as each state’s rate of SUD treatment take-up among people with Medicaid.

Medicaid is the largest payer of behavioral health services in the United States, including for SUD treatment. According to the latest available data, Medicaid covered nearly 60 percent of all national spending on SUD treatment in 2019 — accounting for $17 billion out of the $30 billion spent across all payers.

ACA improved SUD treatment access by making SUD services one of ten essential health benefits that nearly all insurers are required to cover. The ACA also allowed states to expand Medicaid eligibility to adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal-poverty level, providing millions of previously uninsured low-income adults with access to life-saving SUD treatment.

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Effective Monday, June 16, 2025, the PA Consumer Service Center (Inspiritec) began accepting Long-Term Care (LTC) and Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) applications over the phone. Individuals can call 1-866-550-4355 to apply for Medicaid, including LTC and HCBS. This information can be found on the DHS website, as well.

To communicate this change, the Department of Human Services (DHS) publicized this info with external stakeholders, posted banner messaging to multiple DHS web pages, added messaging to the Statewide Customer Service Center (CSC) wait time menu, and shared this information internally. DHS also provided Consumer Service Center staff with additional information needed to accurately capture information specific to LTC and HCBS applications.

Questions regarding this initiative can be directed to the DHS helpline at 800-692-7462.

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