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Children's Services

The Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF) is continuing to offer free Trauma Intensive Courses to support individuals and teams in their professional development. These courses provide essential training in trauma awareness and healing. Options include Train-the-Trainer Sessions and sessions on processing pain as well as facilitating healing. Participants can deepen their understanding and skills in trauma-informed care, with limited seats available. To register for these courses, visit the course registration page. Additionally, various trauma-related workshops are open for registration, covering different aspects of trauma. For more information, visit the Lakeside Global Institute — Trauma Workshops 2024 page.

RCPA attended the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) telehealth webinar on Monday, January 29, alongside many provider members, regarding the Federal payment conditions related to the delivery of telehealth services and the requirement that the physicians or clinicians must present in the office, or that the client must be in the office during the telehealth session, to meet the guideline. It was explained that despite the standards outlined in the current OMHSAS Telebehavioral Health Bulletin, under the Federal “4 walls” statute, this is a required Federal Medicaid payment condition. These requirements cannot be waived.

The purpose of today’s call was twofold: explaining the “4 walls” requirements, and for providers to give vital feedback to OMHSAS on the impacts, challenges, and barriers to accessing services that this may create for consumers and families. This Medicaid standard remains in effect, and RCPA recommends provider members review their operating practices to ensure compliance.

During this time, RCPA will continue its efforts and work with OMHSAS, the HealthChoices partners, and stakeholders to ensure access to services via telehealth. You can review today’s OMHSAS telehealth webinar slide deck. We are also looking to obtain a recording of the webinar to share with our members.

If you have questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp. The next RCPA Telehealth Operations Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 27; however, we will be reviewing if we need to meet sooner based on current information.

Please share this information with your stakeholder networks.

RCPA is delighted to share our 2023 Year in Review! We’re confident that this review will provide you with valuable insights, and inspire you as we highlight some of our significant achievements. This past year, we have embarked on groundbreaking initiatives and celebrated remarkable successes, all thanks to our collective efforts. As we step into 2024, we remain optimistic about reaching new heights together, and hope this review fuels your enthusiasm for what we can all accomplish in the coming year.

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) is holding a series of virtual conversations on Monday, January 29, to discuss opportunities in modernizing tele-behavioral health services within the Commonwealth. These meetings will be held using Microsoft Teams, and time will be allotted for discussion. To facilitate discussions most efficiently, OMHSAS will hold three meetings based on stakeholder type: BH-MCO/Primary Contractor/County Mental Health Administrators, licensed service providers, and individuals who access services and their families. Please choose the most appropriate webinar for you. The licensed service providers forum will be at 11:00 am. Attendance will be taken so that feedback can be cataloged accordingly.

These conversations will drive OMHSAS closer to finding solutions to the complicated work of increasing access to behavioral health services that are utilizing tele-behavioral health platforms and ensuring service recipients have a choice. This first conversation will focus on psychiatric outpatient clinic services and telehealth.

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Visit here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 290 432 891 13
Passcode: 6nz9cp
Download Teams | Join on the web
Or call in (audio only)
+1 267-332-8737,,985858579#   United States, Philadelphia
Phone Conference ID: 985 858 579#

OMHSAS looks forward to you joining this critical conversation. If you have questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.

The 2024 RCPA Conference Embracing Challenges, Empowering Success will be held September 24 – 27 at the Hershey Lodge for a statewide audience. The Conference Committee is seeking workshop proposals in every area for possible inclusion, particularly those that assist providers in developing and maintaining high-quality, stable, and effective treatments, services, and agencies in an industry where change is constant. The committee looks for presentations that:

  • Highlight new policy, research, and treatment initiatives, such as the use of artificial intelligence, telehealth innovations, and employing people with disabilities;
  • Provide specific skills and information related to individual and organizational leadership development and enhancement;
  • Discuss advanced ethics practices and suicide prevention;
  • Address system changes that affect business practices, including integrated care strategies, value-based purchasing, performance-based contracting, acquisitions and mergers, and alternative payment models;
  • Provide guidance on building a culture of a committed workforce, including recruitment and employee development as well as effective remote workforce strategies;
  • Offer concrete skills and tools to operate more efficient, effective businesses; and
  • Inspire ideas for organizations to be leaders in their field.

The committee welcomes any proposal that addresses these and other topics essential to rehabilitation, mental health, substance use disorder, children’s health, aging, physical disabilities, and intellectual/developmental disabilities & autism.

Members are encouraged to consider submitting, and we highly encourage you to forward this opportunity to those who are exceptionally good speakers and have state-of-the-art information to share.

The Call for Proposals (featuring a complete listing of focus tracks) and accompanying Guidelines for Developing Educational Objectives detail requirements for submissions. The deadline for submissions is Monday, March 11, 2024, at 5:00 pm. Proposals must be submitted electronically on the form provided; confirmation of receipt will be sent. Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

If the proposal is accepted, individuals must be prepared to present on any day of the conference. Workshops are 90 or 180 minutes in length. At the time of acceptance, presenters will be required to confirm the ability to submit workshop handouts electronically four weeks prior to the conference. Individuals unable to meet this expectation should not submit proposals for consideration.

Individuals are welcome to submit multiple proposals. Notification of inclusion for the conference will be made via email by Friday, May 17, 2024. Questions may be directed to Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced the Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model to enhance integration in behavioral health. This model is designed to improve care quality, access, and outcomes for individuals with mental health conditions and substance use disorders under Medicaid and Medicare. Community-based behavioral health practices will form interprofessional care teams to address behavioral and physical health, including health-related social needs. The IBH Model uses a “no wrong door” approach, providing access to all services, and emphasizes building health information technology capacity. The model is scheduled to launch in Fall 2024 and will operate for eight years in up to eight select states. For more information, visit the IBH Model web page, where you can find frequently asked questions, access a fact sheet on the IBH Model, and explore a fact sheet on the accomplishments of the HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration.

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has updated the meeting dates for the 2024 Stakeholder Webinars. The revised schedule is as follows:

  • Thursday, April 18, 2024, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
  • Thursday, July 18, 2024, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
  • Thursday, October 17, 2024, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Registration and webinar links will be provided closer to each meeting date.