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Children's Services

This Drexel University training will be held March 20, 2025, from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm, and will take place at the Holiday Inn Grantville. The training fee is $15 to attend and $45 for CEs/attendance. The course will be led by Chris Owens, MA, LPC, CCTP.

This course focuses on specific interventions of use to the professional helper when providing therapeutic services in behavioral healthcare. The aim of this workshop is to add to the helper’s “bag of tricks” or “toolkit” pertaining to assisting people with histories of trauma. Participants engage in didactic and experiential learning related to several specific interventions geared toward managing and moving beyond trauma. Participants also dialogue in small groups to share creative and effective interventions they have used in their various practice settings.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

  • Summarize the general purposes of interventions;
  • Discuss having a sound rationale for using various techniques;
  • Describe the benefits associated with each strategy;
  • Outline the drawbacks and barriers to using selected interventions; and
  • Implement each intervention as relevant to one’s own professional practice.

CE Credits:

  • APA — 5
  • CPRP — 5
  • LSW/LCSW/LPC/LMFT — 5
  • NBCC — 5
  • PA Act48 — 5
  • PCB — 5
  • PSNA — 5
  • IACET —.5

Please visit here for additional information.

This is a reminder that the Call for Proposals for the 2025 RCPA Annual Conference Striving to Thrive will be closing Friday, March 14. Striving to Thrive will be held September 9 – 12 at the Hershey Lodge for a statewide audience, and 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:

  • Provide guidance on building a culture of a committed workforce, including recruitment and employee development as well as effective remote workforce strategies;
  • Inspire ideas for organizations to be leaders in their field;
  • Highlight new policy, research, and treatment initiatives, such as the use of artificial intelligence and use of technology in service provision;
  • 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; and
  • Discuss organization strategies to adapt to performance-based contracting.

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 Friday, March 14, 2025, at 5:00 pm. Proposals must be submitted electronically on the form provided; confirmation of receipt will be sent. Proposals submitted after the deadline may 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 two 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 9, 2025. Questions may be directed to Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator.

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Young Girl Talking With Counselor At Home

The University of Pittsburgh’s Youth and Family Training Institute (YFTI) is working with the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health Services and Bureau of Policy, Planning & Program Development to develop and implement a two-year innovative pilot that will define, develop, implement, and evaluate the role of the Family Navigator in up to six sites within the Commonwealth. The goal of the pilot will be to assist in defining Pennsylvania’s Family Navigator Model by testing the effectiveness and implementation strategies of pilot family navigator models for children, youth, and young adults (CYYA) with serious emotional disturbance (SED). The pilot is designed to promote early access, engagement, coordination, and optimization of mental health treatment and services for CYYA aged 5–21 who are experiencing symptoms of mental health problems along with their family caregiver (defined as family members or other caregivers with a primary responsibility of caring for the individual).

A Family Navigator plays a critical role in guiding and supporting family caregivers through the array of mental health services and other systems of care that may be needed to support CYYA. They help them navigate the often confusing, overwhelming, and fragmented services available, ensuring that family caregivers have the resources, information, and support needed to access the appropriate care for their CYYA. Family Navigators who are also Family Peers are able to share their own lived experience related to connecting their loved ones to mental health services. This approach offers a safe and comfortable means of educating family caregivers that may be overwhelmed in the midst of accessing care for their children.

Request for Proposals — Call for Applications:  

  • Up to six sites across the Commonwealth will receive up to $250,000 each year of the 2-year pilot to design and implement a model within the parameters of the Family Navigator definition. This will include varying recruitment strategies, referral sources, and strategies to connect to families.
  • Sites are expected to participate in the evaluation process, training, coaching, and skill-based technical assistance throughout the implementation of their approved pilot with guidance and oversight from The University of Pittsburgh/YFTI to ensure sites are meeting minimum implementation standards in order to continue to receive funding.
  • Counties, provider organizations, health facilities, or other public, private, or non-profit entities within Pennsylvania that serve children, youth, and young adults aged 5–21 are eligible to apply.
  • A diversity of sites is being sought in various contexts such as setting (urban, suburban, rural) and target population.

Submission/Review: Applications are due on or before March 28, 2025. For more information, please contact Bryon Luke, Director of Program Implementation.

Applications will be reviewed by a team of OMHSAS and YFTI staff who will be responsible for selecting the pilot sites.

A list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) is available as part of the RFP document. Additional questions can be submitted until March 15, 2025 to Bryon Luke, Director of Program Implementation and will be added to the FAQ on the YFTI website.

If there are follow-up questions from YFTI/OMHSAS regarding the submissions, a member of the review team may contact the project coordinator on the application for clarification.

*NOTE: Current participants in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funded System of Care (SOC) grants or interested applicants for an upcoming SAMHSA-funded PA CARE SOC grant are not excluded from applying to this RFP and are encouraged to apply. Please indicate any relevant SAMHSA-funded grants in which your agency is participating in your application and describe how they would be connected to this pilot.
Selected sites will be notified in writing by YFTI by April 25, 2025. The projected start date for implementation will be July 1, 2025.

Please contact RCPA Policy Associate Emma Sharp with any questions.

The Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) is supporting a specialized training effort addressing child abuse recognition as well as reporting training for residential facilities through a contract with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance (PFSA). This training is for child residential staff, their related purchasing entities, and local law enforcement agencies.

Register for an upcoming training:

Training Summary:

This training is for providers and other child serving entities. It will cover clarification on 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 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, including OCYF Regional Office Reps, law enforcement, and MCOs.

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 RCPA COO and Mental Health Policy Director Jim Sharp or RCPA Policy Associate Emma Sharp with further questions.

RCPA Partner Eleos knows how to throw a party, and their virtual event next month is no exception. Join them for the debut of Eleos Compliance at their Winter 2025 Launch Event. 

This 1-hour virtual event will kick off with a product launch video, then AI experts and real-life Eleos customers will present New Year, New AI Advancements with Eleos Documentation and Compliance.

Eleos Compliance is a new AI-powered solution that enables behavioral health CDI and CQI teams to continually scan 100% of notes for six of the most common compliance red flags. By quickly identifying high risk areas, there’s more time to spend on staff education and training to prevent further issues. 

Register now to join them on February 19 at 12:00 pm Eastern, when Alon Joffe, Eleos Co-founder and CEO, will be joined by Eleos’ customers Rony Gadiwalla, CIO at GRAND Mental Health, and Tom Morgan, CIO at Merakey, to:

  • Define and explain the riskiest note compliance issues in behavioral health.
  • Detail how the NEW Eleos Compliance product — in conjunction with the new Eleos Documentation Dashboard — helps organizations proactively monitor, manage, and prevent documentation quality issues.
  • Showcase the measurable impact of AI-driven compliance and documentation technology at GRAND Mental Health.

It’s a great opportunity to get familiar with all the operational benefits specialized AI has to offer — and to discover why Eleos is the behavioral health technology providers (and leaders) actually love. 

Stay tuned for their next launch event in Q2!

Register for this exciting event now. If you can’t make it to the live event, you’ll receive an on-demand recording afterwards.

Secretary Val Arkoosh and leadership from the Department of Human Services (DHS) hosted a webinar to discuss the proposed 2025/26 budget for the Department on Friday, February 7, 2025.

The recording is available here, and the PowerPoint has been made available.

RCPA will continue to update members on the budget as information becomes available. If you have further questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.

March 13, 2025
1:00 pm EST
Register Here

Greenspace Health, in partnership with Project HEAL, a nonprofit organization in the U.S. focused on equitable treatment access for eating disorders, are co-presenting an educational webinar. This unique session, moderated by Carsen Rhys Beckwith, Program Director at Project HEAL, will bring together a panel of experts in both Measurement-Based Care (MBC) and eating disorder treatment.

Greenspace’s Chief Growth Officer, Jesse Hayman, and Dr. Wendy Oliver Pyatt, Co-founder, CEO and Chief Medical Officer at Within Health and CEO and Co-founder at Galen Hope, will share how MBC fosters meaningful collaboration in eating disorder treatment, supports personalized interventions, and ultimately improves outcomes for people in care.

Don’t miss this opportunity to uncover the impact of MBC in eating disorder treatment, with a focus on driving equity and practical strategies for implementation.