Today is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day
HHS Finalizes Rule Strengthening Protections Against Disability Discrimination
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has updated the regulations that prohibit discrimination based on disabilities to clarify obligations in several critical areas. Specifically, the rule:
- Ensures that medical treatment decisions are not based on negative biases or stereotypes about individuals with disabilities, judgments that an individual with a disability will be a burden on others, or dehumanizing beliefs that the life of an individual with a disability has less value than the life of a person without a disability.
- Prohibits the use of any measure, assessment, or tool that discounts the value of a life extension on the basis of disability to deny, limit, or otherwise condition access to an aid, benefit or service.
- Defines what accessibility means for websites and mobile applications and sets forth a specific technical standard to ensure that health care and human service activities delivered through these platforms are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.
- Adopts the U.S. Access Board’s standards for accessible medical diagnostic equipment, like exam tables and mammography machines.
- Details requirements to ensure nondiscrimination in the services provided by HHS funded child welfare agencies, including, but not limited to, reasonable efforts to prevent foster care placement, parent-child visitation, reunification services, child placement, parenting skills programs, and in- and out-of-home services.
- Clarifies obligations to provide services in the most integrated setting, like receiving services in one’s own home, appropriate to the needs of individuals with disabilities.
Additionally, the Final Rule updates existing requirements to make them consistent with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), as many HHS recipients are also covered by the ADA. This consistency will improve and simplify compliance.
View the full press release here. If you have any questions, please contact Fady Sahhar.
“Illuminate Leadership: Moving From Rockstar Contributor To Impactful Manager” — Free Webinar for RCPA Members on June 21
Save the Date! RCPA’s 2024 Conference to Be Held Sept. 24 – 27
RCPA is excited to announce our Annual Conference Embracing Challenges, Empowering Success, which will be held September 24 – 27, 2024, at the Hershey Lodge. Save the dates for this action-packed event, which promises to showcase key speakers discussing the latest in health and human services across all divisions. Registration details and more will become available in the coming months, and you can stay up-to-date with developments at the RCPA conference website.
Our conference will host lively networking events, and our Connections Hall will feature businesses and organizations that can serve your agency’s needs, be it in renovations, EHR management, or patient care.
If your organization is interested in sponsoring or exhibiting, you can complete our Sponsors, Exhibitors, and Advertisers Brochure or contact Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator. Spaces are filling up, so don’t delay!
We look forward to sharing more details in the near future and would like to extend a thank you to those organizations who have already pledged support for the conference! View our current sponsors and exhibitors on the RCPA Conference website!
IPRC Webinar “Treating Post-COVID-19 Conditions in Children” to Be Held May 30
Thursday, May 30, 2024
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT; 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CDT;
10:00 am – 11:00 am MDT; 9:00 am – 10:00 am PDT
Register
Laura Malone, MD, PhD
Dr. Laura Malone is the director of the Pediatric Post-COVID-19 Rehabilitation Clinic at Kennedy Krieger Institute. She is also a physician scientist in Kennedy Krieger’s Center for Movement Studies and an assistant professor of Neurology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr. Malone has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and her medical degree from the University of North Carolina. She completed her pediatric neurology residency at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Malone’s clinical practice focuses on the neurological care of children with perinatal stroke, other brain injuries, and long COVID. Her research focuses on understanding complex pediatric disorders and on improving outcomes using mechanistic neurorehabilitation approaches. Regarding COVID-19, Dr. Malone investigates clinical phenotypes of children with persistent symptoms after COVID-19 infection and investigates factors and mechanisms that promote good recovery.
Objectives: At the end of this session, the learner will:
- Discuss how our understanding of long COVID has evolved over time;
- Describe guidance regarding assessment and treatment options for children with long COVID; and
- Identify recovery patterns and factors that influence severity and recovery of children with long COVID.
Audience: This webinar is intended for all interested members of the rehabilitation team.
Level: Intermediate
Certificate of Attendance: Certificates of attendance are available for all attendees. No CEs are provided for this course.
Complimentary webinars are a benefit of membership in IPRC/RCPA. Registration fee for non-members is $179. Not a member yet? Consider joining today.
ANCOR Shares Analysis of DOL’s Final Overtime Rule
Dual Diagnosis Professional Conference to Present “The Importance of Place in Trauma-Informed Care: A Wellness Approach”
The Importance of Place in Trauma-Informed Care: A Wellness Approach
May 15, 2024
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Registration now open
The Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) have announced the Dual Diagnosis Professional Conference Series, which offers presentations focused on supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) and mental health needs. The next presentation will focus on the connection between trauma-informed care and positive support, framed in a wellness perspective. Critical to this effort was the creation of a safe place, the wellness center, specifically selected and modified to reduce the possible re-traumatization of individuals with ID/A or a dual diagnosis.
See the announcement for a full session description, presenter biographies, and information on how to register.
Relias Shares Keys to Implementing a TIC Framework
Statewide Briefing on Medicaid Unwinding & Expanded Enrollment Options Planned for April 25
On April 25, 2024, at 12:00 pm, a virtual statewide briefing will be conducted on Medicaid unwinding and expanded enrollment options. This event will feature Health and Human Services (HHS) Regional Director Melissa Herd, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh, and Pennie Executive Director Devon Trolley.
The agenda will include a briefing on what’s happening at the federal level when it comes to Medicaid, an update on the Medicaid “unwinding” process currently wrapping up in Pennsylvania, and the expanded eligibility requirements for enrolling in Pennie coverage even when it’s not open enrollment.
To register, please visit here.
White House Announces Release of Access Final Rule
The While House issued a press release announcing that the Access Final Rule will be released later today. These regulations include:
- The Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Rule, which will require all nursing homes that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid to have 3.48 hours per resident per day of total staffing, including a defined number from both registered nurses (0.55 hours per resident per day) and nurse aides (2.45 per resident per day);
- Introducing the requirements of the rule in phases to make sure nursing homes have the time they need to hire staff, with longer timeframes for rural communities;
- Ensuring adequate compensation for home care workers for HCBS operations of in-home care (both Personal Assistance Services and Community Habilitation) by “requiring that at least 80 percent of Medicaid payments for home care services go to workers’ wages. This policy would also allow states to take into account the unique experiences that small home care providers and providers in rural areas face while ensuring their employees receive their fair share of Medicaid payments and continued training as well as the delivery of quality care;”
- The state requirement to be more transparent in how much they pay for home care services and how they set those rates, increasing the accountability for home care providers; and
- The creation of a state home care rate-setting advisory group made up of beneficiaries, home care workers, and other key stakeholders to advise and consult on provider payment rates and direct compensation for direct care workers.
We will continue to monitor the details of these regulations and Pennsylvania’s plans to comply. If you have any questions, please contact Fady Sahhar.
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