';
Children's Services

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has announced that the proposed Licensure of Crisis Intervention Services regulations will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on October 18, 2025. The package is also posted on the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) website and can be found here. OMHSAS’ proposed regulation seeks to codify minimum standards for the issuance of licenses to provide emergency behavioral health crisis intervention services (crisis intervention services) in the Commonwealth in alignment with national best practices for crisis services.

Starting October 18, 2025, and closing November 17, 2025, the public may submit written comments regarding the proposed rulemaking to the Department via email. Please be aware that all public comments must be published verbatim on the IRRC website with the name of the commenter included. OMHSAS fully supports and encourages individuals with lived experience to submit comments on the regulation, but please be sure you are comfortable with the content of your comment being made public with your name.

Comments may also be submitted to the following address:

Department of Human Services
OMHSAS – Bureau of Policy, Planning, and Program Development, Attention: Tara Pride
Commonwealth Tower, 11th Floor
303 Walnut Street
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105

RCPA will be convening a Crisis Intervention Regulatory Review Team to evaluate the proposed regulations and submit comments. If any member is interested in participating in the review group, please contact Emma Sharp.

Elevating Pennsylvania’s Providers: The Future of AI for Documentation & Compliance in BH and IDD
October 29, 2025
1:00 pm ET
Register Here

Pennsylvania’s behavioral health and IDD providers face increasing demands for accuracy, compliance, and efficiency — all while staff are overextended and burnout is rising. Traditional documentation tools are no longer enough.

This webinar, presented in partnership with RCPA, will showcase how Pennsylvania providers are embracing organizational AI to strengthen clinical documentation, improve compliance, and reduce administrative burden across every program and service line. Ross Young and Michelle Montowski of Clinically AI will showcase how their organization is supporting RCPA members through adoption cohorts, creating a statewide movement to elevate documentation quality, reduce risk exposure, and give staff back valuable time for care.

Participants will learn how to:

  • Implement real-time compliance auditing that ensures documentation meets state, federal, and payer requirements.
  • Use ChartAware AI to incorporate longitudinal client history into documentation, enhancing quality and continuity of care.
  • Support every discipline and setting — from therapists and psychiatrists to DSPs, case managers, nurses, and peer specialists.
  • Reduce audit risk by automatically flagging compliance gaps before submission.
  • Explore how Pennsylvania providers are working together to shape best practices and accelerate adoption.
  • See how AI can be deployed responsibly — with clinicians always in charge.

This webinar is primarily for:

  • CEOs, COOs, and CFOs of behavioral health and IDD organizations;
  • Compliance, Quality, and Clinical leaders; and
  • IT & Operations leaders.
Register Today

Businessman and team work using a Laptop Computer with Webinar E-business Browsing Connection and cloud online technology webcast concept, business concept

The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) will be holding their October 2025 Stakeholder Webinar on Thursday, October 23, from 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm. Visit here to register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

For those that want to join via phone:
Call-in Number: (914) 614-3221
Access Code: 562-633-851

Please contact Emma Sharp with any questions.

0 1069
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

On Monday, August 25, the Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF) successfully completed obligations outlined in a Voluntary Resolution Agreement (VRA) with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The VRA began in 2023 after a complaint of discrimination based on disability was filed against one of the county children and youth agencies that OCYF supervises. In confirming that all provisions of the agreement were satisfied, OCR noted:

“… the positive changes that have taken place to better ensure that individuals with disabilities will have meaningful access to DHS’ programs and services in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794, and its implementing regulation, 45 C.F.R. Part 84 (Section 504), and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq., and its implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 35 (Title II).”

During the monitoring period, over 31,000 state, county, and private provider child welfare staff received training on civil rights compliance related to the Americans With Disabilities Act. Following July 30, 2025, the training is not required by OCR. However, the training is still available via the PA Child Welfare Resource Center. OCYF encourages agencies to continue offering it to new and seasoned staff.

Please contact RCPA Policy Associate Emma Sharp with any questions.

Elevating Pennsylvania’s Providers: The Future of AI for Documentation & Compliance in BH and IDD
October 29, 2025
1:00 pm ET
Register Here

Pennsylvania’s behavioral health and IDD providers face increasing demands for accuracy, compliance, and efficiency — all while staff are overextended and burnout is rising. Traditional documentation tools are no longer enough.

This webinar, presented in partnership with RCPA, will showcase how Pennsylvania providers are embracing organizational AI to strengthen clinical documentation, improve compliance, and reduce administrative burden across every program and service line. Ross Young and Michelle Montowski of Clinically AI will showcase how their organization is supporting RCPA members through adoption cohorts, creating a statewide movement to elevate documentation quality, reduce risk exposure, and give staff back valuable time for care.

Participants will learn how to:

  • Implement real-time compliance auditing that ensures documentation meets state, federal, and payer requirements.
  • Use ChartAware AI to incorporate longitudinal client history into documentation, enhancing quality and continuity of care.
  • Support every discipline and setting — from therapists and psychiatrists to DSPs, case managers, nurses, and peer specialists.
  • Reduce audit risk by automatically flagging compliance gaps before submission.
  • Explore how Pennsylvania providers are working together to shape best practices and accelerate adoption.
  • See how AI can be deployed responsibly — with clinicians always in charge.

This webinar is primarily for:

  • CEOs, COOs, and CFOs of behavioral health and IDD organizations;
  • Compliance, Quality, and Clinical leaders; and
  • IT & Operations leaders.
Register Today