RCPA Members Enkompas BI and Consulting for Human Services (CFHS) Sign Partnering Agreement
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Registration for the RCPA Conference 2022 Together! is now open! Together! will be held October 11 – 14, 2022, at the Hershey Lodge in person this year. Be sure to register, as the early bird rate is available now until September 9, 2022.
We are excited for the lineup of speakers who will be presenting at this year’s conference, as there will be pertinent information available and discussed for all service areas. Workshop sessions include:
You also won’t want to miss our plenary speakers:
Be sure to check out the entire list of sessions in our brochure, and note that sessions will be recorded to allow participants access after the event.
In addition to an amazing roster of speakers, our 2022 Conference will have an exciting array of sponsors and exhibitors. We thank those who have committed to our conference thus far! If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting, visit here for more details.
Questions about the conference may be directed to Carol Ferenz or Sarah Eyster, Conference Coordinators.
The Department of Human Services (DHS) announced they will be accepting comments on Pennsylvania’s Final Statewide Transition Plan (STP) for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). This plan applies to Medicaid Waivers under the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL), Office of Developmental Programs (ODP), and Office of Child Development & Early Learning (OCDEL). The notice is below and includes additional information about upcoming webinars.
HCBS Settings Rule – Background
CMS published the HCBS Rule, which amends the Medicaid regulations for HCBS waivers under section 1915(c) of the Social Security Act. The HCBS Rule supports enhanced quality of programs and services and adds protections for individuals receiving services. The HCBS Rule reflects CMS’ intent to ensure all individuals receiving services and supports through Medicaid waivers have full access to the benefits of community living, including receiving services in the most integrated setting. The HCBS Rule includes a provision requiring states to develop a transition plan to ensure that services will meet federal requirements by March 2023.
Statewide Transition Plan
The Department received initial approval of its STP on August 30, 2016, which can be accessed at the Department’s HCBS Stakeholder Waiver and Planning Team web page.
To receive final approval of Pennsylvania’s STP, the Department is required to complete the following remaining steps and submit an updated STP with this information included:
This information is included in Pennsylvania’s Final STP for public comment. A presentation providing a general overview of the HCBS Rule and Pennsylvania’s Final STP will be recorded by the Department and posted by the end of August to prepare stakeholders for public comment. Information about where to access the presentation will be published when it is available.
As outlined in the public comment section below, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), Office of Developmental Programs (ODP), and Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) will each hold webinars to go over information in Pennsylvania’s STP that is specific to their waivers and programs. Public comment will be accepted during each of these webinars.
Public Comment
Pennsylvania’s Final STP is available for a 30-day public comment period at the Department’s HCBS STP web page. Comments will be accepted no later than 11:59 pm on September 22, 2022. Stakeholders may provide public comment through one of the following methods:
When submitting electronic or written comments, it is recommended that you include the following information:
Find ways to best support individuals who have serious mental illness (SMI) and are involved with the criminal justice process.There is a trend toward collaboration among behavioral health clinicians and the criminal justice system. Yet studies show that individuals who have SMI interact with the criminal justice system at higher rates than the general public. In fact, about two in five people who are incarcerated have a history of SMI.
This guide for mental health clinicians helps you better understand the criminal justice system process as it relates to individuals who have SMI. Learn what happens after an individual in your care is arrested or incarcerated. Gather insight on how you can best support and advocate for them.
If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.
Advancing Health Equity: Leading Care, Payment, and Systems Transformation (AHE), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is seeking applicants for the next cohort of the learning collaborative, which will include five teams comprised of Medicaid agencies, managed care organizations, and health care provider organizations or systems. The learning collaborative will help teams develop shared equity priorities, uncover the drivers of disparities in their member populations, and create payment models to support equity-focused care transformation.
There is growing consensus among health care policy experts that aligning payment and quality improvement activities offers critical opportunities to improve health equity. AHE recently released a Call for Applications to help multi-sector state teams advance their collective health equity goals. The initiative, led by the University of Chicago in partnership with the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) and the Institute for Medicaid Innovation, helps multi-organizational teams reduce and eliminate disparities in health and health care through a variety of approaches, including innovative Medicaid payment and contracting models.
Applications are due September 23, 2022.
Message from the Bureau of Human Services Licensing (BHSL) regarding the renewals of assisted living residences (ALR) and personal care homes (PCHs) license renewals:
Due to staffing issues, BHSL Licensing Administration is currently experiencing a delay in processing renewals 130 days in advance of expiration. In most cases, Licensing Administration is issuing the license in the month that it expires.
If your license has expired and you have not yet received your renewal, please contact Licensing Administration at 717-705-0383 or via email directly so that your renewal can be expedited. Any Certificates of Compliance that have or will be expired on or before August 31, 2022, have been emailed to the email addresses we have on file. We are currently working on the September expiration dates. To expedite the process, you will be receiving your Certificate of Compliance electronically. It is being sent to the email address(es) as noted on your renewal application. If changes to your email address(es) are needed at any time throughout the year, please send a notification email here and to your regional office.
The Certificate of Compliance may also be printed from the Provider Directory, which is updated when the Certificate of Compliance is issued via email. It can be found by searching the name of your home here. Select the Certificate hyperlink in the License Status & License # column of your directory listing.
Please be reminded that if you have not received your approval letter from BEO, you will need to submit a Civil Rights Attestation electronically. You can find the form here. The Attestation may be submitted via email ONLY if you had previously submitted the CRCQ without receiving a letter of approval from the BEO. It should be emailed here. Any email correspondence sent to Licensing Administration should have this format in the subject line: LICENSE #, NAME OF HOME, DESCRIPTION OF CONTENTS, i.e.: 123450 – ABC Personal Care Home – Attestation.
When submitting the Civil Rights Compliance Attestation with the renewal application and renewal application fee, they must submitted in one mailing via physical mail to:
Via USPS:
DHS/BHSL |
Or via courier:
DHS/BHSL |