DHS Issues RFI Regarding Models of LTC For Individuals With Complex Needs
PCCD Announces New Grant Opportunity
The following Grant Opportunities are now open in the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency (PCCD) Egrants System:
| Funding Announcement Title: | County Jail-Based Medication Assisted Treatment |
| Plan Year: | 2019 |
| Release Date: | 8/26/2019 |
| Due Date: | 10/4/2019 |
| Concept Papers Required: | No |
| Competitive/Noncompetitive: | Competitive |
| Amount Announced: | $1,900,000.00 |
To view the details regarding this solicitation and others, please click on the Funding Announcement Title listed above. You can view detailed documentation regarding these Funding Announcements by clicking on the Funding Announcement Title on the screen.
You must be registered with PCCD to access the Egrants System. If you are not registered, visit this website and select “Login.” Then select “Register.” Once your registration is accepted, revisit the Login page. Enter the User ID and Password established when you registered, and log in to the system through the Egrants Production link. Then you will see the User Management Profile Details page. You must save this information in order to access the system.
Clarification Regarding Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Training Requirements
RCPA’s Human Resources Committee met this week, and there was discussion regarding provider responsibilities for trainings for their employees and resources available to provide the needed training. We want to clarify that these requirements apply to providers of Medicare services, not Medicaid.
CMS offers an online resource – Medicare Learning Network (MLN) as a free resource to the public. One area covered in the MLN is Medicare Parts C and D Compliance and Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA) Trainings. Prior to January 1, 2019, CMS required providers of Medicare services to utilize their training to meet this requirement. Beginning January 1, 2019, CMS no longer requires health care providers participating in Medicare Advantage and Part D plans to complete CMS issued training, in order to allow the training to be offered in a manner that is tailored to each organization’s operations and risks.
Providers of Medicaid Services (Waiver services are funded through Medicaid) are not mandated to provide FWA training to their employees. Although this is not a mandated training, providers may offer this training as a part of your compliance training for all staff.
For more information regarding these training requirements, please refer to the CMS website and the Compliance Program Frequently Asked Questions document. If you have any further questions, please contact Carol Ferenz.
Supporting National Recovery Month
Join RCPA in supporting National Recovery Month in September. Immediately following the kick-off event, RCPA will be holding their Drug & Alcohol Division meeting on September 4, 2019 at 1:00 pm at the RCPA office, 777 E Park Drive, Harrisburg, PA. Please register to attend our meeting which will feature guest speakers from the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Please forward any agenda items to Tina Miletic for review and discussion. We look forward to your participation.
PA Opioid Command Center Summit
The PA Opioid Command Center is sponsoring the first Opioid Command Center Summit on October 1 and 2, 2019 in State College, PA. The summit focus is “Think Globally, Act Locally.” The audience for the summit consists of professionals, community members, families, and all others who have been affected by the Opioid Crisis in Pennsylvania. A block of hotel rooms has been reserved for this conference and will be available at a discounted rate until rooms are filled. Please contact the Wyndham Garden Inn State College, 814-466-7231, and ask for room block 0930190PI-001 or the Hilton Garden Inn State College, 814-272-1221, and ask for room block DOH for room reservations.
REGISTRATION
To register for the summit, you must create a TRAIN PA account, search for the course ID, and select the register for this course option. Instructions for completing the entire process are available here. If you already have a TRAIN PA account, enter Course ID 1086352 into the Search TRAIN field. REGISTER HERE.
CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS
You are invited to submit an abstract for a summit lecture, panel discussion, or a half-day course that focuses on local-level initiatives to address the opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania. Presenters are welcome to submit multiple abstracts; please submit each abstract as a separate application. To apply, please complete the Call for Abstracts and submit to this email by August 28, 2019.
Why Present?
- Provide information or spread the word on which local practices are saving lives
- Develop and expand your professional portfolio
- Collaborate with experts in the field and receive recognition for, and feedback about, your program
- Presenters receive reasonable travel expenses, including one night of lodging, and lunch the day of their presentation
If you have any questions or concerns, please email the Opioid Command Center or contact Jack Phillips, RCPA Director of Government Affairs.
Self-Determination Housing Project of Pennsylvania Webinar
The Self-Determination Housing Project of Pennsylvania is hosting a webinar; “811 Project Rental Assistance Overview” on Monday, August 19, 2019 at 10:00 am. The webinar will cover program eligibility, priority populations, how to become a stakeholder, and what the process looks like once someone is referred to an 811 unit. Please follow the link below to register for the webinar and feel free to share this information with colleagues and those in your network who would be interested in this topic.
Please register in advance for this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. If you have any questions, please reach out to the 811 Team.
New Date for RCPA Drug and Alcohol Division September Meeting
Please adjust your schedules for a new date and time of the RCPA Drug and Alcohol Division Meeting. RCPA is changing the date of this meeting to Wednesday, September 4 from 1:00 pm–4:00 pm, to be held in the RCPA Conference Room, Penn Grant Centre, 777 E Park Drive, Suite 300, Harrisburg, PA.
The September 4 meeting at 1:00 pm will replace the originally scheduled meeting on September 10 at 12:30 pm. Please plan to attend this meeting where we will introduce Kristen Houser, the new RCPA Drug and Alcohol Division Director, and she will begin her work with RCPA members. Register here to attend.
OMHSAS Issues Bulletin on Service Location Enrollment for Behavioral Health Providers
ISSUE DATE: July 30, 2019
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2019
SCOPE: This bulletin applies to all behavioral health providers licensed or approved by the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) or the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) that are enrolled in the Medical Assistance (MA) program, or who seek to enroll, revalidate, or re-activate their enrollment.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this bulletin is to:
- Clarify for behavioral health providers the applicability of the requirements published in the Medical Assistance Bulletin (MAB) 99-18-11, “Service Location Enrollment Deadline,” which reminded providers to enroll each service location out of which they operate; and
- Advise behavioral health providers that effective October 1, 2019, they must use the enrolled service location at which a service was provided on claims.
The following link will provide access to the bulletin: OMHSAS 19-02 – Service Location Enrollment for BH Providers.
Additionally, we have been advised by OMHSAS that as providers continue to enroll service locations, providers can utilize their main physical site address for billing pending site enrollment in PROMISe. If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Mental Health Division Director Sarah Eyster or RCPA Children’s Division Director Jim Sharp.
DHS Announces Dual Diagnosis Conference 2019
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) are pleased to announce a statewide conference focused on building capacity to better support the complex needs of individuals in the community. The conference theme is Expanding Capacity: Reaching Further.
The Conference will be held on Wednesday, August 21 and Thursday, August 22, 2019 at the Blair County Convention Center, 1 Convention Center Drive, Altoona, PA 16602.
Keynote and Plenary Speakers include:
- Gina Calhoun – Program Director, Doors to Wellbeing, National Consumer Technical Assistance Center
Topic: WRAP: Living a Self-Determined Well Life - Julie Gentile, MD, Professor and Chair, Psychiatry – Wright State University
Topic: Practicing Medicine in the Digital World - Angela Moreland, PhD – Assistant Professor, National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina
Topic: Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: From Research to Practice
Breakout Session Topics include:
- The Importance of Data Collection Relevant to Behavior Change and Medication;
- Autism and the Justice System;
- Communication and Collaboration: Supporting Transition Across the Lifespan; and
- Creative Strategies for Mental Health Professional in State Hospitals.
For more information, visit: https://www.myodp.org/mod/url/view.php?id=22147
For registration information, visit: https://www.myodp.org/mod/url/view.php?id=22147REGISTRATION:
Online registration is now open and will remain available until Friday, August 9, 2019. The registration fee is $100 and includes lunch, break snacks, and all materials.
This conference is hosted by the Office of Developmental Programs and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and supported by the Money Follows the Person grant funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
RCPA Announces New Director of Drug and Alcohol Division
RCPA is pleased to announce the hiring of Kristen Houser as the new director for its Drug and Alcohol Division. Kristen will be working on policy and regulatory issues on behalf of RCPA Drug and Alcohol member providers and will be based in Harrisburg. She brings extensive experience in coalition building, legislative and policy advocacy, media and public relations, and public speaking to RCPA.
Most recently, Kristen worked for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) and National Sexual Violence Resource Center as Chief Public Affairs Officer, where she served as chief spokesperson, promoting both organization’s strategic and policy goals, including raising awareness of the issue and solutions to address it. She is experienced in making complex topics more relatable to the general public, which served her well when meeting with legislators and staff, the Office of the Governor, and other government officials to promote public policies, and when speaking with the media. She is a Governor Appointed member of the PA Commission for Women, and has an array of experience in training, business development, and nonprofit management.
Kristen worked in several other key positions that have intersected with the issues of drug and alcohol treatment and public policy. She served as Executive Director for Centre Volunteers in Medicine, a clinic providing free medical and dental care and case management to qualified residents of Centre County, PA; and as Co-Occurring Task Force Manager for Community Alliance, a project to coordinate care among providers of drugs and alcohol, mental health, and other human services for people with co-occurring disorders who were homeless in Douglas County, Nebraska. She worked on federal legislation, including the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2004, as President of the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, and on statewide policies during her tenure as Director of Programming & Sexual Assault Program Coordinator for the Nebraska Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Coalition.
In addition to her bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University, Kristen holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Nebraska. With many prior commitments, Kristen will begin her full-time position with RCPA in October but will be transitioning into the position beginning in August. On behalf of the RCPA Board of Directors, members, and staff, we welcome Kristen to RCPA.
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