Up to $20,000 in debt relief is available to those who received a Federal Pell Grant in college and meet the income requirements. Up to $10,000 in debt relief is available to those who received a Federal Pell Grant in college and meet the income requirements.
The U.S. Department of Education is providing this one-time debt relief as part of the Biden-Harris Administration student debt relief plan.
Apply for student debt relief, or get more information at Federal Student Aid.
The team at Greenspace Health is hosting their third and final educational panel with the researchers and renowned psychologists at the Yale Measurement-Based Care Collaborative. You won’t want to miss this session with The Collaborative— it’s your chance to build on your knowledge of MBC and learn from the researchers driving its momentum.
Greenspace is excited to invite you to this live Q&A session with the Yale MBC experts to build on your knowledge of MBC and learn from those driving its momentum. Over 650 clinicians and clinical leaders attended the first two sessions. You won’t want to miss this event!
ASK ME ANYTHING: A Measurement-Based Care Q&A With the Experts at Yale is coming up on November 3 at 1:00 pm EDT. Visit here to register now! Greenspace hopes you can make it, and please feel free to share the event with anyone on your team.
Watch this short video for highlights from the last panel!
Today, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously voted HB 2530, which focused on the elimination of prudent pay for IDD providers, out of committee. The bill will be placed on the Senate voting calendar and is expected to have a final vote next week, which is the final fall session week for the Senate. Once the bill is approved, it will go to the Governor for his signature.
RCPA is grateful for all the technical assistance Bill Harriger, President and CEO of Verland, provided throughout the legislative process, and to all RCPA members who contacted their state legislators.
If you have questions, please contact Jack Phillips, Director of Government Affairs.
ODP Announcement 22-108 has been issued to announce that the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is adding a new provider qualification to the Consolidated, Community Living, and Adult Autism Waivers for residential services. All provider staff who will spend any time alone with a participant during the provision of residential services must complete a “Department approved training on the common health conditions that may be associated with preventable deaths in people with an intellectual or developmental disability.”
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) anticipates that the new qualification requirement will become effective between mid-October and late December of 2022 based on feedback from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This guidance is being released prior to CMS approval of the Consolidated and Community Living waiver renewals and the Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) amendment to give providers sufficient time to implement this new requirement.
This applies to provider staff that are direct employees of an agency, contracted employees of an agency, or volunteers. A list of Department approved trainings to meet this requirement is available here.
This page lists each organization with currently approved training(s). The approved training(s) that must be completed for the organization are listed next to the “details” bullet underneath the organization. To meet the qualification requirement, staff are required to complete approved training(s) through one of the organizations listed. Provider staff hired before the effective date of the waiver changes must complete the required training no later than three months after the effective date of the waiver changes. Provider staff hired on or after the effective date of the waiver changes must complete the required training before working alone with an individual. For purposes of this requirement, a provider staff is “working alone” when they are not in the line of sight of other persons who have received Department-approved training.
For current providers, AEs or ODP (for the AAW) will verify that residential services staff received the required training the next time the provider goes through the requalification process.
Questions relating to this announcement may be directed to the ODP Provider Qualification Unit for Consolidated and Community Living Waiver providers. Adult Autism Waiver providers should send questions to BSASP Provider Enrollment.
Thursday, October 20 — 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
REGISTER
Trauma comes in many forms. Research suggests that individuals with disabilities are two to ten times more likely to experience a traumatic event than the general population. The barriers individuals face related to trauma include increased risk of abuse and a lack of follow through when traumatic events are reports. This session will help to define trauma, inform providers on how to create a trauma-informed practice, and give an overview of empirically-supported trauma interventions from childhood through adulthood.
Presenter: Nicholas DeMarco, Ph.D. Director of ID Mental Health Supports, PMHCC, Inc.
Dr. DeMarco is an experienced behavioral health leader with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry. His training was from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
You know when there is an unexpected event or thing that suddenly happens, and the newly revealed situation gives you the perfect chance to influence or create change? Learn more about the PA Developmental Disabilities Council (PADCC) grants here.
On August 4, 2022, the Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency. Since then, every state and Washington, D.C. has recorded cases of the virus. As of September 20, 2022, the CDC reported 24,203 total confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States. Of those cases, 3 percent, or 708 total, were reported in Pennsylvania.
To raise awareness of the epidemic, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services approached the Jewish Healthcare Foundation’s Aging Team, which operates the State’s Learning Network, who coordinated just-in-time learning for all long-term care and community programs across Commonwealth. The PA Department of Human Services and PA Department of Health presented “Monkeypox: What You Need to Know” on August 31.
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