SCO Subcommittee Meeting Date Change
The June meeting of the IDD SCO Subcommittee is in conflict with one of the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) Everyday Lives Conferences; therefore, we are rescheduling the meeting to another date. We will now hold the meeting on Thursday, June 17, 2021 from 12:30 pm–3:00 pm. You can register for the meeting here. If you have already registered for the meeting, you do not need to register again.
Please send any questions you would like addressed during the meeting or topics you would like to see on the agenda to Carol Ferenz. Thanks.
Smart Homes Made Simple Webinar
Are They Always Listening? How Secure is My Smart Speaker?
Wednesday, June 2, 2021 from 12:00 pm–12:45 pm
30 minutes of interactive learning, 15 minutes for questions
This presentation will answer questions related to privacy and security with smart speakers such as Amazon Alexa and Google Nest. Attendees will learn:
- How smart speakers work;
- How their security compares to other everyday devices like cell phones;
- How smart speakers “listen” and “understand”;
- What information speakers retain; and
- How you can protect yourself.
Learn more and register here.
This webinar is hosted by Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) as part of the Smart Homes Made Simple project. Learn more about the project at SmartHomesMadeSimple.org.
Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation Toll Free Voice 888.744.1938 | Voice 484.674.0506 | Fax 484.674.0510 | Email patf@patf.us | www.patf.us
This project is supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council; in part by grant number 1901PASCDD-02 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.
This session will be fully accessible, and the recording, transcript, and slides will be made available. If you have any questions or need assistance with registering, please contact Susie Daily at 888-744-1938 or by email.
ODP Requests Assistance Completing COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Tracker
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is asking providers to complete the Vaccine Administration Tracker that allows the Department of Human Services to track when vaccines have been administered to individuals and direct support staff in licensed Community Homes and Private Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with an Intellectual Disability (ICFs/ID).
It is very important that providers use the Vaccine Administration Tracker. This information is essential to implementing the Commonwealth’s vaccine planning and administration plan and to help ensure that vaccines are being administered as soon as can be accomplished. Completing this form is a major component to stopping the spread of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth.
Community Home and Private ICF/ID providers will submit vaccination information by service location. Information will be submitted when the vaccine administration process is completed at the service location. In general, the vaccine administration process is “completed” when the people served in the location and the direct support staff who work in the location have been vaccinated or have chosen not to be vaccinated.
This is a one-time data collection initiative. Providers will only enter this information when the service location has completed the vaccination process. Providers are not required to update the information or submit a new form if information changes.
Providers are encouraged to contact ODP with questions or to request guidance with any part of this process. Full information regarding this initiative is available here.
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ODP Update on Temporary Closure and Reopening of Licensed CPS Facilities
ODP Announcement 20-101 UPDATE provides guidance regarding temporary closure of Older Adult Daily Living Centers, Structured Day Programs, LIFE Day Centers, Adult Training Facilities, and Vocational Facilities related to the community spread of COVID-19 or when more than one individual or staff member is diagnosed with COVID-19 and spent 15 minutes or more in the facility within a 24 hour period starting 2 days prior to symptom/illness onset, or for asymptomatic individuals, 2 days prior to the test specimen collection date, until the time the person is isolated. Additionally, this announcement describes the process for reopening facilities using the Community Participation Support and Older Adult Facility Reopening Tool and provides guidance for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in facilities.
Changes in the guidance include consideration of the amount of participants and staff who have been fully vaccinated. Providers may not require that a program participant be vaccinated to receive services.
DDAP Announces Webinar Opportunities
Improving Outcomes by Recognizing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Presented by Dan Dubovsky — Part One
This training addresses the importance of recognizing an FASD in those with whom we work or live. The brain damage seen in FASD is examined, along with common behaviors that result from this damage and that may result in misdiagnoses such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Antisocial Personality Disorder in the individual and neglect and sabotaging treatment in family members. Methods to identify those with a possible FASD are identified.
Date: Thursday, May 13, 2021, 2:00 pm–4:00 pm
Register now.
Improving Outcomes by Modifying Approaches for Those with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Presented by Dan Dubovsky — Part Two
This training builds on the first FASD training provided. Due to the brain damage caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, which spans the intellectual spectrum, evidence-based practices that rely on verbal interactions and reward and consequence approaches such as point, level, and privilege systems are often not successful with them and set them up to fail.
Date: Thursday, May 27, 2021, 2:00 pm–4:00 pm
Register now.
Law Enforcement-Led Diversion and Mental Health and Opioid Outreach Innovations
The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate the significant impact first responder-led diversion can have in connecting overdose survivors and those with mental health disorders to treatment. Retired Deputy Chief Mitch Cunningham from the Wilmington, North Carolina Police Department and Sheriff Daron Hall from the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee will highlight the need for diversion and cite examples of the successful programs they have implemented.
Date: Thursday, May 20, 2021, 2:00 pm
Register now.
Fiscal Year (FY) 2021–2022 Individual Support Plan (ISP) Renewal Guidance
ODP Announcement 21-032 Update provides updated guidance for the fiscal year (FY) 2021–2022 renewal period. The following topical areas are addressed in this communication:
- General Guidance — Consideration for COVID-19 Pandemic
- (Updated) Person/Family Directed Support (P/FDS) and Community Living Waiver (CLW) Cap Exceptions
- Variance Process for Established Service Requirements
- (Updated) Creating FY 2021–2022 Renewals (Addressing Partial Year Service Segments)
- Consolidated Waiver Fee Schedule Residential Rate Exceptions
- (Updated) FY 2021–2022 Waiver Rate Load in Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS)
- Resources
This communication is intended to provide guidance to all stakeholders who participate in the FY 2021–2022 renewal ISP process. While the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has not added any new services that will impact the FY 2021–2022 renewal ISPs, it is anticipated that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to influence FY 2021–2022 service needs.
The duration of COVID-19 and efforts to resume services as approved in the current waivers is unknown at this time. To ensure adequate planning to meet the anticipated needs of individuals during FY 2021–2022, all stakeholders involved in the planning process should assume, at a minimum, that an individual’s current level of service and support needs are reflected in their FY 2021–2022 renewal ISP until ODP issues subsequent guidance.
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