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Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities

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As noted in a previous alert from the Department of Human Services (DHS), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has also been providing updates regarding the recent cybersecurity incident that impacted Change Healthcare (a unit of UnitedHealth Group). HHS has noted that their first priority is to help coordinate efforts to avoid disruptions to care throughout the health care system.

On March 5, 2024, HHS announced immediate steps that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking to assist providers to continue to serve patients. CMS will continue to communicate with the health care community and assist, as appropriate. Providers should continue to work with all their payers for the latest updates on how to receive timely payments.

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Governor Shapiro has proposed a significant increase of funding to the ID/A system, and the legislature will begin deliberating the Governor’s plan. Now is the time to ask to secure this funding and maintain it in the next fiscal year’s budget.

RCPA has partnered with The Arc of PA, TPA, PAR, The Alliance, and MAX to develop a document for our members to share with legislators and other stakeholders that summarizes our message regarding support for the Governor’s budget. This document is now available to use. Additionally, RCPA has made available our legislative priorities one-pager that covers all divisions. We ask that you use both the ID/A document and the one-pager during your legislative visits, including those scheduled during our Capitol Day event on March 19.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Carol Ferenz.

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Advocate for yourselves and others by meeting with legislators directly! Take the opportunity to join RCPA as we hold our annual Capitol Day this year on Tuesday, March 19. We will hold a press conference in the Main Rotunda between 10:30 am – 11:30 am, which will tentatively include speakers such as:

  • Representative Dan Miller;
  • Representative Stephen Kinsey;
  • Representative Doyle Heffley;
  • Senator Art Haywood; and
  • Senator Frank Farry.

You can register for our Capitol Day press conference by contacting Allison Brognia or Christine Tartaglione with the number of anticipated attendees. RCPA requests that members schedule appointments with their Senate and House legislators directly to discuss the state budget, legislation, and regulations after our press conference.

We ask that you please use RCPA’s legislative priorities one-pager during your legislative visits. As an additional resource, members can visit the Pennsylvania Capitol website to locate parking and view maps of the building. If you have questions regarding our 2024 Capitol Day, please contact Jack Phillips.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) has shared several available resources to address providers’ concerns regarding the Change Healthcare outage. The system remains unavailable due to a current cyber-attack. You can read the full press release, which details resources and short-term solutions.

If you have any questions, please contact Fady Sahhar.

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AID In PA is accepting applicants for its April 2024 TRAIN program. This free training program was developed for therapists, counselors, and clinical social workers who already have experience working with clients who have an ID/A diagnosis and are looking to gain knowledge and skills related to trauma therapy.

Individuals with intellectual disabilities or autism are at an increased risk of experiencing trauma; however, few therapists are skilled in both trauma and ID/A support. To bridge this gap, psychologists with the ASERT team created the TRAIN program – 12 weeks of self-guided learnings and live webinars to equip therapists across Pennsylvania currently working with the ID/A populations with the skills to support clients through trauma experiences.

Participants have direct supervision from psychologists with backgrounds in both trauma and ID/A and interactive discussions with fellow participants, as well as receive Continuing Education (CE) credits provided through the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) upon completion of the program. You must currently be licensed and provide 1:1 talk therapy sessions to adult clients at the moment to qualify for this course and participate in the case consultation presentations.

The TRAIN program focuses on:

  • Trauma-focused mental healthcare
  • Types and prevalence of trauma
  • Disclosures of abuse
  • Ethical principles of reporting abuse
  • Expression of trauma
  • Assessing trauma and trauma-focused interviews
  • Psychoeducation
  • Trauma response management strategies
  • Trauma processing
  • Resiliency and self-care

Course Structure:
12 weeks in total, comprised of 3 modules that are each 4 weeks long. The first three weeks are self-paced learning courses that are assigned through AID in PA’s online Learning Management System. The fourth week of each module is an hour and a half interactive discussion with the other group members and instructors. These live sessions are required and are held from 9:00 am – 10:30 am on the following dates:

  • 4/9: Pre-training live session
  • 5/14: Module 1 live session
  • 6/11: Module 2 live session
  • 7/9: Module 3 live session
  • 8/13 – 10/29: Weekly Case Consultation Calls (8:00 am – 9:00 am, Tuesdays)

Case Consultations

After the initial 12 weeks, there is a short break, followed by a second 12-week session that consists of weekly one-hour case consultations. Each participant is expected to present a case from a current patient and receive feedback/information from other participants and the instructors. Participants need to join at least 6 of the 12 weekly case consultation calls, although it’s encouraged to attend all. If you are not currently seeing patients or are not in a capacity to present any cases, this may not be the right program for you.

Cost and CE Credits:
It is free to participate, and if you complete the entire program, you will receive 13.5 CE credits through the NBCC.

If you believe this program is appropriate for you and can commit to the requirements, please complete the survey by March 25, 2024. This is on a first come, first serve basis, so don’t delay! If you cannot attend the Spring session, the program will also be available in Fall 2024.

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RCPA member Achieva and the Pennsylvania Health Law Project are hosting a webinar titled “Understanding Medicaid Home and Community-Based Waivers for People With Disabilities” from 10 am – 12 pm on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Led by Janice Meinert from the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, the webinar will explore Pennsylvania’s Medicaid Home & Community-Based Waiver programs. Topics include eligibility criteria, the application process, available services, and annual waiver clinical eligibility redeterminations. For more details and registration, visit Achieva’s website. This project receives funding from the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council. For accessibility accommodations, please contact Patty Yerina. If you have additional questions, you may contact Jim Sharp, RCPA Mental Health Policy Director.

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The Role of HCBS Waiver Services in Supporting Families
April 4, 2024
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (CT)
Register Now

Due to unforeseen circumstances that are beyond their control, the Best Practice Series scheduled for March will now be in April.

Note: If you already registered before the date change, you do not need to register again. You will be sent a separate email with the updated zoom link for the new date.

 The Best Practice Series introduces and elevates best practices related to supporting families. Each session will feature a panel of individuals or organizations who will address key recommendations from the National Agenda through their lens of:

  • Grassroots Advocacy
  • “Practice Level” Implementation
  • States Service System
  • Federal Policies
  • Research

In this session, they will focus on Recommendation 4: The redesign of waiver services and supports to focus on quality-of-life outcomes, increase flexibilities, improve access and navigation, and ensure self-determination and self- direction (while also balancing the need to support the family).

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