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Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 25-029. This communication notifies Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) SCs, SC supervisors, providers, and other interested parties of the updated AAW Updated Individual Support Plan (ISP) Signature Form (DP 1032 AAW).

The updated DP 1032 AAW is required for all initial ISPs and annual review meetings and should be used effective immediately. The form is available on the MyODP website.

Please view the announcement to access the updated form.

Monday, March 24, 2025
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT; 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CDT;
10:00 am – 11:00 am MDT; 9:00 am – 10:00 am PDT
Register Here

Sara Kerrick, PT, C/NDT 

Presenter Bio:

Sara Kerrick brings over 40 years of clinical experience in physical therapy. She is a Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapy and is also Certified in Neurodevelopmental Treatment (C/NDT). Sara joined the Mary Bridge Children’s Therapy Services Team (Puyallup, Washington) nearly 37 years ago and currently serves as the Clinical Education Coordinator.

Sara received her Physical Therapy degree from Northern Arizona University and her Masters in Pediatric Rehabilitation with an emphasis on pediatrics from the University of Washington. She has a strong interest in education and has taught courses related to neurodevelopmental treatment and the use of pediatric outcome measures. Sara has a vested interest in evidence- based practices, combining her experience as a clinician and her love of research.

Objectives: At the end of this session, the learner will:

  • Identify the key elements regarding evidence-based practice (EBP);
  • Discuss the responsibility of the frontline clinician regarding EBP; and
  • List examples of how to integrate the best scientific evidence into clinical practice.

Audience: This webinar is intended for all interested members of the rehabilitation team.

Level: Beginner

Certificate of Attendance: Certificates of attendance are available for all attendees. No CEs are provided for this course.

Complimentary webinars are a benefit of membership in IPRC/RCPA. Registration fee for non-members is $179. Not a member yet? Consider joining today.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared Bulletin 00-25-01: Room and Board for Individuals Enrolled With the Office of Developmental Programs and 5 accompanying documents:

The sixth document referenced in the bulletin, a version of the Room and Board Agreement translated in Spanish, will be released soon. Stakeholders will be notified when this version of the agreement is ready for use.

This bulletin is to clarify Room and Board requirements outlined in 55 Pa. Code Chapter 6100 (relating to Services for Individuals with an Intellectual Disability or Autism).

ODP has scheduled two trainings:

  1. Room and Board Training: For Residential Habilitation & Life Sharing Professionals
    Friday, March 28, 2025, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
    If you are a professional, please register here.
  2. Room and Board Training: For Individuals and Families
    Thursday, April 3, 2025, 11:30 am  – 1:00 pm
    If you are an individual or family member, please register here.

These trainings will include:

  • The intent of Room and Board;
  • An explanation of Room and Board policies and regulations;
  • An explanation of policy implementation; and
  • An overview of the attachments to the bulletin.

There will be time during the sessions to answer questions submitted by participants during the webinars. For this reason, ODP kindly asks stakeholders to save questions about the bulletin until after the training is held.

Please see the bulletin for additional details and information.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared communication ODPANN 25-028 to clarify how the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation’s (OVR) Memo on March 15, 2025, regarding the Order of Selection and the OVR waiting list for services impacts referral requirements and access to ODP-funded employment services.

ODP and OVR will host a Virtual Office Hour on Monday, April 14, 2025, at 11:00 am. Interested parties are invited to join staff from both ODP and OVR to learn more about how the waitlist for OVR’s services may impact ODP’s employment services. There will be a short presentation with most of the time reserved for participants to ask questions to OVR and ODP staff. The link to register for the Virtual Office Hour may be found at the Virtual Office Hour registration page.

Please review the announcement for registration information and additional details.

PennDOT recently published Phase 1 of the Shared-Ride Transportation Study. The shared-ride public transportation system is available in all 67 Pennsylvania counties. As the 40-year-old system is currently designed, service providers rely on passenger fares to pay for their operating costs. By sharing a vehicle, the average fare per passenger is lower than it would be if the passenger rode alone. Passengers are commonly seniors, Persons with Disabilities, and low-income recipients of Medical Assistance (MA, Medicaid). Shared-ride provides Pennsylvanians with more than four million passenger trips annually to life-sustaining community services. The executive summary can be found here, and the complete text of the Phase 1 study can be found here.

This phase of the study concluded that the status quo is unsustainable. The most vulnerable citizens of Pennsylvania rely on shared-ride service, which is often the only form of public transportation in rural counties. A solution that ensures its sustainability must balance the needs and limitations of the customer, service provider, and funding partner.

The Shared-Ride Transportation Study Phase 2 will build on this effort to identify and evaluate a range of funding, service delivery, and customer experience alternatives, their tradeoffs, and the likelihood of remaking shared-ride service into a sustainable model.

PennDOT proposes to reconvene the Shared-Ride Pilot Steering Committee created by Act 89 of 2013 to evaluate alternative shared-ride models considering experiences over the last decade. The Steering Committee has representation from customer advocacy groups, service providers, the state legislature, and executive branch funding agencies. These perspectives will be necessary to find and implement tomorrow’s sustainable shared-ride funding and service delivery model.

If you have any questions, please contact Fady Sahhar.

Please share these important PA Family Network workshops and support groups with your network! Register for upcoming events at PA Family Network’s website.

Good Life Group, Support Groups

LifeCourse Workshops

Basic Waiver Workshops

Advanced Waiver Workshops

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared the Medication Administration (MA) April–June 2025 Train-the-Trainer Face-to-Face Schedule. This is for Medication Administration New and Recertifying Trainers.

Classes for New Trainers and Recertifying Trainers will be held separately. New Trainer classes are for first-time trainers designated as New Trainer and start at 8:30 am. Recertifying Trainer Classes are available in the morning and in the afternoon according to the schedule in the announcement. Morning classes are designated as AM Recertification classes and will start at 8:30 am. Afternoon classes are designated as PM Recertification classes and will start at 1:00 pm.

You may register for one of these sessions after completing the course materials in the Train-the-Trainer course on MyODP’s Medication Administration website. View the schedule here.