The Department of Human Services, under Secretary Ted Dallas, has established an IDD Fiscal Work Group over the last several months. This has been led by the Office of Developmental Programs Deputy Secretary Nancy Thaler and includes several RCPA members. The focus of this work group has been on the IDD residential rate methodology.
ODP Updates
The Office of Developmental Programs has released the following information:
Licensing Free Trainings
The Department of Human Services Bureau of Human Services Licensing is offering free statewide trainings for community homes for individuals with intellectual disabilities, family living homes, adult training facilities, and vocational facilities for persons with intellectual disabilities. These trainings are being conducted by Northampton Community College in four regions across the state on multiple dates with multiple topics.
Last Friday, at the state’s Act 62 External Work Group meeting, the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) released and reviewed the data collected by HealthChoices contractors during the April 2015 survey of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) service capacity. This point-in-time survey reflects what was at that time the level of ASD service capacity for the delivery of behavior specialist consultant and applied behavior analysis services.
Among the highlights in this data are service access trends as of April 2015, showing:
During review and discussion of the data, OMHSAS Deputy Secretary Marion indicated that OMHSAS will begin to meet with the managed care organizations, to more closely analyze the data, and discuss approaches and solutions to the service access and professional labor pool challenges in provider networks.
RCPA is proud to announce that Rep. Dan Miller will be holding his Third Annual Disability and Mental Health Summit.
OVR Policies Revisions
The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation is updating its policies and procedures regarding “College and post-Secondary Training” and “Comprehensive Transition Programs.” Comments are due by Monday, February 22, via either email or mail to Pamela Brauchli, OVR, 1521 N Sixth Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102.
HCBS Waiver Methodologies
The US Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has released a review of the reimbursement rates and methodologies used by each state, for their home and community based services (HCBS) waiver, for supported employment and integrated day services. This report covers each service the state provides under the HCBS waiver, states’ limits on what is covered by each waiver’s services, number of users for each service, and the average cost per unit. Topics include customized employment, self-employment, resource leveraging, and waiver services.
HCBS Settings Toolkit
The Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Advocacy Coalition has developed a new toolkit with detailed information regarding the new HCBS settings rules. The toolkit contains three documents:
1) The Medicaid HCBS Settings Rules: What You should Know;
2) HCBS Regulations Q&A: Settings Presumed to be Institutional & the Heightened Scrutiny Process; and
3) HCBS Setting Rules: How to Advocate for Truly Integrated Community Settings.
ODP Updates
The Office of Developmental Programs has released the following information:
ODP Updates
The Office of Developmental Programs has released the following information:
ODP Update
The Office of Developmental Programs has released the following information:
Provider Transformation
Pennsylvania is one of 19 states participating in the federal Employment First State Leadership Mentoring Program (EFSLMP) which is a cross-disability, cross-systems change initiative.
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