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Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities

A message from our national partner ANCOR:

As you know, Congress is winding down, and we only have a few more opportunities to pass the legislation to help create a standard occupational classification for DSPs. We are so close to getting this bill across the finish line–it has passed in the Senate and has also passed in House Education and Workforce Committee. The final stop is passage in the full House of Representatives.

Please help us in reaching out to your Representative and ask them to support the Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals. You can use our action alert to send that message.

We especially ask that you reach out if you have any connections with House leadership offices: Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Rep. Scalise, or Rep. Emmer. The message to those offices is to put the bill on the calendar for a vote next week.

Thank you so much for all you do and for your strong advocacy efforts. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thanks!

Elise Aguilar
Senior Director of Federal Relations
American Network of Community Options and Resources
Alexandria, VA
(703) 535-7850

Friday, February 7, 2025
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST; 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm CST;
11:00 am – 12:00 pm MST; 10:00 am – 11:00 am PST
Register Here

Christina Kokorelis, MD

Presenter Bio:

Christina Kokorelis, MD, is a rehabilitation physician specializing in pediatric and adult postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), orthostatic intolerance, and musculoskeletal rehabilitation. She takes a comprehensive, team-based approach to patient care. Dr. Kokorelis also treats children with concussions and chronic pain disorders. An assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, where she completed her residency, Dr. Kokorelis followed the residency with a pediatric rehabilitation fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Kennedy Krieger Institute. She currently works as an attending physician in the Johns Hopkins POTS clinic and is also the Medical Director of the Pediatric POTS clinic at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.

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

  • Define POTS;
  • Discuss how to diagnose POTS;
  • Describe treatment approach to POTS; and
  • Discuss long-term outcomes of POTS.

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

Level: Beginner/Intermediate

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 Development Programs (ODP) will be hosting the second quarterly residential provider forum to provide support provider Performance-Based Contracting (PBC) preparedness. During this session, ODP will provide a status update on PBC applications, review the PBC presented to the Information Sharing and Advisory Committee (ISAC) Provider Performance Review Subcommittee, review the emerging themes or trends with the application submissions, and offer the opportunity for providers to ask questions.

Audience: Residential Providers
Date: Monday, December 16, 2024
Time: 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Register Here

This Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) webinar will provide information to professionals on the topic of Medically Complex Condition (MCC). This presentation will give insight as to how history has informed new practices, changes that ODP implemented, and information about how professionals can provide services to individuals with a medically complex condition.

Audience:
Professionals: Support Coordinators (SC), Administrative Entities (AE), and Providers

Date:
December 9, 2024, 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Register Here

Please provide us with your input regarding PBC in a very brief survey (only 5 questions). We are asking:

  • How confident are you that you will be ready to submit all data to ODP by the deadline (February/March 2025)?
  • How many staff do you have working on the PBC standards?
  • What are the top 3 challenges you are experiencing in preparing for PBC?
  • What specifically can RCPA do to support your organization to prepare for PBC?
  • What unanswered questions do you have regarding PBC?

Please complete the survey by December 11, 2024. For any questions, contact Carol Ferenz.

Thursday, December 5, 2024
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET
11:00 am – 12:00 pm PT
Register Here

This spring, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the highly anticipated “Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services” rule (or the “Access Rule”) that, among other things, updates program standards and processes for Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS), including HCBS for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Individuals with I/DD rely on Medicaid HCBS to support their independence and ability to live at home in their communities. The changes required by the Access Rule—and how states implement those changes—will have far reaching impact on state I/DD systems and the people they serve.

Join the Policy Information Exchange (PIE) for a discussion with state and provider experts who are thinking through their own approaches to Access Rule implementation. During the webinar, they will dive into the Access Rule’s impact on state I/DD programs, HCBS providers, and community partners, and individuals with I/DD and their families and caregivers. Specifically, they’ll discuss:

  • New and updated requirements related to HCBS incident management and grievance systems, payment adequacy and transparency, access and quality reporting and disclosure.
  • The implications for state I/DD systems—including challenges—as they plot a path to full implementation of the Access Rule within required timelines.
  • Strategies for building effective and collaborative engagement with community partners, people receiving services, providers, case management entities, and direct care workers.
  • Immediate steps that state I/DD systems should take now to assess their HCBS programs, processes, and IT infrastructure needs.

If you can’t make the live session on December 5, visit here to register for the free webinar now, and you’ll receive a link to view the program on demand.

More Details

Facilitators

Panelists

  • Pete Cervinka, Acting Director and Chief Deputy Director, California Department of Developmental Services (DDS)
  • Conor O’Dea, HCBS Policy Advisor, The Vermont Agency of Human Services
  • Lydia Dawson, Vice President of Government Relations, ANCOR

Tablet on a desk - Newsletter

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) contracts with Temple University Harrisburg to deliver the ODP Certified Investigator (CI) Program. ODP and Temple University have developed the CI Program Spotlight Quarterly Newsletter, which provides helpful information and resources to Certified Investigators, Administrative Review Committee members, CI Peer Reviewers, Incident Management (IM) Reps, and others involved in the incident investigation process. Every three months, there will be a new issue of the CI Spotlight.

This edition of the newsletter, Volume 1 Issue 4, includes articles on Process Deviations, Recertification Information, and more. This edition can be found on the MyODP website by following the link on the CI Program home page.

Please view the announcement, ODPANN 24-119, for additional information and details.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is assisting the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) in gathering data, which will be used for a collaborative high-priority initiative to evaluate the effectiveness of a Quality Investment Pilot program. To do so, ODP is requesting your assistance to provide the following data for each of your ICF locations:

  1. Provider Name:
  2. Location (ICF Site Name):
  3. Number of people residing at the location as of November 30, 2024:
  4. The number of people at the location not covered by Medicaid (i.e., # of Private Pay clients) as of November 30, 2024:
  5. The number of DOH citations related to infection control at each location from 2020 to date and the tag number(s):
  6. Has this site participated with the RISE program?

You may supply the data by typing the responses after each question in an email reply, or by attaching a spreadsheet with the following columns completed:

Facility Name Location/ Site Name Number of Residents as of 11/30/24 Number of Private Pay Residents as of 11/30/24 No. of DOH Citations related to Infection Control from 2020 to date Tag Numbers for DOH Citations related to Infection Control from 2020 to date Has this facility participated in the RISE program?

Please send your responses electronically to Lisa Wagner by close of business Friday, December 6, 2024.

Thank you for your cooperation.