';
CLOSE
Mental Health

0 1575

PITTSBURGH, PA – Allegheny Family Network (AFN) will continue in its efforts of transforming mental health systems across Pennsylvania with the continuation of its statewide program PA Parent and Family Alliance (“Parent Alliance”), a resource and parent peer network aimed at providing one on one support to families of children who are struggling with social, emotional, behavioral or mental health challenges. With a Statewide Family Network grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the support of the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) the Parent Alliance will begin its fourth year as the statewide network in August 2021, touching the lives of tens of thousands of families across the Commonwealth.

The Parent Alliance, established in 2018, has expanded and enhanced family voice in the children’s behavioral health and related systems for the past two and a half years with a statewide alliance among family organizations and family leaders. The Parent Alliance is connecting families, family organizations, service providers and stakeholders to increase knowledge of families’ needs and improve skills and policies that will support families and improve the lives of children and youth.

“Our state-wide organization began when families of children with social, emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges began uniting in their local communities to support one another in their efforts to access services,” said Christina Paternoster, Project Director, of the Parent Alliance. “Some of the families banded together to form their own family-run organizations, some worked alone, and some joined existing agencies and organizations where they were able to share the strength and wisdom that only comes from experience. They had hopes that all families would be valued and embraced as the experts that they indeed were in knowing and understanding the needs of their loved ones. These hardworking, active, and loving caregivers led the way for what is now the vision of PA Parent and Family Alliance.”

When the world went virtual and children began navigating distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Parent Alliance pivoted to make their website www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org, a hub for all things that parents who are raising a child who is struggling may need. Educating more than 3,500 people in the last year, webinars were carefully chosen to help families in real-time with the issues that they were facing. Once on the Parent Alliance’s website, parents are able to find tip sheets on a wide array of topics and helpful resources.

The Parent Alliance reach and support for parents and primary caregivers has grown greatly in its third year. More than 10,000 people read the biweekly update and tip sheets have been viewed, downloaded, and shared more than 13,000 times by parents and providers across the Commonwealth. In addition, the Parent Alliance has offered one-on-one support to more than 150 families across Pennsylvania, many of whom are in underserved rural areas of the state.

Not only is it the Parent Alliance’s goal to support families, but it also educates service providers on how to best support the families that they work with.

“We are very excited to be able to continue the work and presence for families that the PA Parent and Family Alliance has spent the past two and a half years establishing,” said Ruth Fox, CEO of Allegheny Family Network. “The goal is to create a standard in the mental health and behavioral health systems so that parents, agencies and legislators are able to better define the current issues and needs for our families, so we are able to better utilize resources and make a bigger, more equitable impact.”

“Our Family Support Partners and agency leadership knows first-hand what it is like to raise a child with mental health or behavioral issues. We know these parents have specific needs of support – and working with the state and related agencies, we can support other organizations in their goals to decrease stress, empower parents, better utilize funding and resources and, most importantly, help the families in the Commonwealth.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
###

Misty Chybrzynski Woody
Community Development Specialist
412-438-6130 | cell: 878-302-5508

0 1011

Join Maher Duessel for their annual non-profit accounting CPE (Continuing Professional Education) seminar. There is no cost to attend this two day virtual session on Tuesday–Wednesday, July 27-28, 2021. Both sessions will be in the afternoon from 12:45 pm–4:50 pm and will focus on the latest non-profit accounting and auditing issues, including a session on the CARES Act and other Coronavirus funding updates.

Visit here to register. To view the full agenda (which includes the breakdown of the credits offered) and to register for the seminar, please view the details here.

0 1089

Join the FEMA Office of Disability Integration and Coordination (ODIC) on July 21, 2021 at 11:00 am–12:00 pm ET to observe the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, focusing on Independent Living for people with disabilities.

July marks the 31st anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This sweeping civil rights legislation expanded on the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by federally-funded entities. The ADA covered all aspects of public life, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in employment (Title I), state and local government services (Title II), public accommodations (Title III), and telecommunications (Title IV). Its provisions cover more than 56 million Americans, or approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population, who have a disability.

Learn how FEMA and the National Council on Independent Living work to provide equity and support independence by integrating the needs of people with disabilities into emergency management planning.

Speakers*

Linda Mastandrea 
Director
FEMA Office of Disability Integration and Coordination

Reyma McCoy McDeid, MA 
Executive Director
National Council on Independent Living

*subject to change

More information on this topic:

0 1319
Photo by visuals on Unsplash

Message from the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL): 

An upcoming Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) public meeting is scheduled for Friday, July 30, 2021, from 1:00 pm–2:30 pm. During the public meeting, the Department of Human Services (DHS) will provide information on the Home Health Care Services EVV implementation, as well as DHS system updates.

To register to attend the EVV public meeting scheduled for July 30, please visit the EVV Public Meetings Registration site. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Thank you.

0 1717

Tuesday, July 27, 2021 — 2:00 pm ET
REGISTER

Retention is a significant challenge in healthcare organizations. It’s an enormous issue for post-acute organizations as they try to navigate dramatic changes in demand, care settings, and workforce readiness.

Join Relias and Cara Silletto, MBA, CSP, President & Chief Retention Officer at Magnet Culture Tuesday, July 27 at 2:00 pm ET for our live webinar, Rapid Fire Retention: 25 Ways to Reduce Employee Turnover.

During this live session, Cara will share transferable best practices learned from various leaders, organizations, and industries including post-acute care. As a dynamic thought leader and sought-after speaker, Cara will help you:

  • Discover how to improve the new-hire experience to reduce 30/60/90-day turnover;
  • Learn ways to offer more creative advancement opportunities to get staff ready for the next level, even when promotions aren’t available; and
  • Explore proven recognition and communication methods that retain staff longer.

0 693

The next Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Subcommittee meeting has been scheduled for August 5, 2021 (via webinar) from 10:00 am–1:00 pm.

As a reminder, public comments will be taken after each presentation. Questions can be entered into the chat box during the presentations, and these questions will be asked at the end of each presentation. There will be an additional period at the end of the meeting for any additional public comments.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) is using technology that allows individuals to participate in the webinar and listen through computer speakers instead of participating by dial-in. Dial-in will still be available if you do not choose to participate by webinar, but the number is no longer toll free.

To participate in the meeting via webinar, please register here. Registrants will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. To participate via telephone, the dial-in information is: (562)-247-8321; Access Code: 541-873-565.

0 770

Dear ANCOR Members:

To keep you informed of the political and fiscal climate that will shape reconciliation and with it, the prospects for the Better Care Better Jobs Act, we flag the following article from Politico:

“Senate Democrats announced a top line budget number late Tuesday that will propel their plan to enact the full array of President Joe Biden’s social welfare and family aid promises without Republican votes.

The proposal sets an overall limit of $3.5 trillion for the spate of Democratic policy ambitions that won’t make it into a bipartisan infrastructure deal, if Congress can reach one. If the still-forthcoming budget resolution can clear both chambers with lockstep party support, it will unleash the power to circumvent a GOP filibuster using the so-called reconciliation process, the same move that Democrats used to pass the president’s $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package in March.

Combined with a bipartisan infrastructure compromise that’s still getting shaped into legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the budget’s investments in infrastructure, the middle class and more would total about $4.1 trillion, “which is very, very close to what President Biden asked us for.” Biden will also attend Democrats’ lunch on Wednesday to discuss the plans, Schumer said.

“We are very proud of this plan,” Schumer said. “We know we have a long road to go … If we pass this, this is the most profound change to help American families in generations.”

Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee reached agreement on the overall total for their party-lines spending plan during their second meeting this week with Schumer and White House officials in the Capitol. Their next step is ensuring all 50 Democratic caucus members can support the $3.5 trillion figure, said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a member of the budget panel.

“The goal is for the Budget Committee to all be on the same page and then sell it to the caucus,” he said. “Once the Budget Committee is on the same page, numbers will start to come out. But we still have a little ways to go to get there.”

The budget resolution will require backing from every Democrat to make it through the upper chamber and officially kick off reconciliation, which will formally instruct various committees to turn the president’s priorities into legislative text. Progressives like Budget Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had pushed for a top line as high as $6 trillion, while centrists have endorsed a smaller figure that doesn’t rely on deficit financing.

Despite getting trillions less than his original ask, Sanders said the agreement on $3.5 trillion is a “big deal” when it comes to “transforming our infrastructure.” The budget plan is set to expand Medicare to cover vision, dental and hearing for seniors – a major priority for Sanders.

Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.), both moderates, said earlier Tuesday that they’ll need time to sort through the plan compiled by the Budget Committee.

“We need to pay for it,” Manchin said. “I’d like to pay for all of it. I don’t think we need more debt.”

Before an agreement was reached, Kaine and fellow Budget panel member Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) didn’t dismiss Manchin’s financing demand outright.

“There are many ways to get there,” Van Hollen said. “Certainly, it’s important that everyone who says it needs to be paid for also identifies ways to pay for what needs to be done.”

Democrats’ massive party-line package is expected to include policies like Biden’s proposal for two years of free community college, paid leave, health care subsidies, extending the boosted child tax credit and helping families cover child care costs.

Schumer has said he hopes to adopt the budget resolution on the floor in the next few weeks. That vote will be “the first step” toward passing the “remaining elements” of Biden’s social and economic plans without Republican support, the leader told Democratic senators in a letter this month, warning of “the possibility of working long nights, weekends, and remaining in Washington into the previously-scheduled August state work period.”

Meanwhile, negotiations on a bipartisan infrastructure bill, which would require support from at least 10 Senate Republicans, are starting to get shaky amid GOP concerns over spending and ways to finance the legislation.

Embarking again on a reconciliation bill will be arduous and painful for Democratic lawmakers. The process involves enduring two more vote-a-rama sessions in the Senate, each of which will allow Republicans to fire off a barrage of politically tricky amendments.

The Senate parliamentarian, who serves as the chamber’s nonpartisan procedural enforcer, is also expected to shoot down parts of the proposal that are found to be out of bounds under the special budget process.”

——————————
Doris Parfaite-Claude
Federal Advocacy and Research Manager
American Network of Community Options and Resources
Alexandria, VA
(703) 535-7850 (108)

Prev1...148149150...283Next Page 149 of 283
© 2021 - Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association