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Mental Health

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) is working closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) to ensure preparations for a response to a possible Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the state and as a result, has issued a Health Alert with pertinent information. DOH is the lead agency for the Commonwealth’s response to COVID-19. At the time of this dissemination, Pennsylvania has zero confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Again, DHS is supporting DOH in the disseminating of information related to COVID-19 and all guidance is provided by, and should be sought through, DOH.

All providers are encouraged to:

  1. Review internal infection control protocols and emergency backup plans for events in which a provider does not have adequate staffing to meet individuals’ health and safety needs.
  2. Evaluate staff adherence to provider infection control protocols.
  3. Evaluate capacity to implement emergency backup plans in the event staffing is impacted by the COVID-19 virus.

While COVID-19 is raising international concern, it presents an opportunity to evaluate preventative infection control measures. Medically fragile individuals, those in congregate settings, and the staff that support/interact with them are all at increased risk for infections of all kinds, not just COVID-19. As always, the best response is prevention and the best prevention is good infection control.

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The “We Can Work” campaign is intended to raise awareness that people with disabilities can work without worrying about losing their benefits. The campaign will provide education and outreach not only to those seeking employment, but to family members, advocates, and employers as well. The campaign, in its first phase, will consist of commercials featuring people who are already working, or employers who are already hiring people with disabilities, and highlighting their success in integrated employment.

We are looking for someone from anywhere in Pennsylvania who would be a good spokesperson for this and who would be willing to share their employment experiences in this ad.

The intention is to begin filming in April, and the filming will be arranged around any potential individual’s schedule. The filming day would entail Commonwealth Media Services spending the day with the person and/or their employer, interviewing them, and accompanying the person around to get footage of them throughout their work day.

Interested individuals should contact:
Edward M. Butler, Employment Specialist
Bureau of Policy, Development and Communications Management
717-214-3718

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Innovative Practices and Approaches for Support to Individuals in the Criminal Justice System
(Featuring Allegheny County innovative projects & Peer Support by RHD)

Monday, March 16, 2020, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm EST

Capital Area Intermediate Unit 15
55 Miller Street, Enola, PA 17025
For driving directions use: 55 Miller Street, Summerdale, PA 17093
Lunch on your own

Pre-registration is required by emailing Marlinda Smith.
If accommodations or assistance is needed the day of the event, please contact Marlinda Smith at 717-795-9048.

The mission of this group is: “To improve people’s lives by increasing local capacity to provide supports to individuals with mental health and behavioral challenges by promoting the guiding principles of Positive Approaches, Everyday Lives and the Recovery Movement through the Department of Human Services cross-office collaboration.”

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HCQU West is presenting a webinar on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm, entitled “Court Appointed Guardianship: A Basic Overview with Dr. Sarah Stockey, DHCE.”

This webinar reviews the role of a court appointed guardian, as well as the limitations of guardianship. Concepts such as decision-making capacity and standards for surrogate decision-making will be explored in detail. Ethical standards of behavior for guardians will also be reviewed. Participants should come away from the webinar with a basic understanding of when a guardian is appropriate, what the role and limits of a guardian include, and how a guardian operates on behalf of the client.

To enroll, please visit the Milestone HCQU West Training Center. Please call 724-283-0990 with any questions.

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Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) has announced the release of the 6th edition of its financial education book, Cents and Sensibility: A Guide to Money Management. This new edition contains updates to all the topics covered before, with the addition of a new chapter about housing, and a new section on supported decision-making. Topics covered include:

  • Money mapping (budgeting);
  • An overview of where to keep your money;
  • How to save safely, including information about PA ABLE and a comparison with Special Needs Trusts;
  • Borrowing money and understanding credit;
  • Housing, including information about insurance;
  • Funding your assistive technology;
  • Adult decision-making, including a new section on supported decision-making; and
  • A Financial Independence Checklist for transition-age youth.

Cents and Sensibility, 6th edition is available for download as a 508 compliant PDF on their website.

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The Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) Notification Protocol for Formal Licensing Actions and Incidents, is currently outlined in Bulletin #00-19-02 released in August 2019. On October 21, 2019, OCYF convened a meeting to bring together representatives from entities covered within the scope of OCYF Bulletin #00-19-02, to discuss the intent of the notification protocol, and to develop recommendations for improvements to the process.

From the meeting, the following improvements were agreed upon and will be released in new bulletins as described below.

  • A new bulletin will be issued promptly to remove the issuance of a notification regarding removal of staff under an approved plan of supervision. These notifications are no longer being sent. This bulletin will also remove any notifications listed that are duplicative of one another, specifically those that would equate to a citation and issuance of a licensing inspection summary (LIS), as those already trigger a notification.
  • Pending the implementation of CPSL amendments, another bulletin will be issued to include a quarterly report that will be provided to county agencies and dependency and delinquency judges, providing aggregate child abuse and substantiation data for child residential or day treatment facilities, approved foster or pre-adoptive homes, and youth development centers and youth forestry camps. If/when the CPSL is amended to permit the release of specific aggregate data, a new bulletin will be issued that will provide for county agencies and dependency and delinquency judges to receive substantiation information at the conclusion of an investigation, regardless of whether they are the placing county for the child or youth for these same placement settings.

RCPA was grateful to participate in this process and commends OCYF and the systems stakeholders for the collaborative partnership on this initiative The Department of Human Services (DHS) is moving forward with implementing these changes to ensure the safety and well-being of Pennsylvania’s children and youth. If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Division Director Jim Sharp.

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RCPA has been notified by the PA Department of Corrections (DOC) / Bureau of Community Corrections (BCC) of a new referral process for Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) or Mental Health (MH) services for reentrants. This initiative is part of a continued effort to reduce and maintain the Department budget, to streamline services, and to offer consistent and needed programming.

Effective immediately, any referrals made to the BCC for AOD or MH services should be made as a last resort. This includes any inpatient placements as well. It is the responsibility of the person making the referral to find placement through other community resources first, when possible. In many cases, reentrants either have or are eligible for medical assistance. Medical assistance will allow a range of services to be funded under their contracts.

If a reentrant is in need of services, reach out to the statewide single county authority (SCA) helpline first. The number to call is 800-662-HELP (4357). A more complete list of every SCA, every county MH office, and their contact person is being formulated and will be forthcoming in the near future. Until those lists are distributed, please use the SCA HELPLINE number that is provided. It can be a starting point for both AOD and MH services, and inpatient beds in the county.

The correspondence from the Department of Corrections / BCC can be found at this link.

For our RCPA members currently providing these services, please contact RCPA Criminal Justice Division Director Jim Sharp and/or RCPA Drug & Alcohol Division Director Kristen Houser to discuss the potential impact on your services.

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On December 24, 2019, DHS announced the approval of the Department’s Good Faith Effort (GFE) Exemption application for the Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) implementation. This GFE does not change DHS’ expectations of providers of personal care services to comply with the requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act. The Department will continue with a soft launch period through June 30, 2020. Throughout this time, providers must begin using EVV and complete any integration and certification activities if they have not been completed already. The Department continues to develop a policy bulletin that will outline additional requirements, including compliance benchmarks for manually edited visits. This bulletin will be released as soon as it is finalized.

During claims processing in PROMISeTM, EVV validation against the EVV Aggregator will continue to be performed and EVV Error Service Codes (ESCs) will set without impacting claim payment. During the extended soft launch period, the expectation is that provider/provider agency/Agency with Choice and Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent billing staff will note when the EVV edit(s) set and actively make corrections either to the data stored in the DHS EVV Aggregator or the claim itself to ensure errors do not repeat. DHS will be monitoring which EVV edits set and how often.

Regular updates to the stakeholder community will be made on the progress of the implementation. Outreach and technical assistance will be performed based on results and as applicable. As of July 1, 2020, any claims without a corresponding EVV visit or any mismatches between what is found on the claim versus what is found in the EVV Aggregator will be denied.

2020 EVV Implementation Timeline:

  • January 1, 2020: All Providers must begin using EVV for Personal Care Services (PCS).
  • January 2020 – March 2020: All Providers must complete system integration activities with the DHS Aggregator for fee-for-service programs. Providers who are experiencing difficulties in integrating and will not be ready by March 2020 are asked to submit an extension request using this form, documenting the difficulties they are experiencing no later than February 1, 2020. The completed form should be emailed to the EVV resource account.
  • Starting July 1, 2020: Claims submitted for Personal Care Services without a matching EVV visit will be denied.

If providers have not yet completed the necessary steps to implement EVV, please contact the appropriate entity to complete the necessary training and system integration activities.

OLTL and ODP Fee-For-Service Providers

  • The DHS Sandata system training is available for providers electing to use the DHS Sandata system. Providers using the DHS system must complete this training in order to begin setting up their agency accounts and security permissions. Providers may register for the independent web-based training offered through Sandata here.
  • The DHS Aggregator will receive information from Alternate EVV systems being used by providers in fee-for-service programs.
  • Providers using Alternate EVV systems should contact Sandata at 855-705-2407 to complete Alternate EVV system integration activities for fee-for-service programs.

Current Community HealthChoices (CHC) Providers and Aging, Attendant Care, and Independence Waiver Providers

  • If providers are electing to use the HHAeXchange EVV system offered by the Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), providers must work with the MCOs to complete training and other onboarding requirements.
  • Providers using Alternate EVV systems in CHC will need to send their EVV data to the CHC-MCOs.
  • Providers should contact HHAeXchange to complete Alternate EVV system integration activities for CHC.
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