The Pennsylvania Office of Medical Assistance Programs (OMAP) Pediatric Shift Care Team held a Stakeholder Update Call on December 16, 2024. The presentation provided an overview of the Pediatric Shift Care Initiative Updates, implementation of the Pediatric Complex Care Resource Centers, and online training curriculum as well as content development.
Please send any questions electronically to the Pediatric Shift Care Team.
The Board of Directors of Martha Lloyd Community Services is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Janilyn Elias as its new President/CEO. Dr. Elias comes to MLCS with many years of leadership experience, mainly in the public education sector, most recently as a school superintendent. She also has extensive experience in the special education arena. Her tenure will begin on January 13, 2024.
RCPA received notification today from the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) and the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA) that the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Act was included in Congress’s proposed year-end package. Key provisions included in this bill include:
Administration for Community Living (ACL)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
RCPA encourages providers, staff, and families to reach out to their members of Congress through email or phone call by COB Thursday, December 19, 2024. The message can be simple. For example:
As a constituent, I encourage you to support the year-end continuing resolution, which includes the TBI Act. The TBI Act is pivotal to create systems of care for people of brain injury. [Feel free to share any personal impact] Thank you for your support of this important bill.
In Pennsylvania, our current state Senators are:
Casey, Robert P., Jr. and
Fetterman, John
Additional information for contacting your Senators can be found here.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) Community HealthChoices (CHC) Waiver renewal. The renewal will be effective on January 1, 2025.
The current approved CHC Waiver document is available here. Additional information about the CHC Waiver is located here.
Changes in the approved renewal include:
Questions about the 2025 CHC renewal can be submitted electronically.
The Department of Human Services (Department) issued bulletin OMHSAS-16-03, “Revised Procedure for Waiver of Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) Program Regulations and Standards,” on April 19, 2016, to update and clarify the procedure for submitting and processing of waiver requests to OMHSAS. OMHSAS has issued OMHSAS-24-04 to further update regulatory waiver language and the process to appeal a waiver determination. The issued bulletin can be found here. OMHSAS-16-03 is obsoleted by this bulletin.
OMHSAS licenses or approves community mental health facilities and agencies and other service providers operating in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In accordance with this responsibility, the Department’s authorized agents periodically inspect mental health facilities and agencies. If regulatory requirements are met, certificates of compliance or approvals are granted under Article IX of the Human Services Code (62 P.S. §§ 901 – 922) or under Article X of the Human Services Code (62 P.S. §§ 1001 – 1080).
Pursuant to applicable regulations, a facility or agency may request a time limited waiver of regulations or program standards, or a portion of regulations or program standards. All regulatory waiver requests are subject to applicable waiver of standard requirements as outlined by each chapter or bulletin. In reviewing any such waiver request, OMHSAS will consider whether the facility or agency has demonstrated that substitute measures assure the health, safety, and welfare of all individuals who reside in the facility or who receive services from the agency.
Please contact RCPA COO and Mental Health Policy Director Jim Sharp with any questions.
In order to accommodate guest speakers Deputy Secretary Ahrens and Jenn Newell from the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP), RCPA is adjusting the start time of the IDD Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 9, 2025, to 12:00 pm (instead of 12:30 pm). The meeting will conclude by 3:00 pm.
Our agenda for the meeting will include updates from ODP, RCPA updates, and Provider members sharing their use of technology in delivery of services.
If you have already registered for this meeting, you do not need to re-register. If you have not yet registered, please register here.
RCPA is excited to host a Membership Benefits webinar on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 1:00 pm, as an opportunity for members to orient themselves with all that RCPA membership includes. This is not just for new and future members. For current members, there may be benefits associated with our membership that you may not be aware of, including targeted meetings and groups that occur throughout the year.
Registration is required; please register here to attend the webinar. Items we will review include the below and much more:
Visit the RCPA member benefits web page for more information, or contact Tieanna Lloyd for benefit details.
The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) announced the availability of $2.5 million in grant funding for community-based organizations and public health programs to help improve Pennsylvanians’ access to existing substance use disorder (SUD) recovery houses that are licensed through DDAP.
Funding for these grants is provided from opioid settlement funding that was appropriated to DDAP by the General Assembly, which was the result of a multistate investigation of opioid manufacturers and distributors spearheaded by then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro that led to settlement agreements worth billions of dollars. That money is to be invested in opioid remediation programs and initiatives.
Read the full press release here.
Please reach out to RCPA SUD Policy Director Jason Snyder with any questions.
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