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Policy Areas

Now more than ever, solutions and strategies are needed to meet the growing demand for mental health and substance use treatment in communities across the country.

NatCon23 — the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s annual conference — will be held on May 1–3 in Los Angeles, California. NatCon23 is more than an event – it’s an invitation to boost your operations and impact, while learning alongside 5,000+ health care colleagues from across the country.

Three days of nonstop learning, networking, and entertainment at the internationally renowned Los Angeles Convention Center. As an attendee, you can:

  • Hear from 280+ sought-after speakers from all facets of health and human services;
  • Enjoy hundreds of hours of evidence-based, industry-leading content;
  • Participate in “deep dive” discussions about the future of our field;
  • Earn continuing education and continuing medical education credits; and
  • Celebrate health care heroes during an awards program.

To explore the value available to you, visit the NatCon23 website, where you can learn about featured speakers, view the curriculum, get the latest updates, and more. I hope you’ll join me at NatCon23 as we celebrate our collective impact, discuss the future of our field, discover new tools and technologies, and keep our momentum going together.

Regards,

Richard S. Edley, PhD
RCPA President/CEO

Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

Positive Practice Virtual Meeting
April 6, 2023
April’s Positive Practice program sessions will focus on Human Trafficking. Hear from speakers at The Covenant House of Philadelphia. The Covenant House works with young individuals, primarily under the age of 21, who are facing homelessness and victimization. These individuals are often at risk for human trafficking, which is statistically increasing in the state of Pennsylvania. Individuals with mental illness and those with intellectual disabilities as well as autism are the most at-risk group. Join Positive Practice as they share best practices and available resources for clinicians, providers, and County/Administrative Entities (AEs). National implications will be discussed as well with other Covenant House programs across the United States.

Virtual Dual Diagnosis Conference
May 18, 2023
Perspectives on Trauma and Support – This one day virtual conference will feature nationally known and National Association for the Dually Diagnosed (NADD) authors and speakers.

Virtual Professional Conference Series
June 1, 2023
Join ODP’s Professional Conference Series sessions in June to hear from representatives of Louisiana’s Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities Clinical Services (LA OCDD). LA OCDD published a series of white papers featured on the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services’s (NASDDDS) website highlighting resources in Adaptable Therapeutic Interventions and Multisystem Therapy. Sessions will feature both topics.

Community of Practice for Supporting Families Regional Collaborative Summit
August 14 and August 15, 2023 — In-person and virtual options
State College, PA
The Community of Practice for Supporting Families Regional Collaborative Summit will be held live in State College. Virtual participation options will also be available. Join the Summit this August to learn from peers and professionals about how to bolster your communities of practice for supporting individuals with disabilities and/or autism (ID/A) and their families.

Registration information to follow.

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project (PHLP) is pleased to offer series of upcoming webinars focusing on various Medicaid-related topics. During each session, experts from PHLP will share what advocates and providers need to know about the unwinding of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE).

Please register for each training using the separate links below. Closed captioning will be available for each session. If you have any questions about the series or problems with registration, please email Danna Casserly.

UPCOMING TOPICS:

Getting Ready for Medicaid & SNAP Changes
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
9:30 am ET

Medicaid Eligibility 101
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
10:00 am ET

Medicaid Appeals, Reconsideration, & Troubleshooting Coverage Denials
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
10:00 am ET

Revisiting MAWD (Medical Assistance for Workers With Disabilities) & Introducing Workers With Job Success
Thursday, April 20, 2023
11:00 am ET

Dual Eligibles & Medicare Savings Programs
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
11:00 am ET

ODP Announcement 23-001 Update provides additional information about how the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) utilizes American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds as part of the ongoing systemic recovery of services for people with an intellectual disability and autism. Also included is an Excel spreadsheet showing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Expansion and Recovery Baseline Data (CPS and Employment).

This announcement includes baseline pre-pandemic service user data for both Community Participation Support (CPS) and Supported Employment to inform provider planning efforts related to the supplemental payments. This initiative is designed to provide supplemental payments to support the recovery and service expansion in the following three areas: CPS, employment, and supports coordination. See the announcement for a description of the supplemental payment structure.

Communicating With Digital Accessibility Mind — Tips & Tools! 

Attendees will learn:

  • Why emails and documents need to be created with digital accessibility in mind;
  • How to be more accessible in creating emails and MS Word documents; and
  • Where to access a host of user-friendly tips and videos about this topic.

Presented by:

  • Katherine Eng, Senior ICT Accessibility Specialist, Office of Technical and Information Services, U.S. Access Board
  • Janet D. Fiore, CEO, Sierra Group, Inc.
  • Michael Mangos,  Chief Strategist, Tamman, Inc.
  • The Sierra-Tamman 360 Collaborative

This Complimentary Training is hosted on GoToWebinar.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT
Register

ASL and Auto-Captions will be provided.

Request additional accommodations during registration on or BEFORE 3/15/23 via email.

Space is Limited, Register Today! Accommodation requests are due by 3/21/2023.

Why attend?

Because together, we can drive up accessibility and inclusion for Americans with Disabilities in the Workforce. Yet this does not happen every day. Your efforts can make a significant different. Attend to learn how.

Emails and Word documents as Daily Communication Tools!

Your professional communications and content is not automatically inclusive to everyone, but it can be — learn how by joining us for this COMPLIMENTARY training, which is geared for any business professional who uses email and MS Word at work. Includes entry level content with tools and tips for deeper learning.

Why Be Accessible?

So that someone with a disability has the same access to your information as everyone else. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s the law.

About The Sierra Group

The Sierra Group Academy and Tamman, Inc.’s 360 Degree Collaboration

Committed to spreading the word about digital inclusion AND the accommodations per the ADA, in the summer of 2020 when the world was emerging from the full pandemic lockdown mode, digital accessibility for Americans with disabilities was more critical than ever before.  64 million Americans with disabilities were beholden to live and work and shop and tele-health remotely, just like everyone else.  However, communication tools and IT systems were not fully inclusive to support them. 

About the US Access Board:

The Access Board is an independent federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities. The Board develops and maintains design criteria for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and for electronic and information technology.