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Policy Areas

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The Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association Political Action Committee (RCPA PAC) is asking members to consider making a personal contribution to the PAC. With these donations, we have been successful in supporting legislative leadership who understand the severe challenges facing many of our providers. These representatives are willing to stand up for our issues as we fight to move Pennsylvania forward.

We urge you to view our 2025 Legislative & Administrative Priorities to see how RCPA is and will continue to work for you. We are able to achieve these goals thanks to our members’ dedication and contributions.

Make an online contribution and advocate for yourself today. While the request is voluntary, we encourage you to make a contribution of $100, $250, $350, $500, or more to the RCPA PAC. If you are interested, you can also consider making a recurring monthly donation.

If you have any questions regarding the RCPA PAC or making a donation, please contact Jack Phillips, Director, Government Affairs.

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Treating Functional Neurologic Disorder (FND) — “Not Your Parent’s Functional Neurologic Disorder”

Tuesday, May 20, 2025
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT; 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm CDT;
11:00 am – 12:00 pm MDT; 10:00 am – 11:00 am PDT
Register Here

Presenter Bios:

Samuel Zachary, MOT, OTR/L
Sam is an occupational therapist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in the inpatient rehabilitation and amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS) programs. Sam brings experience from a variety of medical-based pediatric settings, including acute care, in-patient rehabilitation, and multi-disciplinary outpatient clinics.

Over the past four years, Sam’s practice has focused on the AMPS Intensive Program and Clinic at CHOP. He is passionate about treating children and adolescents with AMPS, functional neurological disorder, or both. He brings great enthusiasm while sharing his knowledge and best practices for caring for this unique population.

Lori Kile, PTA

Lori is a physical therapist assistant at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) working in the inpatient rehabilitation and amplified musculoskeletal pain syndrome (AMPS) programs. She began her career at CHOP in 1998 and has dedicated over 25 years of service to the institution. She worked in a variety of pediatric settings, including outpatient, acute care, and inpatient rehab, prior to finding her passion for treating youth and teens with Amplified Musculoskeletal Pain and Functional Neurological Disorder. Lori now specializes with these populations; she is also involved with the International FND society, where she helps to develop deliverables and build the knowledge base regarding the diagnosis. She loves to share her knowledge and lessons learned to build the skills of others and promote best practices in treatment of patients with FND.

Objectives: Following this course, the learner will:

  • Identify recent changes in the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of pediatric patients with FND.
  • Obtain a best practice framework for treating pediatric patients in the rehabilitation setting.
  • Learn about best practice for measuring outcomes with pediatric patients with FND.

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

Level: Beginner

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.

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Providers are reminded of the requirement to report the use of American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) funding. The Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) requires providers who received supplemental funding from the ARPA to report on their use of the funding by Friday, May 30, 2025. Reporting on the use of ARPA funding is critical to ensure compliance with federal requirements as the 2026 spending deadlines approach for the 10% enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funds for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) and State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. ARPA funding disbursements subject to this reporting requirement include the initiatives listed below. Please note that you may have reported on the use of ARPA funding received in 2021, including Act 2021–24 and Strengthening the Direct Care Workforce payments; this reporting is in addition to previously reported initiatives.

  • Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Quality Improvement Funding
    • Authorized in May 2022
    • Available to HCBS providers
    • Funded by 10% enhanced FMAP funding for HCBS
    • Eligible uses include activities and expenses that expand, enhance, or strengthen HCBS, as outlined in the notice of the funding opportunity as well as the reminder notice

To complete a report, please log in to the ARPA Funding Portal, select the appropriate funding type, and then select “Create a New Funding Report.” The portal will prompt users to select a provider name (for individuals authorized to submit reports for multiple facilities or locations) and the applicable reporting period. Upon selection, review the prepopulated information and complete all required fields in the form.

For additional instructions on completing a report, please refer to the ARPA Funding Reporting Portal Business Partner Guide. For questions about registration and user access, please refer to the ARPA Portal Registration Guide. OLTL has also published a Frequently Asked Questions document and a Summary of ARPA Funding online at Long-Term Care for Providers | Department of Human Services | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Providers that received supplemental ARPA-funded payments must report to OLTL on their use of the funding so that the Commonwealth can produce documentation required by federal audits. Additionally, providers must retain detailed supporting documentation for the eligible use of supplemental ARPA-funded payments for a minimum of five (5) years from the payment date. Failure to submit a report may result in the recovery of funding through collection activities, audits, or legal action.

If you have questions regarding this message, please contact the Office of Long-Term Living via email.

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Register for upcoming events at PA Family Network’s website!

Support Groups:

LifeCourse Workshops:

Waiver Workshops

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Due to the PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) Order of Selection (OOS) operations memorandum, effective April 1, 2025, the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) is providing guidance to the following entities regarding the referral of participants to OVR:

    1. Managed Care Organizations (MCO);
    2. Service Coordinators (SC);
    3. Service Coordination Entities (SCE); and
    4. Service Providers.

OVR recognizes three (3) disability categories:

    1. Non-Significant Disability (NSD);
    2. Significant Disability (SD); and
    3. Most Significant Disability (MSD).

The April 1, 2025, OOS is a wait-listing of customers who fall within the NSD and SD categories. Customers who are determined by OVR to fall within the MSD category will continue to receive OVR-funded services. Due to this being a partial OOS closure, OLTL participants who are requesting employment services/supports must continue to be referred to OVR for determination of eligibility.

Page three of the OLTL Employment and Employment Related Services Bulletin indicates that during a full OOS closure, “a participant who has not been referred to OVR may receive OLTL Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) employment services without a referral to OVR.”

Due to the current OOS being a partial closure and not a full closure, participants still need to be referred to OVR for evaluation of eligibility for services. As detailed in the 1915 (c) waiver and page two of the Employment Services Bulletin, participants do not need to be referred to OVR for Benefits Counseling Services.

MCOs and SCs should continue to monitor cases referred to OVR as detailed on page three of the Employment Services Bulletin, which states, “Prior to adding one of the OLTL HCBS employment services to a participant’s Person-Centered Services Plan (PCSP), the SC must determine the status of the participant’s case with OVR.” Additionally, SCs should continue to follow the guidance on page two of the Employment Services Bulletin, which states, “If OVR has not made an eligibility determination within 120 days of a referral being sent, then OVR services are considered to not be available to the participant, and OLTL employment services may be provided under an OLTL HCBS program.”

Please refer any questions to Randall Loss electronically.

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Temple University Harrisburg recently released two different no-cost training options that have been approved to meet the Personal Care Home (PCH) and Assisted Living Residence (ALR) Administrator annual training requirements. Both programs are a part of the Spring 2025 training programs being offered. The training programs being offered are:

Registration information is included in the announcements, and participation is limited. If you register and later discover you are unable to participate, please cancel your registration to create space for other participants.

If you have any questions or if you require assistance with registration, please email Temple University.

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