';
CLOSE
Policy Areas

0 2904

(From CCC Press Release)

Community Counseling Center of Mercer County’s (CCC) CEO, Clyde “Kip” Hoffman, is retiring on July 8, 2022. Kip has served as the CEO of Community Counseling Center since November 2014, and prior to his position as CEO, he served as the Clinical Administrator and Chief Clinical Officer for CCC starting in 2001. Kip provided 21 years of service to CCC. Kip graduated with his Master’s of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, and has served the Human Services field for 46 years. Other places of employment include the Greenville Regional Hospital, Horizon Hospital Systems, the UPMC Horizon Foundation, and Paoletta Psychological Services. Kip has also served on various Board of Directors including The Sharon Rotary, AWARE, Inc., Mercer County Area Agency on Aging, Farrell Family Services Advisory Board, Farrell Headstart, American Cancer Society of Mercer County, and the Greenville Sanitation Board.

After an extensive vetting process, The Board of Directors of Community Counseling Center of Mercer County is happy to announce Dr. John N. Mahinis as the new Chief Executive Officer of Community Counseling Center of Mercer County.  Dr. Mahinis has his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, Master’s Degree in Education, Ph.D.  Counseling Psychology, and his MBA.  Dr. John Mahinis has over 20 years of experience in financial management as well as providing and overseeing counseling services for various agencies. He has directed organizations in several traditional, higher level corporate, senior executive roles within a variety of different industries nationally and internationally.

Dr. John Mahinis is a United State Veteran having served as an officer in the Military Intelligence branch of the United States Army, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Community Counseling Center of Mercer County is a nonprofit corporation that has provided community behavioral health services in Mercer County since 1957. Its main office is in Hermitage, with satellite locations in Greenville and Grove City. They also offer employment services, residential services for the seriously mentally ill, outpatient mental health counseling, drug and alcohol counseling, gambling addiction treatment, psychiatric rehabilitation, children’s services, and open access. For more information, see cccmer.org or call 724-981-7141.

0 1487

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) Community HealthChoices (CHC) Waiver amendment that transfers oversight of Financial Management Services (FMS) from an OLTL-held contract to an administrative function of the CHC-MCOs and revises waiver performance measure AA-5. The amendment became effective on July 1, 2022.

The current approved CHC 1915(c) Waiver document with the FMS amendment can be viewed here. The link can be found under the heading “Community HealthChoices 1915(b) Managed Care and 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Waivers.”

Questions about the CHC Waiver amendment should be sent via email.

0 1689
Image by Werner Moser from Pixabay

Following up on the previous RCPA Alert regarding the Pennsylvania Insurance Department’s Notice for Public Comment, please note that comments may be submitted via email OR sent directly to the following address:

PA Insurance Department
Attn: Katie Merritt, Policy Director
1326 Strawberry Square,
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Comments will be accepted until Friday, August 5, 2022.

The department is looking to hear from consumers, advocates, and other organizations about challenges they have experienced accessing various provider types. The notice is divided into two categories: physical health services and behavioral health services, including substance use disorder treatment.

On behalf of its behavioral health provider members, RCPA is compiling comments to submit to PID, although members who prefer to submit their comments and experiences on their own are encouraged to do so. Providers wanting to submit comments as part of an RCPA response can send them to Drug and Alcohol Division Director Jason Snyder. PID will accept comments until Friday, August 5, so please submit your comments to RCPA by Friday, July 29.

0 1568

The Department of Human Services’ Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is announcing upcoming TRAIN sessions. Individuals with intellectual disabilities or autism (ID/A) are at an increased risk of experiencing trauma; however, few therapists are skilled in both trauma and ID/A support. To bridge this gap, psychologists with the ASERT team created the TRAIN program — 12 weeks of self-guided learnings and live webinars to equip therapists across Pennsylvania currently working with ID/A populations, with the skills to support clients through traumatic experiences. Read more here.

Therapists interested in participating in the fall cohort, which begins in September, should email with their interest.

If you have questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.

0 1950

Promising Positive Practices to Address the Mental Health Treatment and Service Needs of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Throughout the Lifespan
August 11, 2022
9:00 am – 12:15 pm
REGISTER

Session Description

In this 3-hour training, Dr. Joan Beasley will present best practices in mental health services and supports for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities throughout the lifespan. The presentation will include the perspectives of people with lived experiences as well as practitioners. The START model will be presented to demonstrate the effective use of these practices in cross systems crisis prevention and intervention. See the flyer for more information.

Session 1
9:00 am – 10:30 am.
Topics include: lessons learned over the past 50 years; integrated health approach; humanistic engagement vs. behavior support; public health tertiary model; and positive psychology/positive medicine.

Session 2
10:45 am – 12:15 pm.
Topic: the START model.

 What is the Dual Diagnosis Professional Conference Series?
The Department of Human Services’ Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) are pleased to announce the Dual Diagnosis Professional Conference Series, which offers presentations focused on supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) and mental health needs. The selected presenters share their expertise on best and promising practices as well as provide general knowledge. Session topics, which focus on increasing capacity to serve individuals with dual diagnosis in the community, are chosen based on identified needs and with input from the field of professional stakeholders.

  • Invited audience of all professional stakeholders, including direct and clinical supporters for individuals with ID/A, are encouraged to attend.
  • Registration is required and at no charge to attendees.
  • Three (3) hours of training credits and a certificate of achievement is provided.

0 2373
Image by Shotkitimages from Pixabay

Temple University Harrisburg recently announced their fall 2022 online training that is approved to meet the personal care home (PCH) and assisted living residence (ALR) annual training requirements.

Information about the online training sessions (including registration links) are provided below:

Those interested in participating only need to register for one session for each topic. Please read the training announcements in full before registering to ensure you are able to meet the participation requirements. Participation is limited for each course. If you register and later discover you are unable to participate, please cancel your registration to create space for other participants.

Questions about the online trainings or assistance with registration should be sent via email. If you would like information about additional trainings available for PCH and ALR administrators, please contact the Bureau of Human Services Licensing Operator Support Hotline.

0 1650

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) is studying the availability of providers in various specialties, including behavioral health, and geographic areas. This is an opportunity for behavioral health providers, including drug and alcohol and mental health providers, to share their challenges in finding and employing specialists required by state regulations and payer contracts and the subsequent access issues that result.

The goal of the study is to understand areas of need based on the current availability of providers to accept new patients, the amount of time it takes to get an appointment with these providers, and the network adequacy considerations based on the findings. PID is seeking public comment from organizations, consumer advocates, providers, and consumers about their experience with getting an appointment or finding available specialists.

On behalf of its behavioral health provider members, RCPA is compiling comments to submit to PID, although members who prefer to submit their comments and experience on their own are encouraged to do so. Providers wanting to submit comments as part of an RCPA response can send them to Drug and Alcohol Division Director Jason Snyder. PID will accept comments until Friday, August 5, so please submit your comments to RCPA by Friday, July 29.

More information can be found in PID’s published Notice for Public Comment.

Prev1...404405406...477Next Page 405 of 477
© 2021 - Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association