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Policy Areas

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Photo by Alena Shekhovtcova from Pexels

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is asking providers to complete the Vaccine Administration Tracker that allows the Department of Human Services to track when vaccines have been administered to individuals and direct support staff in licensed Community Homes and Private Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with an Intellectual Disability (ICFs/ID).

It is very important that providers use the Vaccine Administration Tracker. This information is essential to implementing the Commonwealth’s vaccine planning and administration plan and to help ensure that vaccines are being administered as soon as can be accomplished. Completing this form is a major component to stopping the spread of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth.

Community Home and Private ICF/ID providers will submit vaccination information by service location. Information will be submitted when the vaccine administration process is completed at the service location. In general, the vaccine administration process is “completed” when the people served in the location and the direct support staff who work in the location have been vaccinated or have chosen not to be vaccinated.

This is a one-time data collection initiative. Providers will only enter this information when the service location has completed the vaccination process. Providers are not required to update the information or submit a new form if information changes.

Providers are encouraged to contact ODP with questions or to request guidance with any part of this process. Full information regarding this initiative is available here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2021

Harrisburg, PA – The Departments of Human Services, Labor & Industry, and Education today announced the availability of the federal Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB), a program that will assist eligible households in paying for internet service and certain electronic devices.

The EBB, which is administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is a temporary program that provides a discount of up to $50 per month off a qualifying household’s internet bill and associated equipment rental. Additionally, eligible households can receive a one-time discount of up to $100 towards a tablet, laptop, or desktop computer, provided that the household contributes more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price. The EBB is limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household, and the discount will be provided by the FCC directly to the service provider.

“The past year has shown us just how essential internet access is in order to connect with our loved ones, our workplaces and schools, and even to basic needs like telehealth and grocery delivery. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for many to keep up with bills and expenses, so we are glad that the FCC is providing this benefit to people who need it,” said Acting DHS Secretary Meg Snead. “Assistance programs like this exist to help get you through tough times. I encourage anybody who has struggled to pay their internet bills to apply for this benefit.”

A household is eligible if one member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

  • Receives benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision, or did so in the 2019–2020 school year;
  • Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
  • Experienced a substantial loss of income since February 29, 2020, and the household had a total income in 2020 below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers;
  • Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating internet provider’s existing low-income or COVID-19 program; or,
  • Qualifies for the FCC’s Lifeline program.
    • Households qualify for the federal Lifeline program if their income is less than 135% of the federal poverty guidelines or if they or their child participate in programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA), or other federal programs. Eligible participants can receive Lifeline and EBB at the same time.
    • DHS has partnered with the FCC to provide a real time data exchange that verifies whether an individual is already receiving SNAP, Medicaid or SSI so that individuals receiving these programs will be able to more easily qualify for this new benefit as well as Lifeline.

“Strong, reliable access to the internet is a necessity for workers because today’s job search and hiring process is conducted almost exclusively online,” said L&I Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier. “The Emergency Broadband Benefit will help struggling Pennsylvanians apply for jobs, communicate with hiring managers, and engage in online training programs that will help lift them out of poverty.”

“Access to the internet could be considered a school supply; a critical resource that supports learning beyond classroom walls,” said Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega. “The Emergency Broadband Benefit serves as another means to bridge the digital divide and create digital equity for students and families across the state.”

Applications for this program open today and will end once the funds are exhausted or six months after the federal Department of Health and Human Services declares the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Service providers will be required to give notice on the last date when the EBB program will end.

To apply for the EBB program, contact your participating broadband service provider, or visit Get Emergency Broadband to apply online or print a paper application to mail in.

More information on the EBB can be found here. For more information on other public assistance programs, visit the DHS website.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Erin James, DHS
Sarah DeSantis, L&I
Kendall Alexander, PDE

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Magellan Healthcare collaborated with Neuromotion, Inc., the developer of Mightier, an in-home digital platform that empowers children to learn lifelong emotional skills through play, to make Mightier available to certain Magellan members with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a pilot program.

Read the press release on the results and the white paper on this landmark study to understand how digital tools can help children with ASD here.

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Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

The Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) will be conducting their third webinar as part of their spring webinar series on May 14, 2021 from 2:00 pm–3:30 pm. This webinar, Medicaid Telehealth Policies for Seniors, will bring together Medicaid officials for a panel discussion about how state programs and Medicaid agencies incorporate telehealth into their services for seniors and other benefits for dually-enrolled for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. State Medicaid presenters will also discuss relevant policy changes during COVID-19 and how that has impacted plans for the future of telehealth and seniors in their states. Members interested in participating in this webinar are encouraged to register as soon as possible.

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The Morgan Stanley Foundation is providing $500,000 in seed-funding for game-changing mental health care solutions for children and young people through the inaugural Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children’s Mental Health Innovation Awards.

U.S.-based non-profits are invited to submit innovative project ideas to advance children’s mental health. Selected organizations should visit the Innovation Awards website, which has all the information on the program, including selection criteria, application information, project scope, and FAQ. For additional inquiries, please email the Morgan Stanley Foundation.

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ODP Announcement 20-101 UPDATE provides guidance regarding temporary closure of Older Adult Daily Living Centers, Structured Day Programs, LIFE Day Centers, Adult Training Facilities, and Vocational Facilities related to the community spread of COVID-19 or when more than one individual or staff member is diagnosed with COVID-19 and spent 15 minutes or more in the facility within a 24 hour period starting 2 days prior to symptom/illness onset, or for asymptomatic individuals, 2 days prior to the test specimen collection date, until the time the person is isolated. Additionally, this announcement describes the process for reopening facilities using the Community Participation Support and Older Adult Facility Reopening Tool and provides guidance for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in facilities.

Changes in the guidance include consideration of the amount of participants and staff who have been fully vaccinated. Providers may not require that a program participant be vaccinated to receive services.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a reminder that the submission deadline for the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) quality reporting program (QRP) is coming up on Monday, May 17, 2021.

IRF Patient Assessment Instrument (PAI) assessment data and data submitted to CMS via the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) October 1–December 31 (Q4) of calendar year (CY) 2020 are due with this submission deadline. In addition, the annual NHSN Influenza Vaccination among Healthcare Personnel measure is also due with this deadline. The list of measures required for this deadline is found on the CMS QRP website.

As a reminder, it is recommended that providers run applicable CASPER/iQIES/NHSN analysis reports prior to each quarterly reporting deadline in order to ensure that all required data has been submitted.

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Improving Outcomes by Recognizing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Presented by Dan Dubovsky — Part One
This training addresses the importance of recognizing an FASD in those with whom we work or live. The brain damage seen in FASD is examined, along with common behaviors that result from this damage and that may result in misdiagnoses such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Antisocial Personality Disorder in the individual and neglect and sabotaging treatment in family members. Methods to identify those with a possible FASD are identified.
Date: Thursday, May 13, 2021, 2:00 pm–4:00 pm
Register now.

Improving Outcomes by Modifying Approaches for Those with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Presented by Dan Dubovsky — Part Two
This training builds on the first FASD training provided. Due to the brain damage caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, which spans the intellectual spectrum, evidence-based practices that rely on verbal interactions and reward and consequence approaches such as point, level, and privilege systems are often not successful with them and set them up to fail.
Date: Thursday, May 27, 2021, 2:00 pm–4:00 pm
Register now.

Law Enforcement-Led Diversion and Mental Health and Opioid Outreach Innovations
The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate the significant impact first responder-led diversion can have in connecting overdose survivors and those with mental health disorders to treatment. Retired Deputy Chief Mitch Cunningham from the Wilmington, North Carolina Police Department and Sheriff Daron Hall from the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee will highlight the need for diversion and cite examples of the successful programs they have implemented.
Date: Thursday, May 20, 2021, 2:00 pm
Register now.

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