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Policy Areas

The following is a list of PA Family Network Event dates for workshops, the monthly Family Forum: Updates, as well as the Sibling Good Life Group Meeting. You can find below the flyers that contain event descriptions and details. All events are virtual through Zoom, with links in the flyers.

NOTE: All Workshop and Family Forum events use the same Zoom Link. The Sibling Group uses a different Zoom link.

Waiver Basics (101) Part 2 Workshop
February 1, 2022 6:00 pm–8:00 pm

Safety in the Community Workshops
February 3, 2022 10:00 am–12:00 pm
February 8, 2022 6:00 pm–8:00 pm

Sibling Good Life Group
February 7, 2022 6:30 pm–8:30 pm

Advanced Waiver Workshop Part 1 for SIBLINGS
February 9, 2022 6:00 pm–8:00 pm

Advanced Waiver Workshop Part 2 for SIBLINGS
February 10, 2022 6:00 pm–8:00 pm

Healthy Relationships Workshop
February 15, 2022 6:00 pm–8:00 pm

Family Forum: Updates
February 16, 2022 6:30 pm–7:30 pm

PLANEANDO A LARGO PLAZO Workshop (Long-Term Planning in Spanish)
February 21, 2022 6:00 pm–8:00 pm

Waiver Basics (101) Part 1 Workshop
February 22, 2022 10:00 am–12:00 pm

Waiver Basics (101) Part 2 Workshop
February 22, 2022 1:00 pm–3:00 pm

Advanced Waiver Workshop Part 1
February 24, 2022 10:00 am–12:00 pm

Advanced Waiver Workshop Part 2
February 24, 2022 1:00 pm–3:00 pm

ODP Announcement 22-007 informs providers that the new Fee Schedule Rates and Department-established fees are anticipated to be visible on Individual Support Plans (ISPs) in HCSIS on February 14, 2022.

The anticipated effective date for the increased Fee Schedule Rates is January 1, 2022; however, the effective date in the Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS) will be February 15, 2022. The anticipated effective date for the Department-established fees for residential ineligible services is July 1, 2022, and HCSIS will reflect the same effective date. Both the Fee Schedule Rates and Department-established fees for residential ineligible services will be visible in HCSIS on February 14, 2022.

Of note, on January 6, 2022, the P/FDS cap was increased to $41,000, and the Community Living Waiver cap was increased to $85,000.

This communication provides guidance and addresses Individual Support Plan (ISP) related impacts.

RCPA is pleased to offer this webinar on Tuesday, January 25, 2022, at 1:00 pm to discuss moving beyond the Carve-out/Carve-in debate.

In an age of integrated care, specialty behavioral health care matters. For more than two decades, the debate of what to do in Medicaid managed care with physical health care (PH) and behavioral health care (BH) centered on the question: should a state carve-out BH from PH managed care contracts or carve-in BH to PH managed care contracts? This presentation will focus on the most current answers to that question. Please register here if you have not registered yet for this event.

Presenters include:

Panelists will review:

  • Pennsylvania’s Behavioral HealthChoices;
  • Discuss managed care models utilized in other States; and
  • Asses how the debate is changing from carve-out vs. carve-in to a focus on contractual standards and accountability.

Achieving whole-person care and addressing social determinants of health by doing specialty behavioral health care directly through various Medicaid managed care approaches will be considered. While there will be an opportunity to ask questions at the time of the presentation, we encourage you to submit questions in advance to Tina Miletic.

Please register here to attend this webinar. We look forward to your participation!

Anthem Foundation is making up to $30 million available over the next three years to support substance use disorder programs that address an array of care and service options, including prevention and early intervention, crisis response and interventions, long-term intervention, and community resources and recovery supports.

Qualified nonprofit organizations with a history of proven, programmatic community initiatives are invited to apply for funding. Although Pennsylvania has not been specifically identified as a local area of focus, Pennsylvania providers can qualify under the National Programs of Emphasis category. More information about funding guidelines and eligibility is available. The deadline to submit applications is January 31, 2022.

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) has announced a virtual traumatic brain injury (TBI) stakeholder day planned for March 8, 2022, from 12:00 pm–4:30 pm. This free event will be held via webinar, and attendees will spend the afternoon talking about important issues around TBI services, supports, and systems.

Attendees will hear from brain injury survivors, family members, support networks, and state and federal representatives. This year’s sessions include Survivor Engagement Strategies, Domestic Violence and the Effect on Children, Effective Partnerships with Behavioral Health with a Focus on Suicide, and Effective Strategies for Using and Leveraging Data.

Individuals interested in participating should register here.

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Title: A Panel Discussion: Unpacking the Pediatric Behavioral Health Crisis and Key Steps to Address Short- and Long-Term Needs

Date: Thursday, January 27, 2022
11:00 am–12:00 pm EST

Registration: Attendees can register online for the event and add it to their calendar.

Description: Join us for a panel discussion highlighting aspects of the ongoing pediatric behavioral health crisis, seeking your input, and discussing a path forward for ways to better support children and families. As you likely know from your professional and/or personal experience, far too many children and youth across the country are unable to access timely, quality mental health care. What was a crisis before the pandemic has only worsened. According to the CDC, since March 2020, mental health visits have increased for children (ages 5–11) by 24% and youth (ages 12–17) by 31%. In the first half of 2021 alone, children’s hospitals reported cases of self-injury and suicide in ages 5–17 at a rate 45% higher than during the same timeframe in 2019.

This event will be recorded.

A national campaign, Sound the Alarm for Kids, is bringing together organizations calling on Congress to act now to prevent further unaddressed harm to our nation’s children. Every child in America should have the right to live up to their full potential. The mental health crisis is a national emergency – and we’re in the fight of our lives to end it. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) announced today that Dr. Michael Lynch, UPMC Health Plan Medical Director of SUD Services, has been named Medical Director of DDAP. DDAP’s announcement follows last Wednesday’s announcement by RCPA of the creation of the new position.

Dr. Lynch, who will continue his full-time role with commercial insurer UPMC Health Plan, is board-certified in emergency medicine, medical toxicology, and addiction medicine.

In this position, Dr. Lynch will advise and assist DDAP in the development of policy and procedures related to medical best practice as well as advances related to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, including:

  • Providing technical assistance to SUD treatment providers and physicians in PA’s system of care, including the application of the ASAM criteria;
  • Developing projects to improve delivery of care to individuals with SUD;
  • Researching and reviewing new technologies and procedures, reviewing pertinent medical literature, and presenting findings and recommendations to appropriate entities regarding SUD, opioid use disorder, and medication-assisted therapies;
  • Educating stakeholders and providers relative to medication-assisted therapies as well as drug, alcohol, and narcotic treatment regulations; and
  • Developing new workflows and processes to increase quality improvement measures for DDAP and treatment providers.

Dr. Lynch graduated from the University of Notre Dame and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine before completing his residency in emergency medicine and fellowship in medical toxicology at the University of Pittsburgh. He is an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh and works in the emergency departments at UPMC Presbyterian and Mercy Hospitals. The toxicology service at UPMC is one of the busiest in the country, seeing patients at five Pittsburgh hospitals as well as providing inpatient addiction and telemedicine treatment. Dr. Lynch is the Medical Director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center and of SUD Services at UPMC Health Plan, and he continues to serve on the Boards of Directors for the PA College of Emergency Physicians and the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

UPMC Health Plan is the commercial insurance arm of UPMC. Community Care Behavioral Health, UPMC’s behavioral health managed care organization, is a sister company and the largest behavioral health Medicaid payer in the commonwealth. Both UPMC and Community Care Behavioral Health are RCPA members.