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Policy Areas

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Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): An Overview and Practical Application

Note: This training satisfies the basic autism training requirement for Residential Performance-Based Contracting (PBC). Please see more details below on Continuing Education (CE) Credits. This training is an approved alternative to the SPeCTRUM offered on MyODP.

Over the years, the prevalence of autism has increased, Pennsylvania’s service delivery system for individuals with autism has expanded, and best practices to provide quality supports have emerged. To support the individual needs of each person with autism across the lifespan, an understanding of core characteristics must be established. It is also important to learn how the individual’s presentation of autism may change across settings and situations.

This training will provide attendees with an in-depth presentation on core characteristics of autism and the impact of the characteristics on daily life, routines, and activities. A review of common terms and basic principles used to change behavior, teach new skills, and develop practical application of best practices will be included. Opportunity for discussion and engagement will occur throughout the training in the virtual setting.

Who should attend?

  • Direct Support Professionals, Front Line Supervisors, and Program Managers supporting individuals with autism in residential and other home and community-based settings.
  • Professionals supporting individuals in the Adult Autism Waiver (AAW), Adult Community Autism Program (ACAP), Consolidated Person/Family-Directed Support (P/FDS), and Community Living waivers are encouraged to attend.

Where and when will sessions be held?

You must register separately for each session.

Continuing Education Units (CEU)
This training satisfies the basic autism training requirement for Residential Performance Based Contracting measures CN-DD/Bx.01.1S and CN-DD/Bx.01.1CE for all Direct Support Professionals (DSPs), Frontline Supervisors (FLSs), and program managers.

This training also fulfills 6100 ongoing training requirements.

Please contact the Bureau of Supports for Autism and Special Populations (BSASP) Training inbox with questions.

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The Fiscal Year 2025/26 budget, signed into law on November 12, 2025, includes a $21 million investment to strengthen the workforce through increased wages for direct care workers providing services in the Participant Directed Model for Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) programs. This additional funding provides for a rate increase in the OBRA Waiver and Act 150 Program for Participant Directed (Consumer) Personal Assistance Services procedure codes W1792 and W1792 TU, effective January 1, 2026.

In anticipation of the upcoming rate increase, OLTL is updating the OLTL Home and Community-Based Waiver Services Rates fee schedule, for which additional communication will be sent in the future. To support the January 1, 2026, effective date, OLTL will be updating their systems to include PROMISe™ and the Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS) with the revised rates. Service Coordinators do not need to make any service plan updates for the upcoming rate change, as a HCSIS system-wide update is being implemented to make the necessary service data rate updates to the affected service plans.

Please contact the OLTL Provider Inquiry Line at 800-932-0939, OPTION 2, Monday to Friday, from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.

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The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) convened for the Provider Performance Review Subcommittee on December 18, 2025, to provide updates on service utilization, National Core Indicators (NCI), and family engagement initiatives.

Service Utilization Updates

The statewide summary for services in CY 2025 highlights a continued focus on community-based and non-residential options.

  • Residential and Non-Residential Distribution: As of late 2025, Non-Residential Services account for the majority of utilization at 71.12%.
  • Residential Service Breakdown: Within residential settings, Residential Habilitation remains the most common at 25.68%, followed by Life Sharing at 2.76% and Supported Living at 0.44%.
  • Housing Support: ODP tracked the percentage of enrolled individuals receiving Housing Transition and Tenancy Services by SCO for CY 2025, with participation rates reaching up to 6% among certain providers.

National Core Indicators (NCI) and Satisfaction

ODP shared findings from the NCI-IDD In-Person Survey (2023/24) to measure person-centered outcomes and satisfaction.

  • Community Inclusion (NCI-IDD PCP-5): Pennsylvania’s average satisfaction with community inclusion was 84% for FY 2023/24, consistently exceeding the NCI-IDD national average of 82%.
    • Activity Satisfaction: High percentages of participants reported they “go out to eat enough” (77%), “go shopping enough” (81%), and “go out into the community enough” (80%).
    • Future Performance-Based Contracting: Beginning January 1, 2026, SCOs will be required to attest to supporting ODP data collection for this measure to inform future performance benchmarks.
  • Service Plan Relevance (NCI-IDD PCP-2): 92% of respondents reported “Yes,” their service plan includes things that are important to them.
    • Benchmarking: By 2027, SCO performance on this measure is expected to meet or exceed 90%.

Residential Services: Family Engagement

ODP is actively measuring how well providers engage with and support families through communication and relationship building.

  • Performance Measure (QI.03.3): Effective January 1, 2025, providers must attest to assisting ODP in collecting data on family satisfaction with provider engagement.
  • Family Satisfaction Survey Status: As of December 2025, 1,790 family members of individuals in residential habilitation have responded to the survey.
    • Provider Participation: Currently, 350 providers have positive response rates, while 18 providers have not yet been heard from.
    • Deadline: The survey is scheduled to close on December 31, 2025.

For Questions or Additional Information
Please contact Tim Sohosky for any follow-up or inquiries related to this update.

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The Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) has published their comments on the proposed Licensure of Crisis Intervention Services regulations, summarizing the comments submitted by the stakeholder community during the public comment period. As part of the IRRC’s regulatory process, OMHSAS will have to address and clarify any questions that have been submitted.

Similar to RCPA’s public comments, the IRRC response highlights concerns regarding the proposed rulemaking in the following areas:

  • Potential issues with “one-size-fits-all” approach to crisis intervention.
  • Lack of availability of qualified staff and how to pay for them.
  • Elimination of an “in-between” level of care by imposing hospital-like standards that do not align with current outpatient structures.
  • Possibility of inadequate government funding to cover providers’ implementation costs.
  • Lack of inclusion and integration with law enforcement, first responders, 911 operators, and 988 lifeline centers.

In support of RCPA’s recommendation, the IRRC comments also urge the Department to reconvene the stakeholder work group that had been assembled in 2021, especially given the drastic shift in the mental health landscape that has occurred since the group last met.

Please contact Emma Sharp with any questions.

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The Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has released the proposed Mental Health Procedures regulations, which are open for public comment. The posting on the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) website can be found here.

The proposed regulations are to be in compliance with Act 32 of 2022. OMHSAS is choosing to go beyond the updates required by Act 32 and is doing a full alignment of the chapter with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to increase the clarity of the regulations for stakeholders.

Starting December 6, 2025, and closing January 5, 2026, the public may submit written comments regarding the proposed rulemaking to the Department via email. Please be aware that all public comments must be published verbatim on the IRRC website with the name of the commenter included. OMHSAS fully supports and encourages individuals with lived experience to comment on the regulation. However, please ensure you are comfortable with the content of your comment being made public, with your name attached to it.

RCPA has conducted an internal review of the proposed regulations and is seeking member feedback and comments to be included in our submission. Members are encouraged to review and provide recommendation and guidance on the impacts of the proposed regulations on your organization.  Agencies may submit separately or in conjunction with RCPA.

Comments may also be submitted to RCPA COO and Mental Health Policy Director Jim Sharp by January 2, 2026, OR to the following address:

Department of Human Services
OMHSAS – Bureau of Policy, Planning, and Program Development,
Attention: BPPPD
Commonwealth Tower, 11th Floor
303 Walnut Street
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published an errata document to the inpatient rehabilitation facility patient assessment instrument (IRF-PAI) Manual, Version 4.2, related to the coding of items J1750, J1800, and J1900. This errata document was issued to update guidance related to the Falls with Major Injury (FMI) measure in the IRF Quality Reporting Program (QRP), which is effective on January 1, 2026. Specifically, the guidance related to item J1900 Number of Falls Since Admission item has revisions to the definition of Injury (except Major) and Major Injury.

CMS also released the official Technical Specification Report for the Falls with Major Injury (FMI) measure. This report incorporates feedback received during the cross-setting Technical Expert Panel (TEP) held in May 2025. The report provides an overview of the measure, a high-level summary of the key features of the re-specified measure, a description of the methodology used to construct the FMI measure, and an overview of measure testing results. Additional guidance and related updates to the IRF-PAI Manual, Quality Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual, and public reporting timelines will be provided at a future date. The report is available in the Downloads section on the IRF QRP Measures Information web page.

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Please share these important workshops and support groups with your networks! Register for upcoming events at PA Family Network’s website.

Good Life Group, Support Groups

LifeCourse Workshops

Waiver Workshops

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Act 66 of 2023 requires the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) to annually report to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and House Human Services Committee, among other information, barriers to entry into the SUD workforce. To help fulfill that requirement, DDAP is surveying providers to get their input on this topic.

In addition to this reporting requirement, Act 66 of 2023 also put in place several regulatory flexibilities about which providers are also being asked through this survey, though DDAP is not legislatively mandated to report on the use of these flexibilities.

The deadline to submit the survey is 5:00 pm Sunday, December 21, 2025.

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared an update to ODPANN 24-082. This communication advises providers of the availability of the ODP updated Guidance for Reviewing Data for Performance-Based Contracting (PBC) Measures RM-IM 01.2 and 01.3. The guidance and recorded webinar can be found on MyODP at Performance-Based Contracting – MyODP in the Data Folder. Updates appear underlined in red text.

Please view the announcement for more details.

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