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Policy Areas

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) received direction from President Trump to temporarily suspend a number of rules so that hospitals, clinics, and other health care facilities can boost their frontline medical staff as they take on the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes will focus on reducing supervision and certification requirements in order for practitioners to be hired quickly and perform work to the fullest extent of their licenses. As a result of this action, doctors can now directly care for patients at rural hospitals, across state lines if necessary without being physically present; Nurse practitioners can now perform some medical exams on Medicare patients at skilled nursing facilities so that patient needs can be met; Occupational therapists from home health agencies can now perform initial assessments on certain homebound patients; and Hospice nurses will be relieved of hospice aide in-service training tasks so they can spend more time with patients.

For additional guidance, CMS has published a list of workforce flexibilities that CMS has permitted thus far.

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The Bureau of Early Intervention Services and Family Supports announced additional guidance that grants approval to expand all Infant/Toddler Early Intervention services to be delivered and reimbursed using tele-intervention. Procedure codes and modifiers for place of service home/community (12) should be used. The documentation can be found on the Department of Human Services website and reviewed here Provider Quick Tip #242.

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Yesterday during the DHS weekly briefing, DHS Secretary Teresa Miller provided a progress update to where the Department is with fingerprinting.

DHS explained that many of the IdentGO locations are beginning to reopen and/or expand hours of operation; we encourage anyone needing fingerprints to call the closest locations to verify whether they are operating, as this may begin to change. See the Pennsylvania Statewide interactive MAP of IdentGO locations.

DHS is not able to broadly waive this requirement from the state level because it is contained in numerous federal laws like the Family First Prevention Services Act, the Adam Walsh Act, and the Child Care Development Block Grant Act.

DHS has released guidance on waiving licensing requirements in Personal Care Homes and Assisted Living Residences – but understand that this guidance does not align with information just issued by the Department of Aging. DHS is working with the Department of Aging to address the discrepancies and will provide clarification.

For those who first obtained clearances in 2015 following changes to the Child Protective Services Law who will need to renew these clearances this year, DHS is open to temporarily delaying the five-year requirement, but this would need to happen through legislative action. DHS and the Governor’s Office are working with the legislature to try to accomplish this; however, this cannot be the only option. DHS is also pursuing potentially opening additional, temporary fingerprinting sites that can help us meet this need.

RCPA will continue to update members on any further developments. If you have questions or feedback, please contact RCPA Children’s Director Jim Sharp.

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From ANCOR:

Dear members,

We hope that you, your staff, and the people you support are staying safe. ANCOR continues to advocate strongly for your needs during the pandemic. In order to provide you with the best representation, we have a request. Please take 10 minutes by 5:00 pm PDT on Friday, April 10 to complete this short questionnaire about the challenges your organization is facing related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We understand that survey requests easily get pushed aside, as day-to-day issues arise due to this crisis. Being mindful of the demands on everyone’s time, we designed an online survey that should only take about 10 minutes to complete. The purpose is to provide ANCOR with much needed data, for an independent research firm to produce a statistically sound analysis of the impact on ID/A providers, of the COVID–19 pandemic.

This analysis will inform ANCOR’s advocacy on the distribution of funding from the 3rd COVID–19 relief package (including the Public Health and Social Services Fund) and inform ANCOR advocacy efforts on the 4th COVID–19 relief package. The development of the 4th relief package has already begun, so please complete this short questionnaire to ensure that ANCOR members have the best opportunity to access emergency funding to deal with the pandemic.

Thank you so very much.
——————————
Barbara Merrill
Chief Executive Officer
American Network of Community Options and Resources
Alexandria VA
703-535-7850 (103)
——————————

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DDAP has announced the following webinars:

When All That Changes is Everything Virtual Training Announcement
Series of three discussions focused on the challenges and triumphs within the substance use field in Pennsylvania, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • April 15th 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm – Organizational Change in Response to COVID-19
  • April 16th 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm – Managing Stress and Recovery in Response to COVID-19
  • April 17th 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm – Self-Care for the Essential Substance Use Professional

Self-Care and Empathy Virtual Training Announcement
Managing stress as a result of COVID-19 adds real intensity to the need for self-care. This live virtual session will help you identify feelings of stress and burnout.

  • April 14th 9:00 am to 10:30 am
  • April 20th 9:00 am to 10:30 am

View the full list of COVID-19-related DDAP trainings on the Training Announcements page.

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Description
The goal of this program is to prevent/reduce victimization of girls who are vulnerable to sex trafficking. The objectives and deliverables of this program include:

Category 1: Project Sites

  • Replicate and scale-up prevention and early intervention programs (including mentoring programs) for girls who are at risk of or are victims of sex trafficking that have undergone rigorous evaluation and/or have a track record of success. Program models should include a plan to develop services and interventions for high-risk girls, including those with a history of trauma caused by physical and sexual abuse, commercial sexual exploitation, and domestic minor sex trafficking.
  • Implement or enhance efforts to identify and provide services to girls who are at risk of or are victims of sexual exploitation or sex trafficking. This may include street outreach efforts, partnerships with organizations that serve the youth community, and/or collaboration with key stakeholders in the community.
  • Participate in an annual peer-to-peer learning (cluster meeting) opportunity hosted by the OJJDP-funded training and technical assistance provider under Category 2 of this solicitation. (See Budget Information and Associated Documentation under Section D. Application and Submission Information for details).

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) expects these programs to be based upon best practices, and they may include a variety of services (i.e., mentoring, educational, counseling, etc.).  OJJDP expects successful applicants to work closely with the selected training and technical assistance provider.

Category 2: Training and Technical Assistance
This category will expand the skills of program providers and other stakeholders working to prevent trafficking of girls.  This includes the development and provision of training and technical assistance to the OJJDP funded programs under Category 1 of this solicitation.  Training can also be developed for non-OJJDP grantees working with girl victims of sex trafficking, including training for probation, detention center staff, law enforcement, judges and education professionals.  The successful applicant is expected to develop and host an annual meeting for the grantees funded under Category 1 of this solicitation.

Access Solicitation Specific FAQs

Solicitation Webinar
The webinar will provide a general overview of the OJJDP FY 2020 Preventing Trafficking of Girls solicitation. It will highlight key eligibility and solicitation requirements. It will also identify tools and resources for applicants that will facilitate the application process. Lastly, it will provide an opportunity for applicants to ask questions.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
All times are Eastern Time unless noted otherwise.
Location
Online
Register

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