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Policy Areas

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Young Girl Talking With Counselor At Home

The University of Pittsburgh’s Youth and Family Training Institute (YFTI) is working with the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health Services and Bureau of Policy, Planning & Program Development to develop and implement a two-year innovative pilot that will define, develop, implement, and evaluate the role of the Family Navigator in up to six sites within the Commonwealth. The goal of the pilot will be to assist in defining Pennsylvania’s Family Navigator Model by testing the effectiveness and implementation strategies of pilot family navigator models for children, youth, and young adults (CYYA) with serious emotional disturbance (SED). The pilot is designed to promote early access, engagement, coordination, and optimization of mental health treatment and services for CYYA aged 5–21 who are experiencing symptoms of mental health problems along with their family caregiver (defined as family members or other caregivers with a primary responsibility of caring for the individual).

A Family Navigator plays a critical role in guiding and supporting family caregivers through the array of mental health services and other systems of care that may be needed to support CYYA. They help them navigate the often confusing, overwhelming, and fragmented services available, ensuring that family caregivers have the resources, information, and support needed to access the appropriate care for their CYYA. Family Navigators who are also Family Peers are able to share their own lived experience related to connecting their loved ones to mental health services. This approach offers a safe and comfortable means of educating family caregivers that may be overwhelmed in the midst of accessing care for their children.

Request for Proposals — Call for Applications:  

  • Up to six sites across the Commonwealth will receive up to $250,000 each year of the 2-year pilot to design and implement a model within the parameters of the Family Navigator definition. This will include varying recruitment strategies, referral sources, and strategies to connect to families.
  • Sites are expected to participate in the evaluation process, training, coaching, and skill-based technical assistance throughout the implementation of their approved pilot with guidance and oversight from The University of Pittsburgh/YFTI to ensure sites are meeting minimum implementation standards in order to continue to receive funding.
  • Counties, provider organizations, health facilities, or other public, private, or non-profit entities within Pennsylvania that serve children, youth, and young adults aged 5–21 are eligible to apply.
  • A diversity of sites is being sought in various contexts such as setting (urban, suburban, rural) and target population.

Submission/Review: Applications are due on or before March 28, 2025. For more information, please contact Bryon Luke, Director of Program Implementation.

Applications will be reviewed by a team of OMHSAS and YFTI staff who will be responsible for selecting the pilot sites.

A list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) is available as part of the RFP document. Additional questions can be submitted until March 15, 2025 to Bryon Luke, Director of Program Implementation and will be added to the FAQ on the YFTI website.

If there are follow-up questions from YFTI/OMHSAS regarding the submissions, a member of the review team may contact the project coordinator on the application for clarification.

*NOTE: Current participants in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funded System of Care (SOC) grants or interested applicants for an upcoming SAMHSA-funded PA CARE SOC grant are not excluded from applying to this RFP and are encouraged to apply. Please indicate any relevant SAMHSA-funded grants in which your agency is participating in your application and describe how they would be connected to this pilot.
Selected sites will be notified in writing by YFTI by April 25, 2025. The projected start date for implementation will be July 1, 2025.

Please contact RCPA Policy Associate Emma Sharp with any questions.

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Tablet on a desk - Newsletter

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 25-021. This communication is to inform entities that the Temple University Harrisburg Certified Investigator Program and the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) have released a new issue of the quarterly newsletter, The CI Program Spotlight. CI Program Spotlight, Volume 2 Issue 1 may be found on MyODP’s CI Program Home page.

Please view the announcement for additional information and details.

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This is a reminder that the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) will be hosting Virtual Office Hour Sessions for Residential Providers on the submission process for Performance-Based Contracting (PBC). There will be no presentation from ODP — please come prepared with your PBC data submission questions.

Sessions will not be recorded, but new and/or common questions and answers will be added to the Frequently Asked Questions.

Audience: One person per Residential Provider. ODP recommends sending the person who is most closely working with the PBC data submission process.

Please register for 1 session only:

Note: If you are experiencing issues accessing the link, try right-clicking the link, selecting “Copy Link,” and pasting the link into your browser. If the problem persists, try a different browser.

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ODP Announcement 25-020 is to inform residential providers that the link to the Performance-Based Contracting (PBC) Data Submission Tool will be available on February 15, 2025. The Residential Services Provider PBC Data Submission Tool is for all providers who did not submit PBC information in August 2024 and will instead be submitting data and documentation during the current review period (February 15, 2025 – March 15, 2025).

The Data Submission Tool is web-based in QuestionPro and was created as a mechanism for providers of Residential Habilitation, Supported Living, and Life Sharing services to submit data and documentation related to their organization’s performance. In addition to this communication, ODP will send a notification with instructions to applicable residential providers via the QA&I listserv with details for completing the PBC Data Submission Tool.

In addition, ODP Announcement 25-019 informs residential providers that the link to the Pay for Performance (P4P) Data Submission Tool will be available on February 15, 2025. The same P4P Data Submission tool will be used for all tier categories. All responses are captured electronically via data input or document upload. Participation in each area is optional; providers may submit data for one, two, all three initiatives, or none.

It is recommended that providers complete the required Performance-Based Contracting (PBC) Data Submission Tool prior to submitting for P4P, as providers will be given the option in the P4P tool to use the same documents submitted for Credentialing (Primary) and Employment from the PBC tool.

The Provider P4P Data Submission Tool is available here. Again, the tool will be available February 15, 2025.

Please direct any questions about this information to the ODP PBC inbox.

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The Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) is supporting a specialized training effort addressing child abuse recognition as well as reporting training for residential facilities through a contract with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance (PFSA). This training is for child residential staff, their related purchasing entities, and local law enforcement agencies.

Register for an upcoming training:

Training Summary:

This training is for providers and other child serving entities. It will cover clarification on what allegations must be reported to ChildLine as suspected child abuse and/or HCSIS as a reportable incident, and further clarifies when an alternative plan of supervision must be put into place. This training also teaches minimal facts interviewing skills to better determine when to make a report and explains how those reports of suspected child abuse are categorized and handled at ChildLine. Lastly, internal follow-up recommendations and communication are discussed. Other entities that interact with these 3800 facilities are also welcome to attend, including OCYF Regional Office Reps, law enforcement, and MCOs.

This training mirrors the information outlined in the OCYF Bulletin # 3800-21-01 issued January 19, 2021, and is meant as additional training (not a replacement for the mandated reporter training).

Please contact RCPA COO and Mental Health Policy Director Jim Sharp or RCPA Policy Associate Emma Sharp with further questions.

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Dear ANCOR Members,

Next week, some Members of Congress will be back in their districts, making it the perfect time to meet with them and urge them to protect Medicaid funding for home and community-based services (HCBS).

The newly released House budget framework calls for 1.5 trillion in cuts over ten years and directs the House committee with jurisdiction over Medicaid to cut at least $880 billion in spending. While the details have not yet been finalized, these reductions would likely result in deep cuts to Medicaid funding. Even if proposals do not specifically target funding for I/DD services, the resulting pressure on state budgets from Medicaid cuts creates an elevated risk of further limits and cuts to services for individuals with I/DD. In-district meetings and site visits are some of the most effective ways to educate lawmakers and their staff on how these cuts would harm people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), providers, and families.

To help you prepare, we’ve put together key advocacy resources, including:

Why Your Action Matters:
Studies show that constituent messages are the most effective way to influence lawmakers. When they see firsthand the impact of Medicaid-funded services in their communities, they are far more likely to protect funding.

Take this opportunity to reach out to your Members of Congress while they’re home next week or check their website for an email list signup to make sure you don’t miss any opportunities to engage while they are home — let’s make sure they understand why Medicaid funding must be protected.

Thank you for your advocacy.

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The Medical Rehabilitation Committee meeting scheduled for March 11, 2025, has been postponed to April 1, 2025, and will be held from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm. Registration details will be sent at the end of February. Members that registered to participate in the March meeting will need to re-register for the April 1 meeting.

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Dehoff.

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