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Physical Disabilities & Aging

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2020

Harrisburg, PA – Today, Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Dennis Davin announced that new funding is available to 60 Pennsylvania counties under the COVID-19 County Relief Block Grant.

“As Pennsylvania continues on its road to recovery after efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, it is critical that we provide any and all assistance to Pennsylvania’s communities and businesses in a widespread and expedient manner,” said Sec. Davin. “This new funding will help Pennsylvania’s counties repair, recover, and reimagine the future that is waiting post-COVID-19.”

Guidelines, applications, and eligible counties can be found here.

Under the program, $625 million was made available to Pennsylvania counties in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding in the form of block grants administered by DCED. This funding may be used to offset the cost of direct county COVID-19 response, assist municipalities with COVID-19 response and planning efforts, fund nonprofit assistance programs, and deploy broadband to unserved or underserved areas.

Eligible expenditures must have been incurred between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020. Formula-driven funding will be made available to the 60 counties that did not previously receive direct assistance via the CARES Act, with a minimum allocation of $1 million. The counties that have already received direct assistance are Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Montgomery and Philadelphia.

Applications must be received by June 16, 2020. All applications for the County COVID-19 County Relief Block Grant must be completed and submitted online using DCED’s Single Application at dced.pa.gov or www.esa.dced.state.pa.us. Paper applications will not be accepted.

Applicants should carefully follow instructions outlined in the online Single Application and provide requested information. Questions can be directed to DCED Customer Service at 1-800-379-7448 or [email protected].

The CARES Act was passed by Congress and signed into law on March 27, 2020.  The $2 trillion economic relief package aims to protect the American people from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19. The CARES Act provides economic assistance for local governments and American workers, families, and small businesses.

For the most up-to-date information on COVID-19, Pennsylvanians should follow https://www.pa.gov/guides/responding-to-covid-19/.

MEDIA CONTACT: Casey Smith, [email protected]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2020

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Aging today released a survey for the general public and community stakeholders to provide input on the department’s strategies and priorities as part of the process of completing a State Plan on Aging for 2020–2024.

The brief survey asks respondents to prioritize services and quality-of-life issues that are most meaningful to them in ensuring age-friendly communities across the commonwealth over the next four years. Adults aged 60 and over are strongly encouraged to take the survey. It is available in English and Spanish on the Department of Aging’s website now through June 21 and can be completed on a computer, tablet, or smart phone.

Anyone who may not have internet access and is interested in taking the survey can call the department at 717-783-1550. The individual should leave their contact information and indicate they want to participate in the ‘State Plan on Aging Community Survey.’ A department staff member will call them to complete the five-minute survey over the phone.

“The survey is user friendly and the Department of Aging hopes to have community members, consumers of services, caregivers, and advocates give us their input. We truly value the feedback that we receive in order to craft a plan that continues to prioritize the needs and services of older Pennsylvanians now and in the future,” said Secretary Robert Torres.

The State Plan on Aging is designed to help Pennsylvania meet the objectives of the Older Americans Act and will be submitted to the Administration for Community Living (ACL) containing a vision and direction for Pennsylvania’s network of aging services. The Department of Aging is required to submit a plan every four years, with the next plan due by Oct. 1, 2020.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jack Eilber: 717-214-7510 or [email protected].

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VIEW FULL PRESS RELEASE

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced additional distributions from the Provider Relief Fund to eligible Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) providers that participate in state Medicaid and CHIP programs. HHS expects to distribute approximately $15 billion to eligible providers that participate in state Medicaid and CHIP programs and have not received a payment from the Provider Relief Fund General Distribution. HHS also announced the distribution of $10 billion in Provider Relief Funds to safety net hospitals that serve our most vulnerable citizens. The safety net distribution will occur this week. For further information on provider eligibility and FAQs, please see the HHS website.

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Good Morning,

Here at the National Council we work to support the behavioral health community through advocacy, information exchange, resource development and even the acquisition of material goods for those in need.

If you need medical face masks, we still have a limited supply available for purchase. These masks come in batches of 200 and are being sold “at cost,” with shipping charges included. Secure your order today!

We expect these to ship within three working days of receiving your order. All masks will be shipped via UPS ground.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected] and we will be happy to help.

Thank you,

The National Council for Behavioral Health

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On June 3, 2020, Governor Tom Wolf renewed the 90-day disaster declaration that he originally signed on March 6, 2020. The Proclamation to extend the Disaster Declaration can be found here.

This renewal will, for the duration of the extended disaster declaration, extend the approval of telehealth as a means of service delivery. This is in conjunction with the original memorandum from DHS and OMHSAS, “Telehealth Guidelines Related to COVID-19 (Updated),” published on May 5, 2020. See the May 5 OMHSAS Telehealth Memorandum.

The continued use and approval of telehealth services has been reviewed and confirm with OMHSAS. If you have additional questions or feedback, please contact your RCPA Policy Division Director.

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Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a guide for health systems and patients as they consider their in-person care options while COVID-19 cases decline. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, many health care systems and patients postponed non-emergency, in-person care in order to keep patients and providers safe and to ensure capacity to care for the COVID-19 patients. As the cases of COVID-19 decline, CMS is providing these recommendations to ensure that non-emergency health care resumes safely and that patients receive in-person treatment that may have been postponed. On April 19, 2020, CMS issued Phase 1 recommendations to safely resume in-person care in areas with low incidence of COVID-19 cases. As with these Phase 1 recommendations, decisions to reopen should be consistent with federal, state, and local orders, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, and in collaboration with state and local public health authorities.

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The RCPA Member Telehealth Survey elicited responses from more than 300 respondents, representing nearly half of the RCPA member agencies. The data we collected provided an insightful overview of member implementation of telehealth as well as the impacts it had on practitioners and clients.

Your responses, feedback, and ongoing dialogue provided a foundation to a set of recommendations that will be shared with our stakeholder community in efforts to create a viable a platform for the expansion and sustained platform for telehealth.

RCPA thanks the members for their participation in the survey and your ongoing efforts to service those in need. View the RCPA Telehealth Survey Overview. If you have any questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.

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