ODP Announces Program Closures and March 17 Webinar
Today Governor Wolf announced mitigation strategies to stop the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), which include the statewide closures of day program facilities including Older Adult Day facilities licensed under 6 Pa. Code Chapter 11, Adult Training Facilities licensed under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 2380, and Prevocational Facilities licensed under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 2390. Closures are effective Tuesday, March 17, 2020 and are in effect until further notice. ODP Announcement 20-022 provides further guidance regarding these closures and policy adaptations effective March 17, 2020.
Webinar – COVID-19: Update for CPS Providers, a webinar outlining the impact of COVID-19 on CPS Providers – will be presented by Deputy Secretary Ahrens tomorrow (March 17, 2020) at 1:30 pm and will be posted on the ODP Coronavirus (COVID-19) website within 3 hours. Use this registration link.
Facility-based Community Participation Support (CPS) providers are being asked to communicate with individuals, families, Supports Coordinators, and other providers to help ensure coordination of care.
ODP advises CPS providers of the following:
- During the response to COVID-19, CPS may be provided in private homes.
- ODP requests that providers arrange for in-home or alternate provision of the day service by facility staff when a service recipient’s family or caregiver is employed in essential roles like health care, first responders, or human services, and are reliant on the Community Participation Support day program for coverage during work.
For CPS providers who have residential, companion, or in-home support service offerings, prepare to redeploy staff from facilities to fill other essential staffing needs. Direct Support Professionals qualified under CPS may provide services in any other ODP service offering during the response to COVID-19. All staff must receive training on any participants’ ISPs for whom they are providing support. Training on the ISP must consist of basic health and safety support needs for that individual, including but not limited to the “Fatal Four.”
- ODP encourages providers that only offer CPS to contact other provider agencies in your local area and develop cooperative arrangements to supply staff to support participants in other service areas like residential, companion, or in-home support.
- For non-facility based CPS providers, please prepare to redeploy CPS staff to support essential supports for health and safety within your own agency or through cooperative agreements with other provider agencies.
- ODP is working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to allow “retainer payments” to be made to CPS providers. Additional guidance will be provided.
- On-call and Remote Support services can be used to promote health and safety of CPS service recipients, when at home and not receiving another service. CPS providers should work with ISP Teams to coordinate details. Additional guidance will be provided.
- Closures of facilities covered under this guidance do not need to be reported through the Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) system.
See the list of Chapter 2380 and 2390 providers affected by county.
