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The Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has announced a funding opportunity under an approved Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) spending plan that will provide American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to HCBS providers. The purpose of the funding is for the implementation of quality improvement (QI) projects to improve the services available to HCBS participants through the Community HealthChoices (CHC) and OBRA 1915(c) waivers. This opportunity focuses on supplementing activities in a manner that improves and strengthens the quality of HCBS services. The use of the ARPA funding, however, is limited to those activities that supplement rather than supplant the existing services.
DHS will provide funding of up to $40,000 per approved request submission and approve funding on a one-time basis to each qualified provider. DHS will review and approve submissions in the order in which they are received until the total funding allocated has been exhausted. Members are encouraged to submit their requests as soon as possible.
Funding will only be provided for the following improvement projects:
Additional information, including the HCBS Quality Incentive Funding Request Form, is available on the DHS Long-Term Care Providers web page. Questions should be sent via email to OLTL.
ODP Announcement 22-042 shares the News Alert for providers to assist in managing and developing infection control strategies, including COVID-19. The News Alert from the Infection Prevention Specialist Partnership With Health Care Quality Units has been released with information regarding sites performing COVID testing, up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine booster dose recommendations, and the Powassan Virus (POW).
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has received funding through a Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) appropriation under the 2019 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) — Enhanced Detection Expansion (EDE) Grant. This grant funding is being used to build capacity and provide additional support for infection prevention and control through the Health Care Quality Units (HCQUs) in partnership with a team of infection prevention specialists from Infectious Disease (ID) Connect. This project will run through June 2023.
ODP Announcement 22-043 provides information regarding the part of the Office of Developmental Programs’ (ODP) ARPA plan wherein providers can receive a one-time supplemental payment for technology-related activities that strengthen and enhance home and community-based services (HCBS). The following activities would be supported by this initiative:
This initiative is designed to enhance HCBS by:
Supports Coordination Organizations: As part of the ODP ARPA plan, SCOs can receive a one-time supplemental payment for technology-related activities that enhance HCBS by:
This announcement includes the Application for Providers and Application for Supports Coordination Organizations.