ODP ISAC Meeting Information Released
ISAC
ODP Releases 2022-2023 Employment First Report
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has announced the release of the 2022-23 Employment First report. ODP believes that all people with an intellectual disability and/or autism must be encouraged to pursue their vision for an everyday life, which may include working in competitive integrated employment. Competitive integrated employment offers a person an opportunity to achieve economic independence, build self-confidence, enhance self-determination, and meet new people while building new skills. The Everyday Lives: Values in Action publication, developed by the ODP Information Sharing and Advisory Committee (ISAC) which includes self-advocates, reads, “Employment is a centerpiece of adulthood and must be available for every person. The benefits of employment for people with disabilities are significant and are the same as for people without disabilities.” This report serves as an update to all stakeholders on the progress that has been made to support individuals served by ODP on finding and maintaining competitive integrated employment.
Access the 2022-23 Employment First report here. This document can also be found by visiting the MyODP Employment Home page.
UPDATE: ISAC Meeting Held August 27, 2024
The Information Sharing and Advisory Committee (ISAC) met today and discussed several items of interest. Deputy Secretary Ahrens provided an update on the budget and Performance-Based Contracting, including changes made to the program based on public comment. The Deputy Secretary reported that more than 95% of current residential providers have signed a new contract, and a small number have submitted their data to be evaluated for a tier assignment in the first submission period. The majority of providers appear to be waiting until February 2025 to submit data for tier assignments.
UPDATE: The PowerPoint presentation is now available and can be viewed here.
ODP is still in the procurement process of finding a Performance Analysis Service (PAS) provider. Madeline Wagner has joined the ODP staff as the PBC Measure Coordinator and began in July. The Supports Coordinator Strategic Thinking Group is planning to reconvene on September 11, 2024.
ODP staff provided updates on the strategies that are being utilized to work toward ISAC recommendations. Recommendation #2, Promote Self-Direction, Choice & Control, and Recommendation #14, Racial Equity were reviewed.
Recommendation #1, Assure Effective Communication, and also Recommendation #8, Simplify the System, were also discussed.
ISAC Performance Review Subcommittee and ODP Updates
Today, both the ISAC Performance Review Subcommittee and the Medical Assistance Advisory Committee (MAAC) meetings were held. During these meetings, the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) announced that as a result of public comments received regarding Performance-Based Contracting, some adjustments are being made to the plans. Tomorrow, ODP will release an announcement with more details, but for now, we know the following:
- Residential providers will be offered a choice of when they are assigned into a tier. This will be based on which data they chose for ODP to review and make a tier determination upon. The choices will be:
- Calendar year 2023 data reviewed with notification of tier assignment occurring in November, to be effective January 1, 2025 – June 2026; or
- Review of Calendar year 2024 data with notification of tier assignment occurring in May, to be effective July 2025 – July 2026.
ODP plans to submit the proposed waiver to CMS on July 19, 2024.
In addition, the presentation from the MAAC meeting can be found here.
Documents from the Performance Review Subcommittee can be found below:
ODP Shares 2024 ISAC Recommendations for New and Updated Strategies
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 24-060. This announcement informs ODP stakeholders that the 2024 Everyday Lives: Values in Action — Information Sharing and Advisory Committee (ISAC) Recommendations & Strategies document, with new and updated strategies, is now available on the MyODP website. View the announcement for details.
ISAC June Meeting Information and Materials Now Available
The Information Sharing and Advisory Committee (ISAC) met today, June 11, 2024. Deputy Secretary Ahrens presented an update regarding Performance-Based Contracting. The office received comments from approximately 100 commentators, resulting in over 700 separate comments regarding the proposed Selective Contracting Waiver.
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has released several tools for providers to utilize and has scheduled four summits to delve deeper into the specifics for the performance measures. Providers who do not meet all standards for the Primary category but are not in the conditional status will be placed in the Primary category with a corrective action plan required. Residential provider agreements will not need to be returned to ODP until the end of July, rather than June, as previously stated.
There are several federal rules that have been finalized recently, and Deputy Secretary Ahrens gave an overview of these.
Candi Walton reported on Recommendation #4: Support Families Throughout the Lifespan.
StationMD presented an overview of their services. Geoff Musti can be reached via email for more information.
Lauren House presented information on Recommendation #10: Expanding Housing Options and the ODP Housing Pilot Update.
Dr. Greg Cherpes provided an update on Recommendation #5: Promote Health, Wellness, and Safety & Recommendation, and Recommendation #6: Support People with Complex Need. Note that both recommendations are included in the same document.
For any questions, contact Carol Ferenz.
ISAC Information and April Meeting Materials Now Available
The Information Sharing and Advisory (ISAC) Committee for the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) met on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Deputy Secretary Ahrens gave an update and reminded members that on Friday, April 19, 2024, ODP published two very important announcements:
- ODP Announcement 24-038: Open for Public Comment: Proposed Waiver Amendments and Rates for Services Funded Through the Adult Autism Waiver (AAW); and
- ODP Announcement 24-039: Open for Public Comment: Proposed Implementation of Performance-Based Contracting for Residential Services, Waiver Amendments to the Consolidated, Community Living, and Person/Family Directed Waivers, and Rates.
Public comments are due June 4, 2024, for both of these announcements.
The proposed rates will be dependent on the governor’s budget passing with the proposed increases for ODP services remaining intact. Deputy Secretary Ahrens urged all stakeholders to advocate with legislators to keep this funding in the budget. Governor Shapiro has been visiting programs and sharing publicity about the importance of these services.
The Deputy Secretary also reviewed the current plans for Performance-Based Contracting for Residential Services with ISAC members. ODP has shared provider preparedness tools with the Residential Strategic Thinking Group for their feedback before publishing the provider preparedness tools and holding provider forums to support providers as they get ready for PBC implementation.
Provider preparedness tools include a Residential Provider Performance-Based Contracting Preparedness Assessment, which comes with a template to support providers developing plans to improve performance on the standards ahead of implementation in January 2025.
Once comments are reviewed and analyzed and any revisions made, the waiver application and amendments will be submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for review, and negotiations implementation target date is January 1, 2025.
RCPA is holding a meeting with our members to develop comments for submission to ODP on Thursday, May 9, 2024, from 9:30 am – 12:00 pm. We ask that you register for this meeting here in order to share your thoughts and help us as we develop our response.
For any questions, please contact Carol Ferenz.
ISAC Annual Report for 2023 Now Published
Members of the Information Sharing and Advisory Committee (ISAC), working with the PA Office of Developmental Programs (ODP), developed a series of recommendations and strategies to support achievement of the vision in Everyday Lives. This publication provides 2023 updates related to those recommendations and strategies. Stakeholders are encouraged to use the information contained in this report in their work supporting people with disabilities.
- Access the 2023 ISAC Annual Report here.
- Access the ISAC Recommendations and Strategies supplemental document from inside the ISAC Annual Report or by visiting here.
Both documents can also be found by visiting MyODP and following this path: Everyday Lives > Everyday Lives Publications > Recommendations, Strategies, and Performance Measures.
ISAC Meeting Updates and Materials From Dec. 12 Meeting Now Available
ID/A Coalition Requests Additional SIS Information
