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Tags Posts tagged with "odp announcement"

odp announcement

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ODP Announcement 22-112 informs all interested parties that on October 31, 2022, the Department submitted Pennsylvania’s Statewide Transition Plan to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS is responsible for reviewing the Statewide Transition Plan to ensure all federal regulatory requirements are met. During the review process, CMS may request that technical changes be made to the plan. When this occurs, CMS usually includes a summary of changes made with the final approval letter. The Department will notify all interested stakeholders when CMS has given its approval and will make the approved version available at that time.

The Statewide Transition Plan may be viewed here. Questions about the Statewide Transition Plan or this communication should be sent electronically.

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ODP Announcement 22-111 reminds providers that any regulation that requires completion of 24 hours of training related to job skills and knowledge each year, as well as any regulations that require the provision of training that encompasses the six areas required by regulation, are in full effect. Providers must comply with these requirements.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) recognizes that providers may still be struggling to meet the 24-hour training requirements due to the prevalence of infectious or communicable diseases and continued workforce insufficiency; as such, the following guidance will be applied for training years that end in calendar year 2023:

  • Any training provided that is specific to the mitigation of risk related to infectious and communicable disease may be counted towards the 24-hour training requirements required by regulation. Such training includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
    • Social distancing;
    • Personal protective equipment use (donning, doffing, fit testing);
    • Contact tracing and notifications;
    • Mask, face covering, or face shield use;
    • Cleaning and disinfection practices;
    • Screening for signs and symptoms of infectious disease;
    • Reporting procedures related to signs and symptoms of infectious disease;
    • Notification processes due to infectious reportable infectious disease;
    • Characteristics and methods of transmission of infectious disease;
    • COVID-19 transmission risk by pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals;
    • Safe and healthy work practices and infection control measures;
    • Supporting individuals to engage in mask wearing, social distancing, etc.;
    • Vaccine safety, efficacy, and access;
    • Set up and use of technology in providing remote service delivery or supporting individuals to connect with friends and family;
    • Remote monitoring;
    • Use of the Supports Coordinator Check-In for Well-Being Tool;
    • Engaging in meaningful conversations during check-ins;
    • SC Individual transition guide;
    • Transition discussion and resources video; and
    • Reviewing Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and state or local guidelines and trends.
  • Any component of a department-approved Medication Administration Course.

Licensed Providers may self-assess regulatory compliance using ODP’s Inspection Scoresheets or Provider Self-Assessment Forms. If a provider identifies areas of noncompliance while completing a self-assessment, provided those noncompliance areas have been corrected, licensing staff will not identify those areas as noncompliant. Violations identified and subsequently corrected through the self-assessment process will not be cited on a Licensing Inspection Summary.

Please contact the appropriate ODP Regional Program Office or the Department’s Regulatory Administration Unit with any questions about this guidance.

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ODP Announcement 22-108 has been issued to announce that the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is adding a new provider qualification to the Consolidated, Community Living, and Adult Autism Waivers for residential services. All provider staff who will spend any time alone with a participant during the provision of residential services must complete a “Department approved training on the common health conditions that may be associated with preventable deaths in people with an intellectual or developmental disability.”

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) anticipates that the new qualification requirement will become effective between mid-October and late December of 2022 based on feedback from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This guidance is being released prior to CMS approval of the Consolidated and Community Living waiver renewals and the Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) amendment to give providers sufficient time to implement this new requirement.

This applies to provider staff that are direct employees of an agency, contracted employees of an agency, or volunteers. A list of Department approved trainings to meet this requirement is available here.

This page lists each organization with currently approved training(s). The approved training(s) that must be completed for the organization are listed next to the “details” bullet underneath the organization. To meet the qualification requirement, staff are required to complete approved training(s) through one of the organizations listed. Provider staff hired before the effective date of the waiver changes must complete the required training no later than three months after the effective date of the waiver changes. Provider staff hired on or after the effective date of the waiver changes must complete the required training before working alone with an individual. For purposes of this requirement, a provider staff is “working alone” when they are not in the line of sight of other persons who have received Department-approved training.

For current providers, AEs or ODP (for the AAW) will verify that residential services staff received the required training the next time the provider goes through the requalification process.

Questions relating to this announcement may be directed to the ODP Provider Qualification Unit for Consolidated and Community Living Waiver providers. Adult Autism Waiver providers should send questions to BSASP Provider Enrollment.

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has extended the deadline for providers and Supports Coordination Organizations (SCO) to utilize the one-time funds made available through ARPA. This had been discussed at RCPA’s recent IDD Committee meeting, and Deputy Secretary Ahrens appreciated the feedback. The deadline to spend the funds has been moved to March 31, 2025.

Please see ODP Announcement 22-107 for details.

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Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

ODP Announcement 22-104 is to inform all interested parties that Trainers are now able to administer new classes and students are able to register in the new Medication Administration platform. This announcement contains instructions for requesting a student class, viewing the gradebook, the structure of the student courses, marking manual grades, and accessing the Acknowledgement of Qualification.

A link to the recording and PDF for the Medication Administration Student Course Overview for Trainers webinar, which was held on September 8, 2022, from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, is included.

The new Medication Administration platform is now available here.

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Image by Katja Fuhlert from Pixabay

ODP Announcement 22-105 provides the most recent update to recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) about details for COVID-19 vaccine and boosters. Release of this announcement will obsolete “ODPANN 22-046: COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Reminder.”

This updated guidance includes information on newly available booster vaccines, which are referred to as bivalent or updated vaccines. The guidance also discusses the availability of a newer primary vaccine called the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC has updated information regarding the vaccination schedule for individuals based on age and provides considerations based on additional factors. Full information is available at the CDC’s Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines Currently Approved or Authorized in the United States.

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ODP Announcement 22-106 states that the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) contracts with Temple University Harrisburg to deliver the ODP Certified Investigator Program and that ODP and Temple University are conducting Certified Investigator Friday Forums. These forums are an opportunity for current Certified Investigators and other interested parties to receive up-to-date information about the incident investigation process.

The next session date and time is Friday October 7, 2022, at 10:00 am – 11:30 am. The topic being covered is the Certified Investigator Report (CIR).

Please submit questions to Amanda Black by close of business Friday, September 30, 2022.

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ODP Announcement 22-103 serves to inform Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) providers that there are specific regulations regarding restrictive procedures that must be followed. The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has been made aware that some AAW providers are implementing restrictive procedure plans for individuals being served in AAW without a corresponding BSP documented in the ISP in HCSIS. This practice is not allowed.

A restrictive procedure must always be part of the behavioral support component of the ISP as required by the AAW. In the AAW, the BSP is included in the ISP in HCSIS. The Desired Behavioral Outcomes (DBOs) of the BSP must be consistent with the Behavior Support Specialist service goals and objectives.

There must be an active Behavior Support Specialist goal for each DBO, and each Behavior Support Specialist goal must have a DBO. Additionally, every Behavior Support Specialist goal must have a corresponding Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) chart and be reported on at least quarterly in a Quarterly Progress Note (QPN).

To have a restrictive procedure plan in place for an AAW participant, the Behavior Support Specialist service must be in the ISP Service Details so that a BS qualified to provide services in the AAW can develop, implement, and train staff on the participant’s BSP and CIP with the goal of fading all restrictive procedures over time.

In the AAW, the Behavioral Specialist Service (BSS) is not bundled with the Residential Habilitation service as it is with other ODP waivers. Therefore, to meet the requirements above, AAW participants who are receiving residential habilitation services and have a restrictive procedure plan in place must also have active BSS authorized in their ISP. This ensures an AAW qualified BS is working with the participant when a restrictive procedure plan is in place.

Please refer to Chapter 6100 regulations § 6100.341 – 6100.346, Bulletin 00-21-01 Guidance for Human Rights Teams and Human Rights Committees and Attachment 2 — Individual Plans and Informed Consent for additional information. Any questions should be sent to the AAW Provider Support Inbox.

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Tablet on a desk - Newsletter

ODP Announcement 22-102 announces that the Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS) 90.05 Release Newsletter is available under the HCSIS Communique hyperlink found on the Learning Management System (LMS) located on the HCSIS home page.

Work items to highlight in this release include:

  • Users being able to select the following incident statuses in the Incident Management Review Report: Select All, Open or Closed, Open, Closed, and Deleted;
  • The Incident Detail Screen has been updated to include a font color change to indicate that an incident document is late or has been submitted late;
  • The Created by Date has been replaced with the Submission Date on the workload dashboard; and
  • The Incident Print Summary displays Status, Created Date, Due Date, Submitted Date, and Last Edit Date for all documents contained in the report.

It is important to note that the Due Date and Time is only displayed for the First Section document. For all other documents, the system only displays the Due Date. The number of report extensions filed for the Final Section is under the Incident Final Section document information.

Please review the HCSIS Release 90.05 Newsletter as part of this Announcement and also located on the secure LMS Home and Community website for more information. If you do not have an LMS Login ID and Password, contact your Business Partner Administrator (also known as your “BP Admin”).

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ODP Announcement 22-100 is to announce the release of the Home and Community-Based Services Rule and Pennsylvania’s Statewide Transition plan webcast. The recording of this presentation is now available.

Pennsylvania’s Final Statewide Transition Plan and information about how to provide public comment, including during webinars specific to the Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Office of Developmental Programs, and Office of Long-Term Living, are available at the DHS website.

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