The Office of Development Programs held a webinar to provide an overview of the Adult Autism Waiver Amendment that went into effect January 1, 2023. The session was recorded and will be available for viewing in the near future. Many of the changes will go into effect six months after the Public Health Emergency and Appendix K flexibilities end. The slides from the session provide clarification regarding Remote Supports, Teleservices and Assistive Technology.
ODP
Informal Public Comment Period for Proposed Changes to Regulations and Policies for ICFs
ODP Announcement 22-009 states that, in an effort to implement best practices and streamline requirements and operations between Intermediate Care Facilities (ICF) and Home and Community-Based Setting (HCBS) service providers, the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) intends to align incident management regulations and policies for ICFs with the already-existing regulations and policies for HCBS services.
Specifically, ODP plans to do the following:
- Rescind the class 3 bulletin (statement of policy) that is currently codified at Pa. Code Chapter §§ 6000.901 — 6000.985 (relating to incident management) and issue a new class 3 bulletin that aligns with ODP Bulletin 00-21-02 (Incident Management for HCBS services) to the fullest extent possible.
- Update Code Chapter 6600 to include new sections on definitions, incident management, and individual rights to align with the 55 Pa. Code Chapter 6100 regulations, to the fullest extent possible.
ODP is pleased to announce the release of the draft class 3 bulletin and the proposed 55 Pa. Code Chapter 6600 regulations for review and informal public comment in order to obtain meaningful input from stakeholders early on in the process of changing regulations. After the informal comment period ends, ODP will review and evaluate these comments, incorporating them when practical into the bulletin and regulations. The 30-day informal public comment period begins on February 2, 2022, and ends on March 4, 2022.
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments regarding the draft class 3 bulletin and Pa. Code Chapter 6600 regulations. Written comments should be addressed to Laura Cipriani, Department of Human Services, Office of Developmental Programs, 625 Forster Street, Room 510, Harrisburg, PA 17120. Comments may also be submitted to ODP via email using subject header “ICF Regulations.”
Questions about this communication should be directed to Laura Cipriani.
2023 ODP Supports Broker Recertification Training
ODP Announcement 23-011 states that Support Service Professionals/Supports Brokers who were initially certified two years prior to the effective date of this waiver must complete the Supports Broker Certification program on or before the end of the third-year anniversary of the initial certification. Supports Brokers who were initially certified three or more years prior to the effective date of this waiver must complete the Supports Broker Certification program on or before July 1, 2023.
The Temple University Institute on Disabilities will offer six one-day virtual recertification training sessions. Dates are listed in the announcement.
Please contact the Participant Directed Services (PDS) Regional Lead in your area if you have questions.
Registration Now Open for March CI Forum
ODP Announcement 23-010 is to communicate that the Temple University Harrisburg Certified Investigator Program and the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) will be facilitating Forums for Certified Investigators (CIs) and others involved in the incident investigation process as well as to announce the posting of Q&A documents from past CI Forums on MyODP.
Please submit questions related to the Investigatory Plan that you would like answered during the forum to Amanda Black by close of business Friday, March 3, 2023. The next session date and time is Friday, March 10, 2023, at 10:00 am – 11:30 am. The topic of discussion will be “Investigative Planning.” Registration for March 10, 2023, is open.
For any questions regarding registration for the CI Forums, please contact Amanda Black.
Update to ODP Provider Qualification Required Training
ODP Announcement 22-108 serves as an update to “Required Provider Qualification (PQ) Training on Common Health Conditions That May Be Associated with Preventable Deaths.” ODP added 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.” 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 at MyODP. 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 organization listed.
ODP will now allow Fatal Five trainings developed by residential provider agencies to be used if the training has been reviewed and approved by their regional Health Care Quality Unit (HCQU). To ensure content is clear, comprehensive, and adequately covers each condition, the HCQU Registered Nurse (RN) for that specific provider agency will review the training according to the guidelines provided by ODP.
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 here.
Staffing Crisis Hits Organizations Caring for People With Intellectual Disabilities in Chester County
ODP and OVR Launch Survey for Providers of Employment Services
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) invite provider agencies enrolled to deliver the following services to complete a survey on employment services:
- Supported Employment;
- Advanced Supported Employment/Customized Employment; and/or
- Pre-Employment Transition Services.
Information gathered from the survey on staffing, training, service options, and coordination may influence the provision of employment services funded by ODP and/or OVR for people with disabilities.
This approximately 10 minute survey is voluntary. Responses may be submitted anonymously. The survey should be completed by provider staff responsible for hiring, training, and programmatic decision-making.
This survey will remain open until close of business February 10, 2023. You can complete the survey here.
MyODP Redesigned Navigation Now Live
ODP Announcement 23-009 shares that MyODP’s redesigned navigation structure is now live. Resource pages now reside on MyODP’s home page without the need for a login. MyODP will continue to host all Trainings and role-specific resources that require login.
The website will now be the primary site to access ODP-related resources. Many resource pages that were on MyODP have been consolidated for simpler navigation on the home page and are accessible without the need for login. The home page will also be the main point of access for Everyday Lives content, news, and communications. The home page search bar will search materials on MyODP, ASERT, and AIDinPA.
If you have bookmarks to any resource pages, they will remain accessible until February 28, 2023. Please change your bookmarks to the new resource pages before this date.
Along with this announcement is a Navigation Guide. Please submit feedback through the following MyODP New Navigation Feedback Form.
ODP Behavior Specialist Supervisors Roundtable Request
Based on feedback that the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has received, it has been determined that there is a need for people who are providing Behavioral Support to gather and discuss the service requirements and ODP’s Best Practice Standards, share resources, and develop a network of those providing this critical service.
In 2022, ODP provided this opportunity to Behavioral Specialist Supervisors in their first two cohorts of the Behavioral Support Roundtables. They are looking for more supervisors to participate in the third cohort. If you are willing to be a part of this cohort, they ask that you commit to:
a) Joining ODP virtually for three-hour roundtables once per month for three months (you must be able to attend all 3 sessions in their entirety):
- February 22 — 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
- March 29 — 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
- April 26 — 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
b) Participating during the roundtable with your camera on — ready to share and engage.
If you are interested in participating in this cohort or think you would be interested in future cohorts, please fill out this survey by February 10. ODP will accept providers into the third cohort on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Please know that if you are unable to participate in the above dates or if ODP has closed registration, there will be additional opportunities to join — ODP intends to host cohorts on an ongoing, quarterly basis. Once they have finalized the BSS Roundtable Cohort, they will follow up with additional instructions and information.
Please note that ODP is only able to accept one Behavioral Specialist Supervisor per provider agency. If your organization has multiple supervisors, please choose just one to participate.
EIM System Enhancements and Upcoming Training Opportunities
ODP Announcement 23-007 is to inform Providers, Supports Coordinator Organizations (SCOs), and County/Administrative Entities (AEs) that report or manage incidents in the EIM system, including those who are designated as Incident Management Representatives, that enhancements have been made to the EIM system.
On Saturday, January 14, 2023, the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) released enhancements within the EIM system. With this release, EIM users will benefit from updates that have been made to the system related to medication errors. To facilitate medication error trending and oversight, updates were made to the Medication Error Incident Report and a medication error visual analytic dashboard was created. In addition, a new EIM Medication Error canned report was created to facilitate the use of the Medication Error Dashboard and the analysis of medication errors.
For more specific information related the changes, please reference the HCSIS Release 90.10 Newsletter, pages 25-31.
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