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ODP

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ODP Announcement 22-061 is to announce that the amendments to the Consolidated, Community Living, and P/FDS waivers (hereafter referred to as the Intellectual Disability and Autism (ID/A) waivers) were approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) effective June 1, 2022.

The ID/A waiver amendments were submitted to CMS on January 3, 2022. Since that time, the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has been engaged in ongoing discussions with CMS. Substantive changes were approved as follows:

  • Eligibility was expanded to include children with a developmental disability due to a medically complex condition. The Family Medical Support Assistance service was added to support the complex medical needs of these children. Provider qualification criteria were enhanced to ensure providers have the needed structure to support these children.
  • Delivery of services while the participant is hospitalized is currently allowed through Appendix K flexibilities. Guidance regarding delivery of services while the participant is hospitalized is contained in the Operational Guide. This guidance should continue to be followed until otherwise notified.
  • Homemaker services include infection control measures and intensive cleaning, such as cleaning medical equipment and disinfecting the home.
  • Home accessibility adaptations support individuals to transition from an institutional setting to a private home (including a Life Sharing home) and clarify covered home accessibility adaptations due to changes in Medical Assistance.
  • Transition to Independent Living payments were added to the Consolidated Waiver to support participants to transition from residential habilitation homes to Life Sharing or Support Living.
  • Changes were made to residential qualification requirements to ensure that all residential providers are adequately prepared prior to delivering a service and prior to the provider going through ODP’s qualification process.

The following rates, as communicated in ODP Announcement 22-051, are also effective June 1, 2022, when authorized on an Individual Support Plan:

  • Family Medical Support Assistance services;
  • Medically Complex Life Sharing services in the Consolidated Waiver; and
  • Transition to Independent Living payments in the Consolidated Waiver. Each full waiver application approved by CMS and the record of change document are available here.

ODP will be scheduling webinars soon to discuss the changes made in these approved amendments, as well as changes made to the July 2022 waiver renewals once they are approved by CMS. ODP will release a communication announcing the webinars when the waiver renewals are approved. Questions about this communication should be directed to the appropriate Office of Developmental Programs Regional Office.

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ODP Announcement 22-060 provides a News Alert from the Infection Prevention Specialist Partnership with Health Care Quality Units with information regarding performing COVID testing, treatment, and up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine booster dose recommendations.

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.

A separate informational News Alert regarding Monkeypox is also available.

Monkeypox facts:

  • It is a rare disease caused by the monkeypox virus belonging to the Orthopoxvirus genus.
  • It was first discovered in 1958.
  • The majority of the infections are in Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • Cases outside of Africa are linked to international travel or imported animals.
  • Rodents and non-human primates harbor the virus.
  • 19 cases have been confirmed since 6/1/22.
  • It is unclear how cases were exposed, but early data suggests that gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men make up a high number of cases.
  • But, this does NOT mean that it is a sexually transmitted disease approved vaccine in this group.

For more information, please contact your regional HCQU contacts are listed in the ODP Announcement.

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ODP Bulletin 00-22-02, effective June 2, 2022, is to establish the process for requesting a waiver of a regulatory requirement. This bulletin applies to entities seeking to be licensed or are currently licensed under one or more of the following chapters:

  • 55 Pa. Code Chapter 2380 (relating to Adult Training Facilities);
  • 55 Pa. Code Chapter 2390 (relating to Vocational Facilities);
  • 55 Pa. Code Chapter 6400 (relating to Community Homes for Individuals with an Intellectual Disability or Autism);
  • 55 Pa. Code Chapter 6500 (relating to Life Sharing Homes); and
  • Providers of home and community-based services (HCBS) for individuals with an intellectual disability or autism subject to 55 Pa. Code Chapter 6100 (relating to Services for Individuals with an Intellectual Disability or Autism).

Licensees and ODP-enrolled providers are expected to comply with all applicable regulations. However, the Department recognizes that there are occasions where compliance with a regulation impedes the licensee’s or ODP-enrolled provider’s ability to provide services to an individual. As a result, the Department permits licensees and ODP-enrolled providers to request that a section, subsection, paragraph, or subparagraph of a regulation not apply when it is in the best interest of an individual or group of individuals who receive services from the licensee or ODP enrolled provider.

Not all regulations can be waived. Section 6100.43(a) prohibits waivers of the following regulations:

  • Sections 6100.1–6100.3 (relating to General Provisions);
  • Sections 6100.41–6100.56 (relating to General Requirements);
  • Sections 6100.181–6100.186 (relating to Individual Rights); and
  • Sections 6100.341–6100.350 (relating to Restrictive Procedures).

Additionally, section 6500.12(7) prohibits waivers of sections 6500.1–6500.4 (relating to General Provisions). While Chapters 2380, 2390, and 6400 do not address waivers of regulation, waivers for these chapters are at the discretion of the Department and can be requested pursuant to 1 Pa. Code section 35.18.

Providers should utilize the Office of Developmental Programs’ form “Request for Regulatory Waiver.”

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ODP Announcement 22-059 informs readers that the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is pleased to announce that an amendment to the AAW was submitted to CMS on May 9, 2022. The submitted AAW includes modifications that were made as a result of public comment. The AAW amendment includes the following substantive changes:

  • Adding reserved waiver capacity for individuals who are discharged from a state center. Reserved waiver capacity is also being added for participants who have been incarcerated for more than six consecutive months;
  • Aligning provider qualifications in the AAW with the Consolidated, Community Living, and Person/Family Directed Support (P/FDS) waivers, whenever possible;
  • Allowing relatives to deliver the Life Sharing component of the Residential Habilitation service;
  • Requiring that agencies that provide Residential Habilitation/Life Sharing must be qualified and enrolled to provide Residential Habilitation/Life Sharing in the Consolidated or Community Living waivers;
  • Increasing the annual fiscal limit in the transportation service to $5,000 per participant’s ISP year;
  • Allowing one of the four required monitoring conducted by the Supports Coordinator each year to be conducted remotely;
  • Adding a new service, Remote Supports; and
  • Delivering direct services using remote technology.

The requirements in the AAW will become effective when Appendix K flexibilities expire, six months after the expiration of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency.

Please note that aligning the Assistive Technology service, where possible, with the Consolidated, Community Living, and P/FDS waivers includes adding generators for the participant’s primary residence.

The full AAW application, as well as a record of substantive changes, is available here.

CMS has 90 days to review the amendment, and changes may occur to the content based upon discussion with CMS during the approval process. The proposed effective date of July 1, 2022, is also subject to change. ODP will inform all stakeholders when CMS has officially approved the AAW and will make the approved waiver available at that time.

Questions about this communication should be directed via email.

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The ODPANN 22-054 Update is to inform all interested parties that important infrastructural changes to the Medication Administration Training Program will now be rescheduled to take place from Friday, July 1 – Sunday, July 31, 2022, which will cause an outage. If you attempt to conduct a class or complete any training on the system during this outage, your work will be lost.

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The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) and the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) are pleased to announce this latest edition of the Positive Approaches Journal titled “Innovation & Best Practices in Supporting Autistic Adults.”

The focus of autism supports has almost exclusively been on children. Articles in this issue of Positive Approaches seeks to shed some light on adults with autism, including:

  • An article on transgender identity and gender dysphoria highlighting ways that adults with autism can be supported and accepted while defining who they are;
  • An article on the Temple University Community Participation Measure and its success in showing areas where adults with autism are spending their time, thereby giving a clearer picture on where supports and services may best be provided;
  • An article on an adult with autism’s journey from work into retirement and how he perceived this milestone;
  • An article discussing Pennsylvania’s continuing development of forward-thinking autism supports and services;
  • An article on the ongoing development and expansion of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Neurodevelopmental Residential Treatment Unit; and
  • An article on the reasoning, development, and success of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) Western Behavioral Health Psychiatric Rehabilitation (PR) program carve-out program to serve autistic adults.

This journal issue focuses on the need to look across the lifespan to better understand the issues adults with autism may face.

Positive Approaches Journal is available for viewing online or for downloading in digital form.

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ODP Announcement 22-058 announces the launch of the Health Risk Screening Tool (HRST) survey to assess interest in linking data systems to the HRST. Please assist the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) in completing this survey, as it will help to determine providers’ level of interest in linking existing data systems to the HRST.

This is an inquiry survey only and is intended to gauge provider interest. The survey should only take a few minutes to complete. Linking existing data would enable select data fields to autofill with data from these data systems on a routine frequency, thus reducing the amount of duplicate data entry.

The criteria for this service are outlined in this survey; please review the criteria carefully. You may need to consult with your IT personnel or your data system representative(s) to help determine if your agency can meet these criteria. This data import option would only be available to providers who meet all of the criteria listed. This survey will remain open for responses until Friday, June 10, 2022.

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