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Tags Posts tagged with "pa department of human services"

pa department of human services

The Department of Human Services (DHS) proposes to add Chapters 1155 and 5240 relating to IBHS to Title 55 of the Pennsylvania Code. The proposed rulemaking is published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on August 4, 2018 and can be accessed here.

Written comments, suggestions, or objections regarding this proposed rulemaking may be submitted to the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) at the following address:

Attention: Tara Pride, Bureau of Policy, Planning and Program Development, Commonwealth Towers, 11th Floor, PO Box 2675, 303 Walnut Street, Harrisburg, PA 17105 or by email during the 30-day public comment period, which closes September 4, 2018.

The next RCPA BHRS/IBHS work group will be held on Wednesday, August 15. The work group will compile comments from discussions held over the past year and those offered by the members of the group. We are asking providers who choose to send comments into OMHSAS directly to also send a copy of your comments to Robena Spangler. This is our long-awaited opportunity to provide input into the regulations; we hope that all BHRS providers and ABA professionals are engaged. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the email address above.

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As a result of the many Community HealthChoices (CHC) stakeholder events, the Department of Human Services (DHS) has added frequently asked questions (FAQ) documents to the CHC website for providers and participants.

To assist stakeholders in finding answers to questions more quickly, DHS recently consolidated all FAQs into a single CHC Questions and Answers document. This new document is in a searchable pdf format and contains a table of contents that allows the user to easily move to different sections within the document.

For more information, visit the DHS CHC web page.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) has announced that effective July 1, 2018, the cost of child abuse clearances will increase from $8 to $13. Child abuse clearance fees for volunteers will continue to be waived one time within a five-year period.

The legislative passage of Act 40 of 2017 included the increase to assist in covering actual costs for processing child abuse clearances, after the previously amended Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) expanded who is required to receive clearances, and instituted a five-year renewal cycle. Beginning in December 2014, individuals who required clearances expanded to include: volunteers, youth camp employees, coaches, youth mentors, Boy Scout and Girl Scout leaders, work study programs, internships, family-living home employees, and community-home employees for individuals with disabilities.

In 2014 and 2015, legislation was passed amending the CPSL. These amendments expanded clearance and background check requirements for individuals working or volunteering with children. In 2016, DHS received 951,414 child abuse clearance applications and identified 2,272 substantiated or alleged perpetrators of child abuse.

For more information on clearance and background check requirements as required by the CPSL, please visit this website.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) is seeking comments on a draft bulletin regarding Consent to Mental Health Treatment for Minor Children. Please submit any comments you have on this draft bulletin via email no later than the close of business on Thursday, June 7, 2018. Should you decide to submit comments, please feel free to copy Robena Spangler, RCPA Children’s Division Director. Thank you for your interest and participation.

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The Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has updated the list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) related to Community HealthChoices (CHC). Many of the FAQs have been generated through their Third Thursday CHC webinars, as well as questions received at the Southwest Participant Education meetings. The FAQs are separated by Provider FAQs and Participant FAQs.

The Department of Human Services has been working in collaboration with Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), county oversight organizations, and RCPA regarding the concerns and challenges with implementing federal Ordering, Referring and Prescribing (ORP) requirements by the January 1, 2018 deadline. The Department of Human Services has informed RCPA of the following:

  • The ORP requirements for Fee-for-Service continue to apply; i.e., allORP practitioners must be enrolled in the Pennsylvania Medical Assistance (MA) Program or the rendering provider will not be paid.
  • In the HealthChoices managed care delivery system, if a rendering network provider submits a claim to an MCO with the National Provider Identifier (NPI) information that results in edits identifying that the non-networkORP is not enrolled in MA, the claim can be paid. However, if the non-MA enrolled ORP has a high volume of claims, the MCO will work with the network provider and non-MA enrolled ORP to have them enroll in MA or work to transition the member to an enrolled MA provider.

Contact your contracting BH-MCO for additional information.

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The Commonwealth is transitioning to a new vendor for digital fingerprinting, IDEMIA. The first day you can register with IDEMIA, and be fingerprinted at an IdentoGO site, is Tuesday, November 28, 2017.

Appointments to be fingerprinted are not required, but preregistration is required. Once registered, you may walk in during a location’s posted hours of operation, but scheduling an appointment may lead to lesser/no wait times. In order to pre-register for an FBI background check and/or find a fingerprinting location, applicants should access this website. IDEMIA uses service codes when identifying the authorized purpose for why an applicant is being fingerprinted. This ensures applicants are processed for the correct purpose and agency.

Service codes are a required field for all pre-registrations, and the Department of Human Services’ (DHS) codes are provided below. If an applicant does not have a service code, this information will also be available online, under “GET A CLEARANCE.” In addition, a service code look-up tool will be available on the PASafeCheck website on November 28, by following the registration question prompts.

Below are the service codes available for applicants applying under the DHS:

Service Code Applicant Type Department
1KG6ZJ DHS Volunteer Department of Human Services
1KG71B Foster Parent Department of Human Services
1KG72V Prospective Adoptive Parent Department of Human Services
1KG738 Child Care Services/Program Employee or Contractor Department of Human Services
1KG74S Family Child Care Home Provider Department of Human Services
1KG756 Employee >=14 Years Contact w/ Children Department of Human Services
1KG76Q Individual >=18 Years in Foster Home Department of Human Services
1KG774 Individual >=18 Years in Prospective Adoptive Home Department of Human Services
1KG78K Individual >=18 Years in Licensed Child Care Home Department of Human Services
1KG8TG Individual >=18 Years in Family Living, Community, or Host Home Department of Human Services

Below you will find Service Code forms for each applicant type under DHS. These forms can be provided to applicants and/or used as instructions for agencies, employers, applicants, or websites. The documents also list the allowable valid, unexpired identification documents that applicants can bring as their proof of identity when getting fingerprinted. Please share this information with all affiliates, partners, contracted agencies, and respective applicants.

Service Code Forms:

In conjunction with the Department of General Services and the Pennsylvania State Police, IDEMIA continues to implement fingerprint locations across Pennsylvania, which is expected to be fully implemented in the coming months.

If you are an agency who was a previous fingerprint site through Cogent, and would like your location to remain a Commonwealth affiliated fingerprint site or become a fingerprint site, visit this web page. At the bottom of that page is a link to IDEMIA’s Partner Inquiry Form. You can express interest by providing them with your business’ information. Your inquiry will go to their Partner Team for follow-up. If there is no need in your specific area, you will be notified of this and IDEMIA will hold onto your information until a need arises. Private Partner agreements are also available if your agency would like the ability to fingerprint employees, but are not offering fingerprinting services to the public.

IDEMIA also offers employers the option to pay for services using a No Charge Authorization Code (NCAC), which is backed by a credit card provided during the account setup. To use this method for payment, the employer must complete and submit the IDEMIA NCAC Agreement. This document provides more information regarding this option, as well as the required forms. The forms will also be available on the IDEMIA website. The account must be established prior to sending applicants to the fingerprint site.

If you have additional questions, please contact IDEMIA by phone, toll-free at 844-321-2101.

The Wolf Administration has launched the Pennsylvania Link to Community Care website, which connects older Pennsylvanians and individuals with a disability or behavioral health need to services and supports available in their community.

The website provides users with a wide variety of resources, including a home care directory and an information referral tool. It is a collaboration of the departments of Aging (PDA) and Human Services (DHS), and is an extension of PDA’s Aging and Disability Resource call center. By providing assistance online, the initiative further enhances the Commonwealth’s efforts to help Pennsylvanians locate and best utilize services at the local level.

The site features 12 service and support categories: Advocacy, Behavioral Health, Employment, Finance, Health Care, Housing, In-Home Services, Legal, Meals, Protection from Abuse, Support Groups, and Transportation.

Users can find information about organizations, services, and programs within these categories. A major component to the site is the home care directory, which connects individuals to in-home services available in their counties. In-home service providers appearing on the searchable directory may offer personal care, assistance with activities of daily living, companionship services, respite care, and/or habilitation services.

If you are an in-home service provider licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and would like to appear on the home care directory, you may submit your information by navigating to the footer of the site and selecting “Apply.”

In addition to the home care directory, another major feature of the website is the information referral tool. This tool guides users through a series of questions and then provides a list of resources based on their specific needs.

Moving forward, the departments of Aging and Human Services will continue to enhance the website using data and feedback from users, and expand the resources and information provided through the site. This includes working with your organization and other stakeholders to increase the number of options appearing within each category. Read the press release here.