The Rosemary Collaboratory Initiative has shared Barriers to Care: A Comprehensive Analysis of Health System Challenges for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Pennsylvania. The full report can be viewed here.
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has released its Q4 update on the Multi-Year Program Growth Strategy (MYPGS). This report is a temporary format while a permanent data dashboard is being developed that will be more accessible to all stakeholders. ODP anticipates the new dashboard will be ready for public release in the next few weeks.
ODP has made great progress on tackling the adult emergency waiting list over the past year, seeing a 28% reduction since the Governor’s announcement in 2024!
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 25-067. This communication provides the waiting list report, comprised of individuals who are eligible to receive services and supports through ODP’s four home and community-based services (HCBS) waivers but, due to insufficient waiver capacity, the state cannot currently meet their needs. In this report, you will find information about ODP’s strategies and initiatives to address the problem and see the progress that has been made.
Access the report here ODP_Annual_WL_Report_2024. This report can also be found by visiting the MyODP home page and scrolling to the bottom or by following this path: Everyday Lives > Everyday Lives Publications > ODP’s Waiting List Reports.
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024/25 Q3 Report. This is a temporary report format while ODP builds a dashboard for waiting list and program growth data to make this data more accessible for stakeholders. ODP anticipates this will be ready by August.
The report shows ODP has made great progress on tackling the adult emergency waiting list over the past year, noting a 24% reduction since the Governor’s announcement in 2024.
For Questions or Additional Information
Please contact Tim Sohosky for any follow-up or inquiries related to this update.
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has announced the release of the 2023 – 2024 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 2023-2024 Employment First report here. This document can also be found by visiting the MyODP Employment Home web page.
The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has released the outcomes from the Early Intervention (EI) Rate Methodology Study that concluded in the Fall of 2024. A key focus of the RCPA Early Intervention Steering Committee’s strategic agenda has been the review of how rates have been historically developed, including the lack of sustainable rate increases that have taken place over the past two decades. In our collaboration with OCDEL and other early intervention stakeholders, the goal was the development of a quantifiable rate methodology that uses the cost of care as a driving variable in the rate development matrix.
The EI Rate Study Final Report has been added to DHS website and can be viewed here. The study was the culmination of a year-long effort led the Public Consulting Group (PCG) and an Advisory Committee, which RCPA and other provider members were a part of.
The report reviewed the methodology and formulary variables for rate calculations across several operational dimensions of early intervention services, including staffing, operations, administration, and the calculation of how missed and cancelled visits intersect with actual costs.
The final funding review of the estimated Commonwealth fiscal impact was calculated using the number of service units provided during FY 2022/23 for Early Intervention services, current Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), and county contributions. Services with a recommended rate decrease were kept at the current rate when calculating Commonwealth fiscal impact. The result indicated that for FY 2022/23, the rates were underfunded by more than $71M, or roughly 38% of the FY 2022/23 rate.
This year there is a proposed State budget increase of $10M that is targeted to aid Early Intervention providers in stabilizing their workforce infrastructure. This would be a 3% increase over the FY 2023/24 rate. There was no rate increase last year in anticipation of the rate methodology study report. There was hope that the study outcomes, which ended in September 2024, could have made a greater impact on this year’s projected rate increase. That notwithstanding, RCPA fully supports and will be advocating that the proposed $10M funding allocation be approved for Early Intervention services in the final budget. Additionally, there is a projected Medicaid allocation of $12.6M, for a total $22.6M that will go to the final rates for FY 2025/26.
Finally, the report indicated that between the periodic rate studies, PCG recommends that OCDEL implement a rate monitoring program to measure costs annually against payments. This monitoring should also measure inflation, and OCDEL should adjust rates annually to match the rate of inflation.
RCPA thanks OCDEL and our members for the partnership in the project and looks forward to the opportunity to work together in supporting and advocating the implementation of rates that support the cost of delivering high quality Early Intervention services to the children and families of the Commonwealth.
If you have any additional questions, please contact RCPA COO Jim Sharp or IPRC Policy Director Cindi Hobbes.
The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) issued a Critical Incident Management Bulletin, with indications that they and the Managed Care Organizations (MCO) will be enforcing these regulations. Per OLTL:
Investigation of critical incidents and its documentation is an integral part of a Service Coordinator’s (SC) responsibilities, not a stand-alone function. During the course of quality reviews, Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) Incident Management staff has found that critical incident investigations are not consistently following the established policy and procedure. OLTL wants to reinforce the following requirements found in various OLTL policy and procedure documents, which remain unchanged. Non-compliance with these requirements is subject to corrective action by OLTL.
1. Investigation of Critical Incidents
a. According to the Critical Incident Management Bulletin dated 2/23/2023, Community HealthChoices (CHC) managed care organizations (MCO) and SC must begin investigating a critical incident within 24 hours of discovery or of learning of the incident. This requirement was also indicated in the 2015 version of the document. The bulletin reinforces the onsite visit requirement for fact finding. The critical incident facts, sequence of events, interview of witnesses, and observation of the participant and/or environment is required. The onsite investigation is not the same as a comprehensive needs reassessment or assessment of need, and it must be completed regardless of participant choice. The participant reserves the right to refuse involvement in the critical incident investigation. However, the onsite visit must be completed. The Telephone Investigation referenced in the Bulletin does not replace the onsite investigation requirement, and is meant for instances when more information is necessary to complete the incident report. For example, when a protective services investigation is occurring and the SC needs to gather details to ensure mitigation measures are in place. Please note that while required to cooperate in the investigation, SCs are not required to investigate reported allegations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, which are referred to a protective services agency. However, SCs remain responsible for ensuring participants health, safety, and welfare by means of risk mitigation and appropriate service implementation.
b. The 24-hour requirement to initiate an investigation is not to be interpreted as one business day. The only time business days apply is when submitting a critical incident report in Enterprise Incident Management (EIM), which is required within 48 hours excluding weekends and holidays. Please note that while the investigation must be initiated within 24 hours of incident discovery/learning of the incident, the CHC-MCO and SC will still have 30 calendar days to complete the investigation. It is also important to note that the onsite visit does not necessarily have to occur within 24 hours of incident discovery as long as it occurs at a time that enables ensuring the health and welfare of the participant, and within the allotted 30 calendar days or extended due date in the case where a timely EIM report extension was requested.
c. The Critical Incident Management bulletin also indicates the following:
No further action is required when the critical incident report meets all three of the following conditions:
Therefore, CHC-MCOs and SCs must ensure that, prior to submitting the Final Section of the incident report in EIM, the participant is aware of the critical incident, its resolution, and the measures taken to prevent recurrence. This includes determining whether a comprehensive needs reassessment or assessment of need must be conducted, based on the requirements outlined in OLTL’s policy and procedure documents. The SC must also ensure thorough documentation in the critical incident report of all actions taken to ensure participants health and welfare.
2. Notice to Participant
The Critical Incident Management Bulletin indicates that:
CHC-MCOs and SCs must ensure the required notifications are made to the participant, and document completion within the Referrals and Notifications page in the EIM critical incident report.
OLTL encourages all CHC-MCOs and SCs to review the Critical Incident Management Bulletin to ensure all requirements are met.
If you have any questions, please contact Fady Sahhar.
