accesiBe Shares Recording of Webinar “The Journey to Inclusion: Practical Tools To Elevate Your Brand”
Toolkit
Provider Preparedness Toolkit Now Available on MyODP
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 24-047. The purpose of this communication is to announce the availability of the provider preparedness toolkit for Performance-Based Contracting. The accompanying files, Residential Provider Performance-Based Contracting Preparedness Self-Assessment and the Residential Provider Performance-Based Contracting Preparedness Plan Workbook, make up the Provider Preparedness Toolkit. This toolkit is being published as a resource for residential providers to use in order to plan for implementation of Performance-Based Contracting.
Please view the announcement and accompanying documents. RCPA also plans to follow up with members with further analysis and comments.
OCYF Launches Pennsylvania Meaningful Family Engagement Toolkit
The Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF) has launched the Pennsylvania Meaningful Family Engagement Toolkit, a web-based resource developed through statewide quality improvement efforts. Over a two-year collaboration period, Pennsylvania system partners defined meaningful family engagement, set consistent expectations for day-to-day practice, and prioritized organizational cultures supporting family engagement. The toolkit provides a comprehensive definition of meaningful family engagement and offers specific strategies and skill-building opportunities for child welfare professionals to enhance engagement and improve outcomes. It also highlights populations needing additional support for engagement, which they have included as fathers, youth, out-of-state parents, incarcerated parents, and extended family. Child welfare professionals are encouraged to utilize this resource to ensure consistent and sincere practice of meaningful family engagement.
If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.
SAMHSA Updates Assertive Community Treatment Toolkit
In 2008, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published the ACT Evidence-Based Practices KIT (hereinafter referred to as SAMHSA’s 2008 ACT Toolkit), a toolkit to help mental health agencies and teams implement ACT. The toolkit also includes information on fidelity: the extent to which an intervention is delivered as conceived. Both the toolkit and fidelity tools have received widespread use throughout the United States, and ACT principles remain consistent with the 2008 publication.
However, there is growing interest in extending ACT to certain populations and settings, including youth, justice-involved clients, immigrants and refugees, and rural communities. Driven by a need to deliver contextually responsive and culturally relevant services, these extensions often necessitate modifications, making it especially important to monitor fidelity. Research consistently demonstrates that higher fidelity to the ACT model produces better outcomes.
This follow-up and companion product Maintaining Fidelity to ACT: Current Issues and Innovations in Implementation reviews ACT principles, summarizes contemporary issues impacting ACT teams, and examines aspects of ACT implementation when extending the model to specific populations and settings. The goal of this guide is to ensure continued efficacy of ACT by reaffirming its principles while promoting awareness of new developments that providers may want to consider when implementing the model.
RCPA will be following up with the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) on the implementation and the integration of the new toolkit. If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.
Overdose Prevention and Response in BIPOC Communities: Toolkit Now Available
October Marks Crime Prevention Month
RCPA Recognizes PA #WeHealUS Campaign for Mental Heath Awareness Month
RCPA is pleased to support and celebrate Pennsylvania’s participation in the #WeHealUS national campaign during Mental Health Awareness Month.
#WeHealUS is a grassroots campaign that honors May as Mental Health Awareness Month by amplifying the hard work of individuals, organizations, and local/state governments building resilience and healing. Nationwide, more states and municipalities are embracing trauma-informed and healing-centered policies and practices because resilience grows through healthy and informed relationships.
#WeHealUS was the brain child of stakeholders in Illinois and Pennsylvania — pioneering states that have become “healing-centered” with public and private partnerships working outside the box to promote trauma awareness. The Illinois Light Initiative has launched an Illinois Healing Capacity Building Center to unify trauma education, training, and programming. HEAL PA is an innovative mix of state agency representatives and community stakeholders tasked with implementing the Trauma-Informed PA Plan across the commonwealth. #WeHealUS is further supported by the national Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP).
Take a look at the Pennsylvania calendar of #WeHealUS activities as well as the #WeHealUS campaign toolkit for this month. We encourage everyone to share this information widely with your networks, as the events are open for all to attend! Sample social media posts are included in the toolkit.
RCPA remains an active member of the Heal PA trauma-informed initiative. You can contact RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp with any questions or comments regarding this initiative.
DHS Develops Adult Protective Services Media Toolkit
The Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Adult Protective Services (APS) developed a media toolkit designed for facilities, mandatory reporters, and community members to assist in the awareness of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and abandonment of adults ages 18 to 59 living with a disability within the Commonwealth. Learn more about APS and use these resources to help promote APS to your clients, constituents, and network at the Adult Protective Services Media Toolkit web page.
Additionally, there are several dates (that are subject to change) where DHS will be publishing different social media posts that everyone is encouraged to share. These are available at the Adult Protective Services Media Toolkit web page on:
- Wednesday, February 9, 2022;
- Tuesday, February 15, 2022;
- Wednesday, February 23, 2022;
- Thursday, March 3, 2022;
- Monday, March 14, 2022; and
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
Questions regarding the materials found in the APS Media Toolkit or suggestions of additional resources that might be helpful in promoting the program should be directed to the APS Division.
DOH Makes Available NAS Family Guide Toolkit
The Pennsylvania Department of Health, in partnership with the Northwestern Pennsylvania Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Coalition and the Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative, have created the NAS Family Guide Toolkit to help educate families and individuals about NAS, treatment options, and other supports. Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a group of withdrawal symptoms in newborns that show up after being exposed to medications or substances, most often opioids, benzodiazepines, and/or barbiturates, during pregnancy.
