';
CLOSE
Tags Posts tagged with "Toolkit"

Toolkit

0 1353

Message from PA DHS:

Under new federal rules, to keep or become eligible for SNAP benefits, some recipients will have to meet work requirements that include working, volunteering, or participating in an education or training program for at least 20 hours a week (or 80 hours each month) AND report that they are meeting these work requirements.

To help SNAP recipients and applicants find out if they need to meet this requirement, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (PA DHS) has launched a new online screening tool.

By answering a simple set of yes or no questions, SNAP applicants and recipients can find out if they need to meet the work requirements, if they are already meeting the work requirements, or if they are eligible for an exemption.

The screening tool is not a final determination of whether someone is meeting the work requirements or is eligible for an exemption, but it can help recipients and applicants have a more informed conversation with their caseworker.

The new work requirements will apply to Pennsylvanians who:

  • Are between 18-64 years old;
  • Do not have a dependent child under 14 years old; and
  • Are considered physically and mentally able to work.

In addition, being a veteran or a current or former foster youth age 18–24 will no longer be an exemption.

Some people may still be exempt from work and reporting requirements if they meet a different exemption. You can learn more about these work reporting requirements, who they affect, and more about exemptions at DHS’s website.

State Budget Investments Help Fight Food Insecurity

Pennsylvania’s charitable food network and our agricultural community are vital to keeping our neighbors and communities fed. Governor Shapiro’s 2025/26 budget delivers major investments to combat hunger, strengthen the charitable food network, and support Pennsylvania farmers. The budget includes a historic $11 million increase for food security, including:

  • $3 million for the State Food Purchase Program and $1 million for the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS);
  • $2 million for a new state Food Bucks program to supplement SNAP; and
  • $5 million in new funding to Pennsylvania food banks.

Help Us Spread the Word

PA DHS has developed a communications toolkit to help Pennsylvanians understand the changes happening to SNAP.

We ask RCPA members, advocates, and stakeholders to view and share the toolkit, which includes sample text, social media posts, and more.

0 811
Photo by Hannah Skelly on Unsplash

There are more than 700,000 veterans in Pennsylvania, and over half of them are age 60 and older. Veterans may be eligible for a wide array of benefits from both the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA or VA). One such benefit is a VA pension.

Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous people who are preying on veterans, particularly older veterans, to profit from the veteran’s desire to apply for the benefits they earned while defending our country and our freedoms.

The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) wants you to know that free and safe assistance is available to help veterans and their beneficiaries apply for veteran benefits including VA pension.

You can access the Pension Poaching Toolkit, filled with educational materials for you and your community to print and post, or continue sharing electronically.

0 1108

This Drexel University training will be held March 20, 2025, from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm, and will take place at the Holiday Inn Grantville. The training fee is $15 to attend and $45 for CEs/attendance. The course will be led by Chris Owens, MA, LPC, CCTP.

This course focuses on specific interventions of use to the professional helper when providing therapeutic services in behavioral healthcare. The aim of this workshop is to add to the helper’s “bag of tricks” or “toolkit” pertaining to assisting people with histories of trauma. Participants engage in didactic and experiential learning related to several specific interventions geared toward managing and moving beyond trauma. Participants also dialogue in small groups to share creative and effective interventions they have used in their various practice settings.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

  • Summarize the general purposes of interventions;
  • Discuss having a sound rationale for using various techniques;
  • Describe the benefits associated with each strategy;
  • Outline the drawbacks and barriers to using selected interventions; and
  • Implement each intervention as relevant to one’s own professional practice.

CE Credits:

  • APA — 5
  • CPRP — 5
  • LSW/LCSW/LPC/LMFT — 5
  • NBCC — 5
  • PA Act48 — 5
  • PCB — 5
  • PSNA — 5
  • IACET —.5

Please visit here for additional information.

0 2104
Photo by Tai's Captures on Unsplash

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) has released an updated Respiratory Virus Outbreak Toolkit for Long-Term Care Facilities, including Personal Care Homes and Assisted Living Residences.

The updated toolkit was developed to provide recommendations for facilities before and during a respiratory virus outbreak. This toolkit covers many respiratory viruses, including influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19, adenovirus, and more. While this toolkit does include information about COVID-19, a more detailed toolkit for LTCFs specific to COVID-19 can be found here. This toolkit replaces the previous Influenza Outbreak Toolkit for Long-Term Care Facilities.

DOH is in the process of updating the poster required by the Influenza Awareness Act. In the meantime, providers are encouraged to continue to use the 2023-2024 Poster.

Questions about this communication should be sent electronically.

0 1434

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.

0 1869
Photo by Larry Crayton on Unsplash

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.

0 2884

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.

12Next Page 1 of 2
© 2021 - Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association