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Training

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has made updates to the training schedule for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) provisions of the Medicaid Access Rule. The new training session dates and tentative topics for each session can be found below. These dates and topics are subject to change.

  • May 14, 2025, 3:00 pm ET: Timely Access, Waiting Lists, Person-Centered Planning Reporting Requirements & Minimum Performance Levels, and Website Requirements
  • June 11, 2025, 3:00 pm ET: Institutional Rule Provisions*

*Nursing Facility and Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities Rate Transparency provisions finalized in CMS-3442-F: Medicare and Medicaid

You can learn more about the training series and register for upcoming sessions on the HCBS Provisions of the Medicaid Access Rule Training Series registration web page.

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David DeMatteo, JD, PhD, ABPP (Forensic), will present “A Legal Primer for Mental Health Professionals,” a live webinar that is a part of the Behavioral Health Education’s (BHE) Speaker Series, on Thursday, January 30, 2025, from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET. Attendees can earn 2 CE hours for $18. Register for the webinar here.

Mental health professionals often work with justice-involved individuals, yet most mental health professionals do not have any formal legal training. As a result, it can be intimidating for some mental health professionals to interact with the legal system. This talk will provide an overview of the legal terms, principles, cases, and rules most often encountered by mental health professionals who work with justice-involved individuals.

After providing an overview of the U.S. legal system, this talk will examine several relevant legal concepts, including admissibility standards for expert evidence, the legal foundation of expert testimony, fact witnesses versus expert witnesses, discovery, reliance on inadmissible evidence (e.g., hearsay), responding to subpoenas, protecting confidentiality and test security, and ethics/professionalism.

Having knowledge of the legal system and relevant laws can lead to several benefits for mental health professionals, including increased competence in (a) providing services to justice-involved individuals, (b) offering consultation to the legal system and (c) communicating with legal professionals (attorneys, judges).

Register today.


About David DeMatteo, JD, PhD, ABPP (Forensic):

David DeMatteo, JD, PhD, ABPP (Forensic), is a professor of psychology and professor of law at Drexel University, and director of Drexel’s JD/PhD program in Law and Clinical Psychology. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, more than 50 book chapters and 12 books in his areas of interest, which include mental health law, psychopathic personality, forensic mental health assessment and diversion of justice-involved individuals. He is a former president of the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Board of Forensic Psychology. He consults with city agencies, state agencies, policymakers, correctional facilities and law enforcement. Dr. DeMatteo is a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania, where he provides forensic mental health assessments and consultation, and he is board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has testified as an expert witness in several state and federal courts. He is chair of the Committee to Revise the American Psychological Association’s Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology, and he is the editor-in-chief of Law and Human Behavior.

The 2025 RCPA Annual Conference Striving to Thrive will be held September 9 – 12 at the Hershey Lodge for a statewide audience. The Conference Committee is seeking workshop proposals in every area for possible inclusion, particularly those that assist providers in developing and maintaining high-quality, stable, and effective treatments, services, and agencies in an industry where change is constant. The committee looks for presentations that:

  • Provide guidance on building a culture of a committed workforce, including recruitment and employee development as well as effective remote workforce strategies;
  • Inspire ideas for organizations to be leaders in their field;
  • Highlight new policy, research, and treatment initiatives, such as the use of artificial intelligence and use of technology in service provision;
  • Provide specific skills and information related to individual and organizational leadership development and enhancement;
  • Discuss advanced ethics practices and suicide prevention;
  • Address system changes that affect business practices, including integrated care strategies, value-based purchasing, performance-based contracting, acquisitions and mergers, and alternative payment models; and
  • Discuss organization strategies to adapt to performance-based contracting.

The committee welcomes any proposal that addresses these and other topics essential to rehabilitation, mental health, substance use disorder, children’s health, aging, physical disabilities, and intellectual/developmental disabilities & autism.

Members are encouraged to consider submitting, and we highly encourage you to forward this opportunity to those who are exceptionally good speakers and have state-of-the-art information to share.

The Call for Proposals (featuring a complete listing of focus tracks) and accompanying Guidelines for Developing Educational Objectives detail requirements for submissions. The deadline for submissions is Friday, March 14, 2025, at 5:00 pm. Proposals must be submitted electronically on the form provided; confirmation of receipt will be sent. Proposals submitted after the deadline may not be considered.

If the proposal is accepted, individuals must be prepared to present on any day of the conference. Workshops are 90 or 180 minutes in length. At the time of acceptance, presenters will be required to confirm the ability to submit workshop handouts electronically two weeks prior to the conference. Individuals unable to meet this expectation should not submit proposals for consideration.

Individuals are welcome to submit multiple proposals. Notification of inclusion for the conference will be made via email by Friday, May 9, 2025. Questions may be directed to Carol Ferenz, Conference Coordinator.

The Link Center invites you to participate in its Shared Learning Groups virtual gathering series.

Shared Learning Groups are an opportunity to dive into important topics together, sharing resources, information, and ideas to better support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), brain injuries, and other disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions. These meetings will be led by members of our Steering Committee and project partners.

Please join for the next Shared Learning Group, “Navigating the Justice System.”

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), brain injuries, and other disabilities and co-occurring mental health conditions often come into contact with the justice system in various ways. This session will focus on ways to prevent involvement with the justice system. We will discuss various touch points in the justice system where support can be offered, ensuring individuals get the resources and understanding they need. Additionally, we will cover how to help them successfully reintegrate into society by connecting them with community resources and support networks.

Live Captioning and American Sign Language (ASL) Interpretation will be provided during all live webinars. Registration is required.

There are four sessions on the same topic for different target audiences. Please register for the session most relevant to you, or whichever best fits into your schedule.


January 21, 2025

Direct Support Professionals: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EST
Register in advance for this webinar.

Clinical Professionals: 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm EST
Register in advance for this webinar.


January 22, 2025

Families of People with Lived Experience: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EST
Register in advance for this webinar.

People with Lived Experience: 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm EST
Register in advance for this webinar.

Supports Coordinator (SCs) Monitoring Residential Services Webcast Training

Supports Coordinators (SCs) have a critical role and responsibility on the team to monitor all the services that are being provided to the individuals they support. Residential Service Providers have a unique responsibility to protect and promote the health, safety, and rights of individuals they support in all aspects of their life, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This 4-part training specifically focuses on the Supports Coordinator’s authority and responsibilities when monitoring Residential Services.

Audience: Intellectual Disability and Autism (ID/A) and Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) Supports Coordinators (SCs), SC Supervisors, and Support Coordination Organization (SCO) Administration.

There is no registration for this online training. Any learner with a professional profile role can access the training directly in MyODP. The current link in the announcement will take the learner to the SC Landing Page, where there will be a direct link to the course. Link will be available starting Thursday January 2, 2025.


Supports Coordinator (SCs) Monitoring Residential Services — Live, Virtual Sessions for SC Supervisors and Support Coordinator Organization (SCO) Trainers

The Department of Human Services is holding a live, virtual Zoom training to provide Support Coordinators (SCs) Supervisors and Support Coordinator Organization (SCO) Trainers the opportunity to apply learning from the Supports Coordinator Monitoring Residential Services training to support their SCs to effectively monitor Residential Services. Each session will include small and large group discussions of two scenarios an Intellectual Disability and Autism (ID/A) or Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) SC might encounter during a residential monitoring. SC Supervisors and Trainers can use these scenarios and discussions as a model for similar discussions with their SCs to improve the thoroughness, thoughtfulness, and quality of residential monitoring.

Session recordings (6 scenarios) will be made available on MyODP and announced through ODP Communications. The recordings can be viewed by SCs and used by SC Supervisors/Trainers to support additional SC staff development.

Audience: Intellectual Disability and Autism (ID/A) and Adult Autism Waiver (AAW) Supports Coordinators (SCs) Trainers, SC Supervisors, and Support Coordination Organization (SCO) Administration only.

SCs are not the audience for these sessions and will not have access to registration due to role restrictions.

Please register here.

Three sessions are being offered with each session exploring different scenarios.  You are invited to register and attend one or more of the sessions.

  • Monday, February 3, 2025, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
  • Wednesday, February 5, 2025, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
  • Friday, February 7, 2025, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Prior to the sessions, completion of the Supports Coordinator Monitoring Residential Services training is required.

Note: If you are experiencing issues accessing the link, try right clicking the link, selecting “Copy Link,” and pasting the link into your browser. If the problem persists, try a different browser.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is sharing the latest Health Alert, “Call 911 in a Medical Emergency.” ODP is also sharing this important online training that is being offered through the Western Region Health Care Quality Unit (HCQU).

How to Recognize a Medical Emergency and When to Call 911

We all hope the people we support never have a health emergency, but it’s important to be prepared for them, just in case. Knowing who to call and what to do in an emergency will help you remain calm so you can act quickly and appropriately. How you react in an emergency could save a life! During this training, you will learn:

  • How to recognize a potentially serious situation;
  • The steps you should take right away; and
  • When to call 911.

Please note the following:

To enroll in any of our courses, you must have an account in the Milestone HCQU West Learning Center. Signing up is easy and free!

By completing/passing this course, you will attain the certificate 24-Certificate-PFQ.

For more information on how to register, please use the link here.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared an important online training that is being offered through the Western Region Health Care Quality Unit (HCQU) called “Internet Safety for Self-Advocates.”

This online training was developed for both those we support and their supporters. An overview of internet safety is reviewed and discussed. Different topics each week range from social media to dating sites to pornography use and even scams. Various safety skills are reviewed, and tips are provided on using the internet more wisely and safely.

There will be six sessions.

Who is expected to attend?
Self-advocates can attend privately or can have a support person with them.

Training Dates:

  • Tuesday, January 7, 2025, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
  • Tuesday, January 21, 2025, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
  • Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
  • Tuesday, February 18, 2025, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
  • Tuesday, March 4, 2025, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
  • Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 10:00 am – 11:00 am

To enroll, please call 724-283-0990.

The Department of Human Services is holding a live, virtual Zoom training to provide Support Coordinator (SC) Supervisors and Support Coordinator Organization (SCO) Trainers the opportunity to apply learning from the Supports Coordinator Monitoring Residential Services training to support their SCs to effectively monitor Residential Services. Each session will include small and large group discussions of two scenarios an intellectual disability and autism (ID/A) or adult autism waiver (AAW) SC might encounter during a residential monitoring. SC Supervisors and Trainers can use these scenarios and discussions as a model for similar discussions with their SCs to improve the thoroughness, thoughtfulness, and quality of residential monitoring.

Session recordings (6 scenarios) will be made available on MyODP and announced through ODP Communications. The recordings can be viewed by SCs and used by SC Supervisors/Trainers to support additional SC staff development.

Audience: ID/A and AAW Supports Coordinators, SC Supervisors, and Support Coordination Organization administration

Please register here.

Three sessions are being offered, with each session exploring different scenarios. You are invited to register and attend one or more of the sessions.

  • Monday, February 3, 2025, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
  • Wednesday, February 5, 2025, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
  • Friday, February 7, 2025, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Prior to the sessions, completion of the Supports Coordinator Monitoring Residential Services training is required.

Note: If you are experiencing issues accessing the link, try right clicking the link, selecting “Copy Link,” and pasting the link into your browser. If the problem persists, try a different browser.