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OUR LATEST POSTS

The Office of Children, Youth, & Families (OCYF) has released the 2021 Pennsylvania Annual Child Abuse report. The report may be accessed here as well as through the Child Abuse Reports Page.

While the report continues to provide detailed data for statewide and individual county responses to reports, for the first time, race and ethnicity data was added for substantiated victims and perpetrators. OCYF in its reporting process will continue to refine this information for future reports and have only presented statewide data and not county by county statistics to avoid providing individually identifiable information.

If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Children’s Policy Director Jim Sharp.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) reminds Residential Providers and Supports Coordination Organizations (SCOs)* of the new requirement to submit year-end financial statements no later than 9 months after their fiscal year end. For many providers this will be March 31, 2024. Details of this requirement are available in ODPANN 23-76.

If your MPI is included on the available spreadsheet, your financials have not been received as of March 25, 2024, and will need to be submitted.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared ODPANN 24-033. This announcement’s purpose is:

Please view the announcement for additional information and details.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the fiscal year (FY) 2025 inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective payment system (IRF PPS) proposed rule. The proposed rule will be published in the March 29, 2024, Federal Register. A high-level overview of the proposed rule is provided below:

Payment Updates:

CMS estimates an overall increase in aggregate payments to IRFs by 2.5% or $255 million (compared to the 4% payment update in FY 2024).

Market basket update for IRF services is 3.2%. This will be reduced by a productivity adjustment of 0.4%, which would result in an overall 2.8% increase. These figures are likely to change due to updated forecasts.

CMS is proposing to update the outlier threshold amount from $10,423 (FY 2024) to $12,158 (FY 2025), which would account for an estimated 0.2 percent decrease to aggregate payments across the IRF PPS in FY 2025.

Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Updates:

CMS is proposing to make additions, modifications, and removals of some QRP measures. A proposal was included to collect four new Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements (SPADE) in the IRF QRP to bolster the collection of information on social determinants of health (SDOH):

  • Living Situation: Requests regarding the current living situation;
  • 2 Food Items: Questions about food running out;
  • Utilities: Questions about threats to shutting off utilities; and
  • A modification to an existing SPADE on Transportation.

CMS is also proposing to remove the “Admission Class” from the IRF Patient Assessment Instrument (PAI).

Feedback is requested on future revisions to the IRF QRP, as well as feedback on the development of a five-star methodology for IRFs.

Additional information will be forthcoming. Comments on the proposed rule are due to CMS by the end of May.

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.