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From Senator Frank Farry’s Newsletter on April 12, 2024:

Last week, I held a press conference to announce the findings from the Joint State Government Commission report mandated from House Resolution 212 – which I authored while serving in the House of Representatives. The report reviewed the services provided by the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) to individuals with disabilities, including work opportunities and living arrangements.

The press conference was held at Associated Production Services (APS), a packaging company in Feasterville that is employed predominately by individuals with disabilities. Currently, ODP in their rate setting penalizes operations like APS because there is not a community element. However, we heard from many of the working individuals along with their families that they are happy working at APS with their peers. It is a clean, safe, and structured environment, and they consider it their community.

Watch what the workers of APS and their families had to say:  

In 2017, we held a rally at the Capitol with workers from APS and similar workplaces, their families, and service providers advocating for “My Work. My Choice.” I cannot believe we are still talking about this today. One astounding issue is that to participate in a work program like APS, you need to be found ineligible for other programs and it is considered a workplace of last resort. That doesn’t sound like choice.

The report reaffirms that choice should be paramount in the services provided by ODP. The number one recommendation in the report is “promote freedom of choice.” I am going to use this report as the blueprint to continue to advocate for programs like APS to stay open and ensure individuals with disabilities are treated fairly by the government, including having the freedom to choose where they live and work. View full press conference and learn more.

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The United States Senate Special Committee on Aging will be holding a hearing tomorrow to discuss the long-term care workforce. The hearing will be to address the shortages and legislation to improve the caring professions. U.S. Senator Bob Casey (PA), Chairman of the Committee, has invited Nick Smith, an NADSP-certified direct support professional from Philadelphia, to provide testimony. It is rare that direct support professionals have the opportunity to testify before the United States Senate, and NADSP invites you to watch Mr. Smith on Tuesday. Insights gained from such hearings can inform the development of legislation aimed at addressing workforce issues.

HOW TO WATCH:

The hearing will be livestreamed on the committee page. To access the livestream, visit here. Details are below:

United States Senate Special Committee on Aging
Full Committee Hearing
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
10:00 am (EDT)
Featuring Nick Smith, DSP-1, SPIN, Philadelphia, PA

LEARN MORE

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The National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) has announced the second installment of the Adaptive Strategies Video Series. The Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) series was written and led by the Missouri Department of Mental Health and a stellar group of professionals from that state. The project has been an enormous undertaking and a true labor of love by professionals and clinicians in both Missouri (DBT series) and Louisiana (CBT series). We want to particularly highlight staff from Missouri since inadvertently not providing them appropriate credit in our original announcement. A special thank you to Dr. Sharon Robbins, Dr. Lucas Evans, Dr. Jessica Sergio, and Dr. Brandy Baczwaski for their incredible contributions to this body of work currently positioned to make a significant impact on the experiences of people with I/DD nationally. We would also like to thank Dr. Angeline Stanislaus, Chief Medical Director at the Missouri Department of Mental Health, along with Jessica Bax, Director of the Missouri Division of Developmental Disabilities, and Valerie Huhn, Director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, for their leadership and support of this project.

We would also be remiss not to take a moment to mention the team from Louisiana who led the work on the first Adaptive Strategies series, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). We would like to thank Julie Foster-Hagan, Assistant Secretary at the Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities at the Louisiana Department of Health for her leadership and support. We are also incredibly grateful to Dr. Brandi Kelly and Dr. Tab Bounds for their innovative vision and immense contributions to this project.

Despite long-held beliefs that people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD) may not benefit from mental health treatment, we know that people with I/DD can successfully utilize integrated medical, mental, and behavioral healthcare (Ervin, Williams, and Merrick, 2014). NASDDDS is pleased to announce the second installment of its Adaptive Strategies video series featuring specific interventions and treatments highlighting modifications and adaptations for people with I/DD.

People with I/DD experience behavioral and physical health issues at rates higher than the general population and can benefit from the same evidence-based interventions that are used for people without I/DD. This second installment in the video series, developed in collaboration with Louisiana’s Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities, will focus on modifying Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for people with I/DD.

Check out the video series here!

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The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) is hosting a virtual session with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Philadelphia Division to discuss pharmacy best practices in ordering and dispensing controlled substances, particularly medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) like buprenorphine. This session, scheduled on Wednesday, April 24 from 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm, aims to address concerns raised during PA DOH’s Fall 2023 listening sessions on patient access to controlled substances. Participants can register for the session using this form and are encouraged to submit questions in advance by Friday, April 19, 2024. Even if unable to attend, individuals can still submit questions for a later response. Please submit inquiries via email. This collaborative learning opportunity is crucial, and recipients are encouraged to share the invitation with interested parties.

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Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash

The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) has announced multiple in-person clinical supervision skills trainings occurring in the upcoming months in various locations. These sessions, aimed at enhancing clinical supervision skills and providing tools for working with supervisees, will take place on May 20–24 at Courtyard by Marriott in Lancaster, and June 10–14 at Holiday Inn Express Grove City in Mercer. Additional sessions are planned for July, October, and November in different regions. Each training is from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm daily, with a registration fee of $300. Registration is limited and will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Interested individuals can download the registration form from the Training Management System (TMS).

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The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is hosting a series of public comment webinars to provide an overview of how it proposes to implement performance-based contracting for residential services effective January 1, 2025. Additional proposed changes to the Consolidated, Community Living, and Person/Family-Directed Support Waivers that are not related to performance-based contracting will also be covered.

The proposed changes have not been published yet. As soon as they are available to review, we will share the document with our members. We will also reconvene our Performance-Based Contracting Committee in order to develop our comments. We encourage our members to submit comments to ODP, and share your thoughts with us as well to include in our response.

Sessions will be held for specific stakeholder groups. Preregistration is required. To register, follow the registration link under the session that best defines your role. Registered participants will have the opportunity to provide verbal comments on the waiver amendment during the session.

Registration Link

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The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has updated ODPANN 24-015: Implementing Changes to Remote Supports and Assistive Technology in the November Waiver Amendments. The original release of the communication was missing the guidance for implementing changes to assistive technology. Please note: this has been corrected with this update. All new information is included in red. Please use this version of the communication going forward.

  • ATTACHMENT A – Remote Supports Services HCSIS Guidance
  • ATTACHMENT B – AAW Report Support Service HCSIS Guidance
  • ATTACHMENT C – Remote Supports or Assistive Technology Decision Tree
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