Today, a joint guidance was issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Human Services (DHS) about the Regional Response Health Collaborative Program (RRHCP). The guidance includes a number of frequently asked questions (FAQs).
ODPANN 20-115 – Public comment for intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) waivers and adult autism waivers (AAW) announces that the proposed amendments to the consolidated, person/family directed support (P/FDS), community living, and adult autism waivers are available for public review and comment. There is a 30-day public comment period that starts on December 18, 2020 and ends on January 18, 2021.
The Department of Human Services (DHS), Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is pleased to announce the release of Bulletin 00-20-04: “Participant-Directed Services: Agency with Choice Financial Management Services Model”. This bulletin obsoletes and replaces ODP Bulletin 00-08-08: “Agency with Choice Financial Management Services (AWC FMS)”.
There have been extensive changes in ODP’s waivers, regulations, and structure in the 12 years since Bulletin 00-08-08 was issued. Bulletin 00-20-04, which was developed with significant stakeholder input, updates and modernizes ODP’s expectations for AWC operations to reflect contemporary practices in service delivery.
ODP intends to provide targeted training and education sessions on Bulletin 00-20-04 as soon as it can be accomplished. See the following attachments for additional information:
Attachment 1: AWC Employer Responsibilities
Attachment 2: Managing Employer Skills Training Topics
Attachment 3: Model Managing Employer Agreement Form
Questions about the bulletin’s implementation or contents may be directed to the appropriate ODP Regional Office or to ODP’s Participant Direction Administration Unit.
The Arc of Pennsylvania’s Making Employment Work course is an Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators (ACRE) basic certification training. Live webinar training will take place from January 13, 2021 – January 15, 2021 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm each day. Register here for the training. If an agency is interested in registering extra staff, please contact Jen Hipps.
This week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new update to the coverage and reimbursement of COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine administration and cost sharing under Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Basic Health Program Toolkit that was originally released on October 28 and first updated on November 23. This update includes additional information regarding vaccine administration reimbursement and outlines a streamlined review process that is available to states who are looking to expeditiously adjust vaccine administration reimbursement rates in their state plan.
CMS has also updated the toolkit with further clarification regarding managed care network adequacy and the phased distribution and administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech and other emergency use authorization (EUA) approved COVID-19 vaccines.
MITC is hosting a special webinar on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. The webinar will cover information on managing vaccination communications, tracking staff and client two-step vaccinations, filed vaccination consent forms and revaccinations (if required), religious and medical exemptions, and more!
During the development of this document, much thought and consideration was given to the individuals and the family members most impacted by the modernization of and transformation away from this program. There is an overarching need to maintain employment and related options that will compliment or enhance existing programs and services until more robust solutions are in place.
The NCSE Executive Committee has shared our position statement regarding the elimination of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) has a website that is dedicated strictly to the COVID-19 vaccine. Members are encouraged to save this page due to the valuable and important information regarding the vaccine that is posted there on a regular basis. This information includes a number of frequently asked questions (FAQ’s), a link to the COVID-19 vaccine provider locations, and much more.
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) is reissuing communication ODPANN 20-114: “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Modifications to Medication Administration Course Requirement as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic”. The communication is being reissued to clarify the status of Announcement 20-102 as obsolete. Please use this version of 20-114 as it shows the clarification in the announcement.
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