PAR Mail 2018-055 | March 20, 2018
ODP Assesses HCBS Compliance
Self Assessment Will Determine the Amount of Individual Program Change Needed
Building upon the Pennsylvania State Transition Plan, to comply with the Center on Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Final Rule on Home and Community Based Settings (HCBS), the Office of Developmental Programs will soon be asking individual programs to conduct either a Residential Self Assessment tool or a Non Residential Self Assessment Tool (or both) to help the department determine the degree to which these programs are achieving the goals of Community Participation.
Both ODP Self Assessment tools ask providers a set of standard questions to help the department measure the current features of both residential and non residential programs.

ODP, as the leading element of its overall goal of encouraging Everyday Lives, is asking programs to achieve a minimum of 25% (with goal of maximum participation) of a participant's time engaged in his or her local community. Such community involvement corresponds with the intent of the CMS Final Rule on Community Settings which seeks to ensure that community programs funded under the Home and Community Based Waiver are in fact community based and encouraging inclusive residential and employment practices to the maximum possible.

PAR has reviewed the ODP Residential and Non-Residential Self Assessment and have offered a series of recommendations including:

  1. ODP and providers work together to assess the technical, programmatic or physical changes that may be needed by some programs to achieve compliance with the HCBS Final Rule.
  2. ODP and providers should work in concert to determine the extent of financial assistance that may be needed for all programs to comply with the HCBS Final Rule and seek additional funds in subsequent ODP budgets to the extent needed to achieve full HCBS Compliance. PAR is pleased with the current efforts of ODP in securing initial funding for Community Compliance, and encourages the Department to continue this effort.
  3. PAR encourages the HCBS Final Rule Compliance include achieving a Living Wage for Direct Support Professionals, as recommended by the 2017 Report by the President's Committee on People with Intellectual Disability (see PAR Mail 2018-031).
  4. PAR recommends the completion of the Self Assessment Process and the disclosure of cost implications to the General Assembly and the Governor prior to the FY 19/20 Budget to ensure sufficient planning can be addressed, and to ensure continued Federal Financial Participation (FFP) Medicaid support.
  5. PAR recommends that ODP hold trainings for providers to clarify the criteria that will be used to determine a program's compliance; and the standard that elevates a specific program to a heightened status in the view of ODP.

A copy of PAR's public comments on the ODP HCBS Self Assessment may be found here.