News
PACA MH/DS CONFERENCE

The presentations from the PACA MH/DS Spring Conference held at the Hershey Lodge, are now available online. If you attended the conference, please complete a brief survey regarding your experience. We appreciate your feedback and value your opinion.  

ABLE ACT CHANGES
 
The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2013 will realize changes in the savings program for 2018. The annual limit will increase from $14,000 to $15,000 with increased limits for account owners who are employed. In addition, the account owners may now be eligible to take advantage of the Retirement Saving Contributions Tax Credit - otherwise known as the "Saver's Credit" and permitted to make transfers from a 529 College Account to an ABLE Account without penalty. Details are available from the ABLE National Resource Center.
 
ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT LEGISLATION
 
House Bill 1233 passed the House unanimously in June 2017. The bill has gone through the first consideration by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. PACA MH/DS has responded to the committee amendments. The amendments propose an opt-out for counties that choose not to participate in Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) as well as extends the review of an individual's history to 48 months. The association recommended shortening the review period and requested clarifications on the process for opting out of of AOT. PACA MH/DS remains neutral on the bill, but continues to provide feedback as requested. 
 
GET YOUR 2018 MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MATERIALS
 
The Mental Health Association has released a toolkit with various materials for promoting May as Mental Health Awareness Month. This year's theme is Fitness #4mind4body. The materials are available at Mental Health America website .
 
ADMINISTRATION   OFFICIALS  CONFIRMED
 
On March 20, the Senate confirmed the following Cabinet-level officials:
  • Secretary of Human Services, Teresa Miller
  • Secretary of Health, Rachel Levine, MD
  • Secretary of Drug & Alcohol Programs, Jennifer Smith
  • Insurance Commissioner, Jessica Altman

NEW MEDICARE CARD COMING WITH SAFEGUARDS
 
The first round of new Medicare Cards are being distributed this month and additional ones will be staggered throughout the year. All Medicare recipients will receive their new card by April 2019. The new cards omit the Social Security Numbers to assist in preventing identify theft. Each card will include a new unique Medicare Number for each individual.
 
US SENATE APPROVES REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE PROGRAM BILL
 
On March 23, the Senate unanimously approved the Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018 ( H.R 4547 ). The bill makes numerous changes to Social Security's representative payee program in order to enhance oversight and operations. The bill now moves to the President for his signature.

CONGRESS PASSES BUDGET

On March 22, 2018, with one day left to prevent a government shutdown, the US House of Representatives passed a federal omnibus spending bill. The Senate passed the bill shortly after midnight and the President signed it on Friday, March 23. There were some modest gains in funds that impact community services. Some of the human services highlights are:
  • Kevin and Avote's Law to assist families whose children with autism who wander away from safety.
  • $160 million increase for the Mental Health Block Grant
  • $5.7 million increase in Children's Mental Health Services (maintains 10 percent set aside for first episode of psychosis)
  • Certified Community Behavioral Health Center grant funds
  • $25 million to expand behavioral health workforce
  • $2.8 billion for fighting opioid addiction, including $1.4 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and $1 billion for State Opioid Response Grants

TRANSPORTATION PLANNING GRANT AVAILABLE
 
The Administration for Community Living has released a Request for Proposals for Inclusive Transportation Planning Initiatives to facilitate and develop local inclusive, coordinated transportation systems; in which people with disabilities, older adults, and caregivers actively participate in both advisory and decision-making roles . Grants will be awarded up to $35,000 for a maximum of 20 organizations. Proposals are due by May 4, 2018. 
 
STEPPING UP DAY OF ACTION SET AND RESOURCES AVAILABLE
 
Stepping Up is hosting a National Day of Action on May 16, 2018. Counties are encouraged to host or support local activities to increase public awareness regarding the prevalence of individuals with mental illness who are in jail and to further the effort to create a data-driven, systems-level change in policy and practice to reduce the number of mentally ill individuals who are justice involved. The CCAP Comprehensive Behavioral Health Task Force is hosting a webinar on April 23 at 9 a.m. to review the Stepping Up Day of Action Toolkit. Register Online  today. 
 
HHS CONFERENCE MATERIALS AVAILABLE
 
State of the Art: Research, Models, Promising Practices, and Sustaining Integrated Care presentations from 2017 Health and Human Services Federal Partners Integrated Care meeting are available. Presentations are available online and include:
 
* Models of integrated care
* Key findings from the research community
* Examples of diverse grantee practices regarding service delivery
* Resources to support and build integrated systems of care
 
REQUEST FOR INPUT ON OPPORTUNITIES TO COORDINATE 

The following message was shared with the DHS Stakeholders Listserv on behalf of the Secretary. To receive these messages directly, you can s ubscribe via this link: ra-dpw-lsadmin@pa.gov.  

The Departments of Human Services, Health, Drug and Alcohol Programs, and Aging regulate a variety of health and human services providers in order to protect the health and safety of Pennsylvanians. Among our regulatory activities, we license or certify providers and conduct incident management, as required by state and federal law. Our departments are currently reexamining our processes to identify opportunities to coordinate our efforts in order to streamline the licensing, certification, and incident management process and increase efficiencies for providers and the commonwealth, while maintaining and enhancing the quality of our licensing and certification activities and of the providers we regulate. As part of this process, we are seeking input from stakeholders of the Departments of Human Services, Health, Drug and Alcohol Programs, and/or Aging on the following questions. These questions are focused on providers, but we welcome feedback from advocates and other stakeholders. Please provide as much detail as possible in your responses.
Please send responses to RA-policyoffice@pa.govby April 30, 2018.
  1. Which of the following commonwealth agencies do you interact with for licensing and certification: the Departments of Human Services, Health, Drug and Alcohol Programs, and/or Aging?  Please identify the specific license or certificate types you have.
  2. Which of the following commonwealth agencies do you interact with when you must report an incident that took place at your facility/agency: the Departments of Human Services, Health, Drug and Alcohol Programs, and/or Aging?  This could include incidents required to be reported per licensing regulations, or home and community based (waiver) programs.
  3. What works well in interacting with multiple commonwealth agencies on licensing, certification, and incident management activities?
  4. What challenges do you experience in interacting with multiple commonwealth agencies on licensing, certification, and incident management activities? If possible, please identify whether the challenges are caused by statutory or regulatory requirements, policy or operational guidance, or agency processes or technology.
  5. What opportunities do you see for the commonwealth to streamline your experience interacting with multiple commonwealth agencies on licensing, certification, and incident management activities?
 
MHPC SEEKS APPLICANTS
 
It is the time of year when the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Programs solicits applications to the Mental Health Planning Council (MHPC). Each member serves a three year term with a third of the membership changing each year. The MHPC has three committees: Children, Adult and Older Adult. The MHPC application is available on the PACA MH/DS website e-library.
   
PEER SUPPORT COALITION EMPLOYMENT
 
The coalition is currently recruiting for a Contracted Director. Please assist in outreach to potential candidates. More information is available online .

SAMHSA ACT GRANT OPPORTUNITY

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has announced funding for 7 grants. The grants are to establish, expand, and maintain ACT programs for individuals with a serious mental illness. Applications are due May 24, 2018.  

CONFERENCES
 
Disability Policy Seminar is being presented by The Arc US on April 23-2 at the Renaissance, Washington D.C. 
 
PA Community on Transition Conference: Planning Today for a Winning Tomorrow will be held at the Penn Stater in State College on July 25-27. Conference information and registration is available  online.

Changing the Conversation: Engaging Communities for Better Outcomes is provided by the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University. It will be held on May 2 in Philadelphia, and on May 3 in Pittsburgh.
 
PEOPLE AND PLACES
 
Tom McDermott will be leaving his role as Administrator of Centre County on Friday April 27th, as he has accepted a position with Martha Lloyd Community Services as their Chief Operating Officer. He will start in his new position on April 30th. Tom has been an active member of PACA MH/DS and we thank him for his time and service. 

Representative Kathy Rapp (R-63) (R-Warren/Forest/McKean) has been named Chair of the House health Committee recently vacated with matt Baker leaving to work for the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.