Round Up
September 2018

In this Round Up:

  • DODD Rules Under Review
  • Electronic Visit Verification
  • C3P(O) Moving Mountains Award
  • Back to Basics Trainings
  • Workforce Wisdom
  • OPRA Members in the News
  • Advocates for Ohio's Future
  • Call for 2018 Fall Conference and Award Award Nominations
  • Ohio SIBS Conference
  • Upcoming Events
Has your agency recently been featured locally for their hard work? We want to hear about it and include it in the next Round Up!
DODD Rules Under Development
The Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities has posted notice about their intent to solicit public comment on multiple rules regarding the homemaker/personal care (H/PC) daily billing unit, community transition services, technology services, level one service limitations and county board business managers. To read the rules please click on the rule numbers below, you can see the changes of the rule  via underline and strike-through . You can learn more here . If you have any questions about the changes or would like to provide feedback to be included in OPRA's comments, please email them to  OPRA Policy Analyst Christine Touvelle by September 11th, 2018.
H/PC Daily Billing Unit
Community Transition Services
5123:2-9-31 Home and community-based services waivers - homemaker/personal care daily billing unit for sites where individuals enrolled in the individual options waiver share services
Technology Services
5123-9-12 Home and community-based services waivers - assistive technology under the individual options, level one, and self-empowered life funding waivers

5123:2-9-13 Home and community-based services waivers - career planning under the individual options, level one, and self-empowered life funding waivers

5123-9-25 Home and community-based services waivers - specialized medical equipment and supplies under the individual options and level one waivers

5123-9-26 Home and community-based services waivers - personal
emergency response systems under the level one waiver (to be rescinded)

5123:2-9-35 Home and community-based services waivers - remote monitoring and remote monitoring equipment support under the individual options, level one, and self-empowered life funding waivers
County Board Business Managers
5123:2-5-04 Denial, suspension, and revocation of adult services, business manager, and service and support administration registration and certification

5123-5-08 Business manager certification standards (new rule)
5123-9-48   Home and community-based services waivers - community transition under the under the individual options waiver
Level 1 Service Limitations
 5123:2-9-06 Home and community-based services waivers - documentation and payment for services under the individual options and level one waivers

5123:2-9-20 Home and community-based services waivers - money management under the individual options and level one waivers

5123:2-9-21 Home and community-based services waivers - informal respite under the level one waiver

5123-9-22 Home and community-based services waivers - community respite under the individual options, level one, and self-empowered life funding waivers

5123:2-9-23 Home and community-based services waivers - environmental accessibility adaptations under the individual options and level one waivers

5123:2-9-24 Home and community-based services waivers - transportation under the individual options, level one, and self-empowered life funding waivers

5123:2-9-29 Home and community-based services waivers - home-delivered meals under the individual options and level one waivers

5123:2-9-30 Home and community-based services waivers - homemaker/personal care under the individual options and level one waivers

5123-9-32 Home and community-based services waivers - participant-directed homemaker/personal care under the individual options, level one, and self-empowered life funding waivers

5123-9-34 Home and community-based services waivers - residential respite under the individual options, level one, and self-empowered life funding waivers


Electronic Visit Verification
OPRA is closely watching the evolution of Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) on both a federal and state level. OPRA President Mark Davis was recently quoted in a Columbus Dispatch article expressing OPRA's concerns around EVV.

Phase 2 Electronic Visit Verification is still scheduled for a soft roll-out in unit-based homemaker/personal care and nursing services on May 6th, 2019. Claims for these services without a verified visited will not be denied until the fall of 2019.

Alternative EVV Systems: If your agency is planning on using an alternate EVV system, please be aware the technical specifications for such EVV systems under Phase 2 have not been released. Alternative EVV systems for DODD-administer programs will need to be approved under these new technical specifications, not the current specifications outlined on the Ohio Department of Medicaid's EVV website. OPRA encourages agencies to wait till these specifics have been released before seeking out or purchasing an alternative EVV system.

Monitor the development of EVV on OPRA's EVV web page.
C3P(O) Wins National Moving Mountains Award
Last month, OPRA and the Ohio Alliance of Direct Support Professional (OADSP) were jointly awarded a Moving Mountains Best Practice Award for the Community Connections Career Partnership (Ohio) (C3P(O)) program. The award, given out annually through the partnership of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP), the Research and Training Center (RTC) at the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration, and the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR), recognizes organizations using best practices in direct support workforce development that result in improved outcomes for people with disabilities.

In announcing the award for the C3P(O) program, Mark Olsen, Project Coordinator at RTC and Joseph Macbeth, Executive Director of NADSP said, "We received numerous nominations this year and are excited about the workforce development efforts that are happening across the country. This thoughtfully planned and implemented system change effort is truly impressive."
Left: Joe Macbeth, Executive Director of NADSP, Barbara Merrill, CEO of ANCOR, Bethany Toledo, Executive Director of OADSP and Mark Davis, President of OPRA. Photo taken at the Reinventing Quality Conference.
To learn more about C3P(O), visit the OPRA website or contact Special Projects Manager Janice Hall
Back to Basics Training
Thank you to everyone who attended an August session of Back to Basics! We hope you and your staff found the session and material helpful. You can find the presentations on the OPRA website. Certificates of Participation for September sessions will be emailed to attendees early next week. If you do not receive yours, please email OPRA Policy Analyst Christine Touvelle.

Registration for September sessions are still being accepted and can be submitted here . For more information on the series please contact OPRA Director of Government Relations Jeff Davis.
This month's tip: Develop a method to check in with new DSPs
Starting a new job and career in the intellectual and developmental disabilities field as a Direct Support Professional (DSP) is daunting. The amount of information presented at orientations is overwhelming. If you do not already have a system in place, think about how your agency can create and maintain open lines of communications with new DSPs throughout the beginning stages of their new job. This can increase a new employee's on-the-job confidence and increase retention.

Possible Ideas:

  • Scheduled outreach by the Human Resource Department, a manager, supervisor or program director every other week for a specified time frame
  • New employee luncheons
  • New employee support groups
  • New employee mentoring programs
  • Open office hours of administrative staff


OPRA & OPRA Members in the News!
For the past two weeks, OPRA has partnered with Advocates for Ohio's Future and the Ohio Department of Medicaid to host rallies across the state showing how Ohio's Medicaid Expansion has allowed low-wage workers stay employed. Roxanne and Dawn, two Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) at OPRA Member RHAM, spoke at a Columbus rally about how Medicaid has helped them continue supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Their speeches were featured on Governor Kasich's Facebook Live Feed and the Ohio Department of Medicaid's YouTube channel.

Watch Dawn's speech here at 2:17 and watch Roxanne's speech here at 5:20.
Left: Adam Guinther (RHAM Executive Director), Roxanne, Dawn
OPRA Board Vice Chair Diane Beastrom, President and CEO of Koinonia Homes, was recently named a Notable Woman in Healthcare by Crain's Cleveland Business. Read more about the honor here. See the entire list of Notable Women here. Koinonia was also recently recognized as one of ERC's (an HR consulting and training firm) top 99 places to work in Northeast Ohio. Koinonia has now received this honor for four consecutive years. Read more about the honor here. Congratulations on both awards!

Have a story you want to share? Email the story with some background information to OPRA Policy Analyst Christine Touvelle !
AOF Speaks with Gubernatorial Candidate
A few weeks ago OPRA President Mark Davis, who chairs the Advocates for Ohio's Future (AOF) Steering Committee, facilitated a conversation between the AOF Steering Committee and Gubernatorial Candidate Richard Cordray (D). The conversations centered around Cordray's views regarding aspects of the various sectors in the human services industry, including services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Left: Gubernatorial Candidate Richard Cordray, OPRA President Mark Davis
Call for Award Nominations for OPRA's 2018 Fall Conference and Awards Ceremony
The award nomination forms for the Annual Awards Ceremony are now live! Award categories include Behind-The-Scenes Staff, Community Member of the Year, Community Partner of the Year, Direct Support Professional, Front Line Supervisor, Maureen Corcoran Award, TEAM, and Volunteer of the Year.
Nominations will be accepted until Friday, September 7th.
Ohio SIBS Conference
Click above to enlarge.

Ohio SIBS (Special Initiatives by Brothers and Sisters), a coalition of adult siblings of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has announced the speaker and session line up for their 2018 Annual Conference. The Conference is a place for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their siblings to hear from representatives from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, the Ohio Department of Medicaid, The ARC of Ohio, The Ohio Self-Determination Association, and OPRA about what is happening throughout the state.

OPRA President Mark Davis and OPRA Director of Government Relations Jeff Davis will be presenting on several OPRA projects. Mark will be discussing ProviderGuide Plus and Jeff will be discussing DSPOhio .




Upcoming OPRA Events








10/24-10/26: OPRA Fall Conference and Awards Ceremony (see image to the right for an overview of the schedule of activities)
For a full calendar of events, please visit the OPRA website.