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Nov. 8, 2023

The Office of Community Living (OCL) within the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) has the following information to share below:


Announcements:


  • Creating Equitable Access within Colorado’s Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)


  • REMINDER: Direct Care Workers Satisfaction and Engagement Survey!


  • REMINDER: HCPF Stakeholder Forum on Nov. 28, 2023 - Discuss the Hospital Community Benefit (HB23-1243)


  • REMINDER: 2023 National Core Indicator (NCI) - State of the Workforce Survey - Aging and Disabilities: Data Collection Closes on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023


General OCL Meetings:


  • REMINDER: Host Home Oversight Stakeholder Meeting


  • Participant-Directed Programs Policy Collaborative (PDPPC) Monthly Meeting


  • Nursing Facility Stakeholders Meeting


American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)-Related Meetings:


  • Webinar: Quarterly ARPA Updates - All Stakeholders


  • Direct Care Workforce Collaborative (DCWC) Compensation and Benefits Action Group

Announcements

Creating Equitable Access within Colorado’s Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)


HCPF and the Office of Community Living are excited to announce the publications of key project reports and recommendations for the ARPA 3.01 Equity Study. The purpose of this engagement and the recommendations was to create opportunities for HCPF to serve members and eligible Coloradans with disabilities more fully and more equitably.


The engagement was designed to achieve three outcomes:


  • Building and strengthening relationships with community partners


  • Understanding members’ and advocates’ experiences


  • Identifying community-driven solutions


More information about the project, project results, and key documents/reports is on the ARPA HCBS Initiative 3.01 - Equity Study page.


For a deeper dive into the report, subscribe to the ARPA Project Pulse newsletter which will be featuring the project in its next edition, or attend the ARPA Quarterly Webinar (information below) where details will be presented and there will be an opportunity for questions.


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REMINDER: Direct Care Workers Satisfaction and Engagement Survey!

 

We want to hear from the direct care workforce to understand their satisfaction with wages, compensation, benefits, career advancement, training, and job fulfillment.

 

The survey cycle began Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, and will remain open for at least 30 days. This year’s survey questions incorporate feedback from the first survey. All data collected is confidential. The data collected will be used to support workforce initiatives and provide data for future analysis, budget projections, policy planning, stakeholder engagement and improve quality assurances.

 

The survey will be available by email and survey link. If you are a direct care worker and want to take part, please contact email hcpf_dcworkforce@state.co.us to request a link.


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REMINDER: HCPF Stakeholder Forum on Nov. 28, 2023 - Discuss the

Hospital Community Benefit (HB23-1243)


HCPF, in partnership with the Colorado Health Institute (CHI), seeks feedback on best practices for nonprofit hospitals to ensure diverse input from local community members in determining community priorities and best practices to collaborate and reduce redundant community needs assessments.


HCPF seeks feedback from nonprofit hospitals and health systems, community-based organizations and advocacy groups, local public health agencies, community health care providers, and others interested in hospital community benefit.


The meeting will be convened virtually via Zoom. Please register to receive details prior to the meeting. CHI will facilitate these sessions and is accepting written feedback or questions in advance at focusgroups@coloradohealthinstitute.org.


More information on hospital community benefit accountability is available on HCPF’s Hospital Community Benefit Accountability page.


The session will be held:

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023

8 to 9:30 a.m. MT


Register Here


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REMINDER: 2023 National Core Indicator (NCI) - State of the Workforce Survey - Aging and Disabilities:

Data Collection Closes on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023


HCPF will be launching the NCI State of the Workforce (SotW) Survey for Direct Care Workforce Agencies serving members enrolled on the Community Mental Health Supports (CMHS), Elderly, Blind, and Disabled (EBD), Brain Injury (BI), and the Complementary and Integrative Health (CIH) waivers. The NCI-SotW is conducted across the country and will help Colorado measure improvement in the quality and stability of the workforce of direct care workers assisting aging and disabled adults. The NCI State of the Workforce is required to be conducted in Colorado by statute through House Bill 18-1407. HCPF requires reliable data on turnover, wages, benefits, and retention strategies to evaluate and develop policies and programs to support the direct care workforce.


In September 2023, agencies that provide services to the targeted population can expect to receive a link via email to complete the survey online. Each agency will fill out one survey about their employed direct care workers. Data collection is set to close on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. The survey’s findings will be shared later in the year. For more information, please visit HCPF’s NCI Survey webpage.


As a thank you, agencies that participate in the survey will receive “Lunch on Us.” HCPF will be sending an electronic gift card for $100 to participating agencies to purchase lunch for administrative staff that assisted in completing the survey. Agencies that are found ineligible to complete the survey will not receive the incentive.


HCPF thanks agencies for assisting us with completing this mission-critical work that will help evaluate the stability of staff and services provided to the members we serve.

General OCL Meetings

Please find a general OCL meeting announcement listed below. Information about these and other OCL meetings is on the OCL Stakeholder Engagement and Calendar webpage.

REMINDER: Host Home Oversight Stakeholder Meeting


This is the second stakeholder meeting relating to House Bill 23-1197 Host Home Oversight. Interested stakeholders may include members, advocates, caregivers, case management agencies, community centered boards, families, home and community-based services providers and waiver recipients. This meeting will focus on current and proposed recommendations for Host Home Provider onboarding and screening requirements as well as Host Home Provider training, and further training recommendations.

 

Finally, there will be time to introduce Mission Analytics, who will be assisting with the Host Home Oversight project to provide an overview of the stakeholder survey results as it relates to the first stakeholder meeting, and how these items will correlate and be implemented within smaller focus groups for this project.

 

Meeting information will be on the Host Home Oversight Stakeholder Workgroup page.

 

The meeting will be held:

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023

1 to 2:15 p.m. MT

 

Join via Google Meet

 

Join via Phone:

413-461-9713, PIN: 272 073 641#


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Participant-Directed Programs Policy Collaborative (PDPPC) Monthly Meeting


The PDPPC is a collaboration between stakeholders and HCPF, focusing on issues related to Participant-Directed Programs, which includes Consumer-Directed Attendant Support Services (CDASS) and In-Home Support Services (IHSS). All interested stakeholders are welcome.


All interested stakeholders are welcome to attend. For more information, see the

PDPPC webpage.


The meeting will be held:

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023

1 to 4 p.m. MT


Join via Zoom


Join by Phone:

(Toll-free) 1-877-853-5257

Meeting ID: 969 4053 6000, Passcode: 115140


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Nursing Facility Stakeholders Meeting


This meeting focuses on Medicaid-related developments related to Nursing Facility reimbursement and benefits. This includes, but is not limited to, procedural reviews, benefit interactions, policy clarifications, and cyclical business operations.

The Nursing Facility Stakeholders Meeting meets on the third Wednesday of the month. All interested stakeholders are welcome.


The meeting will be held:

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023

1 to 3 p.m. MT


Join via Google Meet


Join via Phone:

1-401-379-3164‬, PIN: ‪406 137 468#‬


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ARPA-Related Meetings

Please find an ARPA-related meeting announcement listed below. Other ARPA-related meeting information is on the ARPA Stakeholder Engagement and Calendar webpage.

Webinar: Quarterly ARPA Updates - All Stakeholders


This is an update for all interested stakeholders on key projects specifically funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 within the Office of Community Living and the Health Policy Office.


Audience: Members, Family, Advocates, Case Management Agencies (CMAs), Community Centered Boards (CCBs), Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Providers, Nursing Facilities, Providers, Single Entry Point (SEP) Agencies


Webinar documents are located on the OCL Webinar page AND the ARPA page.


The webinar will be held:

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023

3 to 4:30 p.m. MT


Register today!


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Direct Care Workforce Collaborative (DCWC) Compensation and Benefits Action Group


This Action Group works collaboratively with stakeholders to identify and move forward strategies to support the recruitment and retention of Colorado's direct care workforce.


The meeting will be held:

Friday, Nov. 17, 2023

10 to 11 a.m. MT


Join via Zoom


Join via Phone:

(Toll-free) 1-877-853-5257

Meeting ID: 993 1700 7314, Passcode: 396389

Need to Make an Accommodation Request for One of Our General OCL or ARPA-Related Stakeholder Meetings?


Reasonable accommodations for all OCL and ARPA-related stakeholder meetings will be provided upon request for persons with disabilities. Auxiliary aids and services for individuals with disabilities and language services for individuals whose first language is not English may be provided upon request. Please notify John Barry at 303-866-3173 or John.R.Barry@state.co.us or the 504/ADA Coordinator at hcpf504ada@state.co.us at least one week prior to the meeting to make arrangements.


General OCL Meetings are on the OCL Stakeholder Engagement and Calendar webpage.


ARPA-Related Meetings are on the ARPA Stakeholder Engagement and Calendar webpage.

Want to Sign up for OCL and HCPF Communications?


If you are not currently on the communications list receiving these emails,

you can sign up here.


See a list of all HCPF newsletters you can subscribe to.

Looking for Prior OCL Communications?


Do you know about the OCL LTSS Newsletter Archive? On this page, you can:


  • Search OCL newsletters back to January 2022


  • Subscribe to the newsletter


  • Keep track of OCL announcements, meeting reminders, and memos