Office of Community Living Updates: Oct. 27, 2023

Oct. 27, 2023

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

Announcements:

⚠️REMINDER: Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration Grant

⚠️DEADLINE APPROACHING: Organized Health Care Delivery System (OHCDS) and Home Modifications for Supported Living Services (SLS) and Children’s Extensive Supports (CES) Waivers

⚠️REMINDER: Direct Care Workers Satisfaction and Engagement Survey!

Memo:

Changes to Signature Requirements for Member Paperwork

General OCL Meetings:

⚠️REMINDER: Host Home Oversight Stakeholder Meeting

ARPA-Related Meetings:

⚠️TIME CHANGE REMINDER: Direct Care Workforce Collaborative (DCWC) Action Group

⚠️REMINDER: Listening Sessions for Health First Colorado Members and Family Members Impacted by the Criminal Justice System

OCL Stakeholder Meeting Recordings:

Have you missed a Meeting of Interest to You?

Announcements

⚠️ REMINDER: Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration Grant

HCPF is excited to announce the award of a $43 million Money Follows the Person (MFP) demonstration grant by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). MFP is a federal grant program that creates a path to community-living for people living in Medicaid Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities.

This award represents a culmination of efforts that include the state’s former MFP demonstration, Colorado Choice Transitions (CCT), and the implementation of permanent Transition Services resulting from House Bill 18-1326 in January 2019. In collaboration with local, state and federal partners, HCPF will implement the new MFP demonstration to expand services and supports available to people who wish to live in the community.

On March 31, 2022, CMS announced changes to the MFP guidelines that included new Supplemental Services to offer support that is not traditionally covered by Medicaid. MFP Supplemental Services will enhance the core components of Colorado’s Transition Services: options counseling, transition coordination, and housing resources. The new services will provide eligible Colorado residents with short-term rental assistance, short-term food assistance, pre-tenancy support, peer mentorship, and environmental adaptations that provide modifications to a home environment while the person resides in a facility.

HCPF is finalizing policy requirements to move implementation forward and will be developing training and communications to provide operational guidance prior to implementation, targeting Fiscal Year 2024-25. There will be ongoing discussion to support implementation at the public Transitions Stakeholder Advisory Council (TSAC) scheduled on the first Thursday of each month.

For more information, please see the CMS announcement.

If you have questions about this announcement or wish to be included in the TSAC meetings, please contact Matt Bohanan.

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DEADLINE APPROACHING: Organized Health Care Delivery System (OHCDS) and Home Modifications for Supported Living Services (SLS) and Children’s Extensive Supports (CES) Waivers

This is a reminder to all Case Management Agencies (CMAs) that there are upcoming changes to Home Modifications that are using OHCDS as a delivery model.

Effective Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, OHCDS will no longer have the Home Modification benefit as a delivery model.

This will be for all Home Modification projects regardless of cost.

Any projects using OHCDS as the delivery model will need to have billing completed by Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023.

If any CMA has a non-Medicaid contractor that may be interested in becoming a Medicaid contractor, please reach out to Emily Walsh.

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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 begins 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.

Memo

This memo and other memos of interest are on HCPF's 2023 Memo Series Communication webpage.

Operational Memo - Changes to Signature Requirements for Member Paperwork (Oct. 26, 2023): The purpose of this Operational Memo is to inform Case Management Agencies (CMAs) of the ending of the temporary operational changes allowed in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) to signature requirements for member paperwork.

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 found 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#

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.

⚠️ TIME CHANGE REMINDER: Direct Care Workforce Collaborative (DCWC) Action Group

The DCWC Compensation and Benefits Action Group meetings will now take place at 10 a.m. MT on the third Friday every two months. The next meeting will be held on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, at 10 a.m. MT.

Please visit the DCWC webpage for additional meeting information, or email HCPF_DCWorkforce@state.co.us with questions. Thank you!

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⚠️ REMINDER: Listening Sessions for Health First Colorado Members and Family Members Impacted by the Criminal Justice System

HCPF is hosting a series of listening sessions for Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid program) members and family members who are impacted by the criminal justice system. HCPF staff want to hear feedback, suggestions, and member experiences to help identify gaps in services and needs of this community. HCPF staff will ask questions about members’ experiences enrolling in Health First Colorado and using Health First Colorado benefits.

Virtual and in-person sessions are available. You are welcome to join as many sessions as you want. Anonymous feedback can be provided through online surveys available in English and Spanish.

Virtual Sessions

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, at 9 a.m. MT

In-Person Sessions

Durango:

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, 10 to 11 a.m. MT

Ft. Lewis College Center for Innovation

Suite 225 (Main Mall, Second Floor)

835 Main Avenue, Durango, CO 81301

Alamosa:

Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, 10 to 11 a.m. MT

Adelante Family Resource Center

600 Hunt Ave, Alamosa, CO 81101

Accommodation Requests for the Above Meetings

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 Hannah Hall at hannah.hall@state.co.us or the Civil Rights Coordinator at hcpf504ada@state.co.us at least one week prior to the meeting to make arrangements.

OCL Stakeholder Meeting Recordings

Have You Missed a Meeting of Interest to You?

Other OCL stakeholder meeting recordings are located on the OCL Stakeholder Engagement YouTube channel.

Participant Directed Programs Policy Collaborative Meeting - Oct. 25, 2023

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.

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

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