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

Announcements:

• Healthcare Workers Recruitment and Re-engagement Fund

• Supported Employment Provider Survey

Memos:

• Stakeholder Engagement Opportunity: OCL Rule Revisions and Waiver Updates

• Colorado Care and Case Management System Training

General OCL Meetings:

• Case Management Redesign (CMRD) Rule Revision: Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waiver Program Eligibility Rules, Part Two

• Rights Modification Documentation Training

Announcements

Healthcare Workers Recruitment and Re-Engagement Fund

The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) seeks applications for the Healthcare Workers Recruitment and Re-engagement Fund. This new program is part of the Polis Administration's plan Colorado's Roadmap to Moving Forward and was passed into law during the 2022 legislative session. The program will incentivize and assist employers in the recruitment of different licensed health care professionals to employment in long-term care facilities (LTCF), qualifying facilities with critical shortages and pediatric-serving hospitals.

In this program, organizations that successfully recruit a licensed professional who has left the health care industry and who will work 20 hours per week or more on average for a minimum of six months are eligible to receive a one-time payment of $20,000 per professional re-engaged. Organizations that may apply for funding must be licensed in Colorado.

The three types of health care organizations that may apply for this program are organizations that:

1. Operate as a long-term care facility, meaning it is a nursing home, nursing facility, skilled nursing facility, intermediate care facility, or a health facility that is planned, organized, operated, and maintained to provide supportive, restorative, and preventative services to persons who, due to physical and/or mental disability, require continuous or regular inpatient care.
2. Hold an official federal designation as a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) may also apply.
3. Hospitals that serve the pediatric population. 

For more information, see the Healthcare Workers Recruitment and Re-engagement Fund webpage.

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Supported Employment Provider Survey

Thank you to everyone who participated in our stakeholder meetings and provided input into the development of two new proposed Employment Benefits: Benefits Planning and Workplace Assistance. If you have not had an opportunity to participate in the stakeholder engagement process so far, you can find materials related to the development of these new benefits on the Supported Employment Meetings and Resources webpage.

As the next step in developing these new benefits, the Department is conducting a survey to collect information from potential providers to help inform our rate setting methodology. The survey will remain open through Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.

Memos

Please find new memos listed below. These memos are also on the Department's 2022 Memo Series Communication webpage. Viewing the Memo Series webpage will show other memos of interest.

• Informational Memo - Stakeholder Engagement Opportunity: OCL Rule Revisions and Waiver Updates (Nov. 28, 2022): The purpose of this Informational Memo is to inform and invite stakeholders to the stakeholder engagement meetings for Case Management Redesign (CMRD) rule revisions. This memo also updates the previous communication due to changes that were made in the CMRD Rule Revision Meeting Topics schedule.

• Informational Memo - Colorado Care and Case Management System Training (Nov. 10, 2022): The purpose of this Informational Memo is to notify Case Management Agencies (CMAs) of the training timeline for the launch of the Colorado Care and Case Management (CCM) operating system.

General OCL Meetings

Please find general OCL meeting announcements listed below. Other OCL meeting information is on the OCL Stakeholder Engagement & Calendar webpage.

Case Management Redesign (CMRD) Rule Revision: HCBS Waiver Program Eligibility Rules, Part Two

About the CMRD Rule Revision Meeting Series

The Department will update rules and regulations pertaining to HCBS waivers and non-waiver programs to come into alignment with new CMRD statute, policy and language. Rule updates are required to clean up areas in existing rule and waivers that are repetitious, obsolete, or difficult to follow and understand. CMRD also implements changes to the rule structure. The vision behind the structure change is to make the HCBS rules easier to find, read and understand for all stakeholders. Rules must be in effect no later than Nov. 1, 2023, at which point the first cohort of new Case Management Agencies under CMRD will transition.

The Department wants to hear from stakeholders about each of the rule revision topics listed below to ask questions and receive feedback based on your knowledge and experience with navigating HCBS rules. The goal is to make these rule revisions work for all HCBS stakeholders. The Department will post the section of rule or waiver to be discussed on the CMRD webpage one week prior to each meeting. Stakeholder engagement, feedback, and Department responses will be tracked through listening logs posted on the CMRD webpage.

About this Meeting

HCBS Waiver Program Eligibility Rules, Part Two. This meeting provides explanation & review of changes/updates to the HCBS waiver program eligibility rules as it relates to CMRD, including stakeholder feedback and responses from the Department.

This meeting will be held:

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022

9 - 11 a.m. MT

Join via Zoom

Join via Phone:

(Toll-free) 1-877-5257

Meeting ID: 993 1700 7314, Passcode:396389

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Rights Modification Documentation Training

These two training sessions for case managers focus on requirements relating to entering rights modification information into the Benefits Utilization System (BUS). Case Management Agencies, Community Centered Boards, and Single Entry Point case managers will be interested in this training.

For more information, see the Home and Community-Based Services Settings Final Rule webpage.

These two sessions cover the same material. We offer two sessions to help stakeholders be able to attend. Attendance at both sessions is not required.

The FIRST training session will be held:

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022

1 - 2:30 p.m. MT

Register for the First Session

The SECOND training session will be held:

Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022

10 - 11:30 a.m. MT

Register for the Second Session

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Reasonable accommodations 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.