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

Announcements:

• Join Stakeholder Forum to Discuss Hospital Community Benefit (HB23-1243)

• DEADLINE TODAY: New Survey - Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Member Materials

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

Memos:

• New Licensure Requirement for Personal Care Service Providers under Community First Choice

• Residential Habilitation Services and Supports and Supported Community Connections Services Provided by Same Direct Care Worker

• Case Management Contact Requirements and In-Person Meetings

• 2024 Room and Board and Personal Needs Allowance Changes

General OCL Meetings:

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

• Private Duty Nursing Rule Review Workgroup

• MEETING TIME EXTENDED: Protective Oversight and Accompaniment Stakeholder Engagement - Mtg. 2 of 2

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)-Related Meetings:

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

Announcements

Join HCPF's Stakeholder Forum to Discuss Hospital Community Benefit (HB23-1243)

HCPF is hosting a stakeholder forum on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023, to solicit feedback on best practices for nonprofit hospitals to engage and collaborate with their communities.

For more information and to register for the session, visit HCPF’s Hospital Community Benefit Accountability webpage.

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DEADLINE TODAY: New Survey - HCBS Member Materials

HCPF is in the process of redesigning existing materials and creating new materials aimed at increasing members' and their support systems' knowledge about HCBS to support their awareness, enrollment, and utilization of these waiver programs. This survey aims to get the HCBS community's input on the prioritization of these materials as well as feedback on the first round of draft materials for members.

• It should take about 15 minutes.
• Please note that all of these materials will be translated into Spanish if they do not include both in the same document.
• Please respond by Oct. 18.

Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts!

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

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 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.

Memos

These memos, related documents, and other memos of interest, are on HCPF's 2023 Memo Series Communication webpage.

• Policy Memo - New Licensure Requirement for Personal Care Service Providers under Community First Choice (Oct. 13, 2023): The purpose of this Policy Memo is to inform HCBS Supported Living Services (SLS) Waiver Personal Care Providers, HCBS Case Management Agencies, members, and families that a Class A or Class B Home Care Agency license will be required to provide Personal Care services when Community First Choice (CFC) is implemented on July 1, 2025. Providers without a license will not be permitted to provide Personal Care services after this date.

• Attachment - 6 CCR 1011-1 Standards for Hospitals and Health Facilities Chapter 2 General Licensure Standards

• Attachment - 6 CCR 1011-1 Standards for Hospitals and Health Facilities Chapter 26 – Home Care Agencies

• Link - HCPF Interest Form

• Link - Home Care Agency Licensure Letter of Intent

• Attachment - HCPF HCBS Enrollment Overview Presentation

• Link - HCPF HCBS Provider Enrollment Webpage

• Attachment - Provider Portal Adding A Specialty Quick Guide

• Link - Provider Enrollment Portal

• Operational Memo - Residential Habilitation Services and Supports and Supported Community Connections Services Provided by Same Direct Care Worker (Oct. 13, 2023): The purpose of this Operational Memo is to provide updated guidance on a temporary allowance regarding HCBS Residential Habilitation Services and Supports (RHSS) and Supported Community Connections (SCC) services provided by the same Direct Care Worker (DCW).

• Operational Memo - Case Management Contact Requirements and In-Person Meetings (Oct. 17, 2023): The purpose of this Operational Memo is to inform Case Management Agencies (CMAs) of the permanent requirements for completing member contacts, including Monitoring, Level of Care Screen, Needs Assessment and Person-Centered Support Planning following the end of the Public Health Emergency (PHE).

• Informational Memo - 2024 Room and Board and Personal Needs Allowance Changes (Oct. 17, 2023): The Purpose of this Informational Memo is to inform Case Managers, members, and providers of changes to the Personal Needs Allowance (PNA) and room and board amount in accordance with cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

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.

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.

The PDPPC generally meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month in 2023, from 1 to 4 p.m. MT. All interested stakeholders are welcome to attend. For more information, see the PDPPC webpage.

The meeting will be held:

Wednesday, Oct. 25, 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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Private Duty Nursing Rule Review Workgroup

The purpose of the Private Duty Nursing Rule Review Workgroup is for advocates, providers, members, case managers, and other interested stakeholders to collaborate with and advise HCPF as it reviews rules for the Private Duty Nursing Benefit. All interested stakeholders are welcome.

For more information, see the Private Duty Nursing webpage.

The meeting will be held:

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023

10 to 11:30 a.m. MT

Join via Google Meet

Join via Phone:

1-224-458-3078, PIN: ‪193 173 566#

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MEETING TIME EXTENDED: Protective Oversight and Accompaniment Stakeholder Engagement - Meeting 2 of 2

NOTE: Due to the robust dialogue during the first of these meetings on Oct. 17, HCPF recognizes the need for additional time. This meeting has been extended by 30 minutes and will end at 11:30 a.m. MT.

This is the second of two identical meetings intended to provide stakeholders an opportunity to review and provide feedback on the Protective Oversight and Accompaniment Guide which was developed as an addendum to the approved Health Maintenance Activities (HMA) Documentation Guide.

Please note: If you attended the first meeting, held on Oct. 17, 2023, you are not required to attend this meeting. This meeting covers the same content.

See the meeting agenda and Accompaniment and Protective Oversight Addendum document on the PDPPC webpage.

The meeting will be held:

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023

10 to 11:30 a.m. MT

Join via Google Meet

Join via Phone:

‪1-314-325-2826, PIN: ‪259 760 331#

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.

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

Register here for any of the remaining one-hour virtual sessions:

• Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, at 9 a.m. MT

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

In-Person Sessions

Register here for any of the in-person sessions listed below: 

Evergreen:

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, 2 to 3 p.m. MT

ECHO

27888 Meadow Drive, Evergreen, CO 80439

Commerce City:

Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, 9 to 10 a.m. MT

Salud Family Health

6255 Quebec Parkway, Commerce City, CO 80022

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 Ave, 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.

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.

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