Benchmarks' Public/Private Behavioral
Health Forum (PPBH) IS BACK!!!!
When: Friday, June 10, 2022
From: 10:30 am thru 2:30 pm (Lunch is included)
Where: The Royal Center, 3801 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh
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Benchmarks' Upcoming Webinars
New: Benchmarks' Child Welfare Webinar with Lisa Cauley & Karen McLeod
Date: Thursday, June 9, 2022
Time: 8:00 am thru 9:00 am
New: Benchmarks' Friday Membership Webinar with Dave Richard & Karen McLeod
Date: Friday, June 17, 2022
Time: 8:30 am thru 9:30 am
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New Billing Codes for Social Drivers of Health
Effective September 2022, North Carolina Medicaid will be implementing a set of new billable codes that capture primary care provider activities to address social drivers of health for their Medicaid members. While all Medicaid providers are encouraged to provide these interventions and screenings, these activities are a key part of the North Carolina Integrated Care for Kids Alternative Payment Model (NC InCK APM).
The new codes are related to:
- interventions to promote Kindergarten Readiness, and
- screening for and addressing food- and housing-related needs.
These codes will be used to capture data but will reimburse at zero dollars. This data will be used to measure performance for the NC InCK APM. In addition, all providers are encouraged to begin using these codes to capture and report on relevant activities, as Medicaid is considering use of these measures in other Medicaid programs and for other Medicaid Alternative Payment Models (APMs). Providers can begin to bill these codes to both NC Medicaid Direct (NCTracks) and to Standard Plans beginning on Sept. 1, 2022. The quality measurement period for the InCK APM begins Jan. 1, 2023, and runs through Dec. 31, 2023 (Calendar Year 2023).
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Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services Grant Opportunities
Please see the following funding opportunities available from the NC DHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services.
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Request for applications North Carolina Grants to Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths (PDO)
Below is the link for the following new Grant Opportunity that is posted for the Division of Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. Please share with your networks.
North Carolina Grants to Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths (PDO)
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Tailored Plan Contracting Matrix (Repost)
A Tailored Plan is an integrated health plan for individuals with significant behavioral health needs and intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DDs). Only LME-MCOs were eligible to bid on the contract to become and operate Behavioral Health I/DD Tailored Plans, and it is a legislative requirement that Tailored Plans must contract with a licensed PHP that covers services required under a Standard Plan contract.
The information included in the tables below provides a high-level overview of some of the Tailored Plans’ contracted partners and vendors. It is not intended to be a comprehensive list, but rather to provide a general insight into the networks for the Tailored Plans. The Department has provided contact information below for any provider wishing to contract with a given Tailored Plan. This information may change over time, so the Department strongly advises providers to reach out to the Tailored Plans for the most up to date information.
Note: If a Tailored Plan has an agreement with a Standard Plan to provide, administer or manage the Tailored Plan’s physical health network or an agreement with a Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) to provide, administer or manage the Tailored Plan’s pharmacy health network, the Tailored Plan should refer an eligible provider of physical health services or pharmacy services to the partnering Standard Plan or PBM to discuss contracting.
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Clinical Coverage Policy 8C- Outpatient Behavioral Health Services-Public Comment
Clinical Coverage Policy 8C- Outpatient Behavioral Health Services, has posted for 45 day public comment. It will post through 7/2/2022.
Please share with all pertinent stakeholders.
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Technical changes have been made to NC Medicaid Clinical Coverage Policy 8A-2: Facility-Based Crisis Service for Children and Adolescents
The following technical changes have been made to NC Medicaid Clinical Coverage Policy 8A-2: Facility-Based Crisis Service for Children and Adolescents:
- Subsection 5.3: Added “or Licensed Practical Nurse under the supervision of a registered nurse”
- Subsection 6.2: Removed “on-site”
The changes have an effective date of May 15, 2022.
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Public Comment for Strategic Housing Plan
NCDHHS has released a draft of its Strategic Housing Goals, Objectives and Strategies, which will culminate in the development of a Strategic Housing Plan designed to address the housing needs of individuals with disabilities, currently receiving or eligible for DHHS-funded services at the state and local levels, who are either homeless, currently residing in congregate settings or at-risk of entry into these settings.
Developed with stakeholders from across the state, the plan will provide a strategic guide to focus policy efforts and resource decision making in creating and maximizing community-based housing opportunities for identified populations over a five-year horizon. The draft workgroup goals, objectives and strategies document is open for public comment through June 10, 2022. NCDHHS encourages all interested individuals and organizations to provide comment on this draft. NCDHHS will publish the first iteration of a five-year plan in summer 2022 and begin implementing activities outlined in the plan in calendar years 2023-2027.
To submit public comment regarding the NCDHHS Draft Housing Goals, Objectives and Strategies, email [email protected].
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Join Sec. Kinsley at Eastpointe's Mobile Care Center Launch Event
DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley will be speaking during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event will conclude with guided RV tours.
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Stakeholder email on NCDHHS highlights in Governor's Budget-From Lisa Cauley
Last week, Governor Cooper released his recommended budget for FY 2022-23. The Governor’s plan makes important investments that advance our shared goal of improving the health and well-being of the many people that we serve together, including children, parents and caregivers, seniors, people with disabilities, and people with mental health and substance use needs.
As a strategic partner of NCDHHS, we wanted to share a few highlights from the many important investments in the Governor’s budget with you. This year’s short session is likely to move quickly, but this is still an important opportunity to make smart investments that are needed now.
First, let me share a few items that we know are top of mind for you and your stakeholders. The Governor’s recommended appropriations would support:
- The APS and CPS Workforce. Investment in local social services workforces for Adult Protective Services (APS) and Child Protective Services (CPS) to address critical staffing shortages. Funds would be used to create more than 100 full-time county positions and be allocated statewide based on a formula that accounts for current staffing levels and need by county.
- Placement First Pilots. Provide funds to establish Placement First pilot programs to support suitable placements for youth with a history of complex trauma. These funds would support foster or kinship homes or small group homes which have high caregiver-to-youth ratios, intensive support services, and follow-up support for 18-24 months.
- Professional Foster Parenting Program. Fund a new strategy, Professional Foster Parenting, to fill the gap between residential-based services and existing foster care options. Professional foster parents would be provided additional training and resources to support children with higher needs, including wrap-around support services, trauma-based training, targeted skill development, and intensive permanence-based interventions.
In addition to these priorities, our top legislative priority continues to be Medicaid Expansion. Expanding Medicaid will provide access to affordable health insurance and health care to more than 600,000 additional North Carolinians, including veterans and working families with children. No additional state funding is needed to expand Medicaid.
As our state recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, three areas have emerged as urgent priorities for our NCDHHS work: Behavioral Health and Resiliency, Children and Families, and Strong and Inclusive Workforce. Making strategic investments in these areas now is critical to a strong and equitable recovery and lasting positive change for all North Carolinians. Highlights in the Governor’s budget that address these areas include:
Note: The links below will take you to the right page in the Governor’s budget if you are using a web browser with an Adobe plugin, but may not work on your phone.
Behavioral Health and Resiliency:
$26.8 million for strengthening our behavioral health crisis system: These investments will provide immediate assistance to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. This includes ensuring that the 988 Crisis Helpline is adequately staffed when it launches in July 2022 and expanding the availability of mobile crisis teams across the state to rapidly respond when people are in crisis.
$8 million for launching justice-involved pilot programs: 37% of people in state and federal prisons have been diagnosed with a mental illness, as have 44% of people in locally run jails. These two pilots will provide an ability for communities to implement a comprehensive justice and behavioral healthcare strategy including early diversion, treatment during incarceration, re-entry, and capacity restoration.
$12.3 million to increase funding for Transitions to Community Living: Adults living with serious mental illnesses should have the opportunity to choose where they live, work, and play. This increases North Carolina’s investment in an initiative that promotes recovery through providing long-term housing, community-based services, supported employment, and community integration.
Children and Families:
$8.9 million for implementing the Child Welfare and Family Well-Being Action Plan: An urgent crisis today is that the number of children with complex behavioral health needs who come into the care of child welfare services far exceeds the spaces and services available that meet their care needs. These investments in prevention and treatment services will help more families experiencing adversity cope, repair, and heal.
$89.7 million for providing a sound basic education during early childhood: Every child deserves the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential. Achieving that requires access to high-quality early education and childcare. The Governor’s budget proposes additional investments in our nationally recognized NC Pre-K program and in Smart Start, raising pay for early childhood educators, increasing the availability of high-quality childcare, and strengthening recruitment and retention of childcare workers.
$11.6 million for reducing maternal mortality and morbidity: The number of women who die giving birth in America each year has nearly doubled in the last two decades, and black women are 1.8 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women in North Carolina. These investments will increase payments for prenatal care and invest in evidence-based initiatives to improve maternal outcomes and disparities.
Strong and Inclusive Workforce:
$10 million for strengthening the local public health workforce: Local Health Departments play essential roles in keeping their communities safe and healthy. These investments will leverage federal COVID-19 related funding to strengthen their capacity and to address key workforce challenges.
$60 million for increasing pay for direct care workers: Only about one of every five North Carolina nursing homes meet the recommended staffing level. This increases the reimbursement rate paid to Skilled Nursing Facilities, making a portion of the temporary COVID-19 increase permanent. A minimum of 80% of the funding should be used to increase pay for direct care workers.
We look forward to working together with you to advance our shared goals during this legislative session. Thank you for your continued partnership, and especially for the work you do every day to improve the health and well-being of North Carolinians.
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Foster Care and Reunification: June Event and Vendor Information:
From Mary Mackins, Permanency Coordinator, DSS
Thank you all so much for your willingness to join us and share information during our event for Foster Care Appreciation and Reunification Month. We are looking forward to celebrating all those that help move permanency in a positive direction for our children and youth. I wanted to take this time to reach out and provide some details for our day.
- Address: 820 S. Boylan Ave-Raleigh (Dix Campus) Best way to come onto campus is come up Western Blvd. Turn onto S. Boylan (winding road) come to stop sign. Turn right and head toward yellow building. Map is attached to highlight area. There will be a table near the gazebo with DHHS staff to answer questions and provide directions. My cell phone number is: 919-208-8581. Please reach out if you have any issues locating the area or with any questions (Mary Mackins).
- Event will begin at 11 am
- Vendors arrive between 10-10:30 am
- Feel free to bring your own tablecloth
- We will have a table and chairs provided for all vendors
- We are requesting vendors to remain until 1:30 pm to allow for guests the opportunity to visit tables following the final speaker
More Information:
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Joint Communication Bulletins
JCB #414-Update on Resuming the Tool for Measurement of Assertive Community Treatment (TMACT) and Individual Placement and Support (IPS) Fidelity Evaluations
On April 23, 2020, and Oct. 2, 2020, Joint Communication Bulletins #J361 and #J378 informed LMEMCOs that the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services
(DMH/DD/SAS) had suspended in-person TMACT and IPS fidelity evaluations and that the Interim Evidence-Based Practice Quality Review Protocol would be utilized while TMACT and IPS fidelity
evaluations were suspended.
On Aug. 2, 2021, Joint Communication Bulletin #J398 informed LME-MCOs that all in-person TMACT and IPS fidelity evaluations would resume on Jan. 1, 2022, with the expectation that
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and IPS teams would resume providing services face-to-face in the community.
JCB #415-Clarification of Transitions to Community Living In-Reach Function
This bulletin clarifies expectations of the In-Reach function for Transitions to Community Living (TCL). During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, flexibilities were put in place for all services, including the provision of In-Reach activities which allowed LME-MCOs to perform these services virtually.
It has come to the State’s attention that there is extensive, inappropriate, and ongoing use of letters and phone calls to fulfill the In-Reach function. Effective immediately, the following expectations for In-Reach are:
#J416 - State-Funded TBI Long Term Residential Rehabilitation Service Definition
The Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services (DMH/DD/SAS) approved TBI Long Term Residential Rehabilitation (TBI LTRR) to be added as a new State-funded service under the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) benefit plan with an effective implementation date of September 1, 2022.
Read More:
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The NC Division of Health Benefits (DHB) has recently published a new Medicaid Bulletin article pertaining to COVID-19:
SPECIAL BULLETIN COVID-19 #247: Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests for Home Use Pharmacy Coverage
NC Medicaid-enrolled pharmacy providers are reminded that point-of-sale (POS) billing for FDA-authorized over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests dispensed for use by NC Medicaid beneficiaries in a home setting became effective Jan. 10, 2022. More information
Providers are encouraged to review this information. All bulletin articles, including those related to COVID-19, are available on DHB's Medicaid Bulletin webpage.
New Medicaid Bulletins Available
The NC Division of Health Benefits (DHB) has recently published new Medicaid Bulletin articles:
- Lutetium Lu 177 Vipivotide Tetraxetan Injection, for Intravenous Use (Pluvicto™) HCPCS Code A9699: Billing Guidelines
- Kit for the Preparation of Gallium Ga 68 Gozetotide Injection, for Intravenous Use (Locametz®) HCPCS Code A9597: Billing Guidelines
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Kit for the Preparation of Gallium Ga 68 Dotatate Injection, for Intravenous Use (Netspot®) HCPCS Code A9587: Billing Guidelines
- Gadoterate Meglumine Injection, for Intravenous Use (Clariscan™) HCPCS Code A9575: Billing Guidelines
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Free Dental Continuing Education Credits
- Verifying Provider Information (NPI+Location Code) in NCTracks
- Updates to Clinical Coverage Policy 5A-3, Nursing Equipment and Supplies
- Shared/Split Evaluation and Management Visits
- Billing Requirement Modifications Due to COVID-19 to Expire
Providers are encouraged to review this information. All bulletin articles, including those related to COVID-19, are available on DHB's Medicaid Bulletin webpage.
May Pharmacy Newsletter Available
The latest Medicaid Pharmacy Newsletter, dated May 2022, is now available on the N.C. Medicaid website. In addition to the June 2022 checkwrite schedule, this edition of the newsletter includes the articles:
- Second Booster Dose Authorization for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine
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Over the Counter COVID-19 Tests for Home Use Pharmacy POS Coverage
Providers are encouraged to review this important information. The 2022 Medicaid Pharmacy Newsletters can be viewed here.
Full Legal Name Required
Effective March 30, 2022, NCTracks implemented a quality assurance practice that requires individual providers’ full legal name (first, middle and last name, as it appears on government-issued ID) to be listed on their NCTracks provider record and any enrollment application. NCTracks will withdraw the applications if the provider's full legal name is not listed on the application.
Please note that if the name exceeds the character limitation, providers should spell out the name exactly as listed on the ID as far as they can until it truncates but should not abbreviate.
Providers must update their name on the provider record in NCTracks to ensure a match with their full legal name as it appears on government-issued ID to avoid issues with enrollment applications. NCTracks reviews licenses, accreditations and certifications for indication that a provider's full legal name is not listed on their NCTracks application.
Note: The full legal name does NOT have to be listed with NPPES, licensure, accreditation, or certification in all cases but should be verifiable as a match. Our intent is to ensure that we have the applicants’/enrollees’ full legal name to conduct our credentialing based on the correct name.
Provider Name Incorrect on Record with NCTracks
If it is determined the provider’s name is listed incorrectly with NCTracks, the course of action will depend on the application type in progress:
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Initial enrollment application: The provider must withdraw their application and submit a new application with their correct legal name.
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Re-enrollment, Manage Change Request (MCR), or Re-verification application: The provider cannot alter their name on a pending application. The provider must upload a name change support document (driver license, SSN card, marriage license, or alternative government-issued proof of legal name) via the Upload Documents page for the pending application. The NCTracks Enrollment Specialist will correct the name on the existing record, notify the provider and withdraw the current application. The provider may then submit a new re-enrollment, MCR, or re-verification application.
A provider with no pending application that needs to report a name change or correction to their existing provider record should contact the NCTracks Call Center at 800-688-6696 for assistance.
Additional information may be found in the NCTracks FAQ here.
Reminder - Call Center & Checkwrite Schedule for Memorial Day Holiday
The NCTracks Call Center will be closed Monday, May 30, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. (The Pharmacy Prior Approval Unit will be open holiday hours from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.)
In keeping with the published approved 2022 checkwrite schedule, because of the federal holiday, the checkwrite date will be on Wednesday, June 1. The posting and availability of funds to provider bank accounts will depend on the provider's financial institution. Bank of America customers should see their payments in their accounts on the day that the EFT is processed, which will be Thursday (6/2/2022). Providers who bank at other financial institutions should see payments the business day following the date that the EFT is processed, which will be Friday (6/3/2022) afternoon. (Some may post sooner.)
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Improve Daily Practice With Resources that Prioritize Kinship Care
Placement with kin or relatives can lead to improved well-being and increased placement stability for children and youth.
It can help them retain their cultural traditions, uphold family connections, decrease placement disruptions, and more. With these significant benefits, it is important to prioritize placement with relatives in daily practice.
Children and youth have a right to maintain important relationships with family and to be an active participant in their case planning. Ask youth who they feel most connected to and make sure they have ways to stay connected—both physically and virtually—with key relatives, siblings, and other caring adults.
There are several tools and resources available to help incorporate kinship care into daily practice, including how to talk to youth about placement with kin and how to support kinship caregivers.
Explore these resources and share them with your colleagues and communities:
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LME/MCOs Launch Initiative to Ensure Seamless, Statewide Care for Foster Children
North Carolina’s six Local Management Entities/Managed Care Organizations (LME/MCOs) have launched the NC Child and Family Improvement Initiative to collaboratively improve care for children, youth and families served by the child welfare system. Building on a 50-year legacy of established local partnerships and the strengths of North Carolina’s public managed care system for mental health, substance use disorder, intellectual/developmental disability (IDD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), the LME/MCOs have joined together to implement a statewide model to ensure seamless access to quality care for these children and families regardless of where they live in NC.
LME/MCOs have long worked together with their counties to effectively serve children in the foster care system. For those children with very complex behavioral health needs, often inclusive of IDD needs, there are often challenges in securing needed treatment. Severe provider capacity issues and workforce shortages across the state have exacerbated these challenges. Following recent decisions by 20 counties that were formerly assigned to Cardinal Innovations to realign with other LME/MCOs, there is ground-breaking work taking place that is improving care for youth with complex needs. North Carolina’s LME/MCOs have intensified their efforts to address the challenges facing children, families, and county Department of Social Services (DSS) offices while leveraging North Carolina’s existing infrastructure in order to be good stewards of public funds, and to bring rapid change to this critical population
As part of the NC Child and Family Improvement Initiative, the LME/MCOs have assembled North Carolina child welfare subject matter experts and thought leaders to create a statewide solution to the current pressing challenges of the service delivery system. Responding to the most significant issues raised by Members of the General Assembly, county Departments of Social Services, the Provider Community and families, the Initiative will create ease of movement for children who relocate throughout the state to continue to receive services without delay or interruption and will alleviate any administrative burden on providers who are involved in those inter-county movements.
As the NC Child and Family Improvement Initiative workgroups continue their efforts in the coming days and beyond, specific elements and dates for delivery will be shared. The immediate improvements resulting from this partnership will be fully functional before the December 2022 launch of the North Carolina BH IDD Tailored Plans.
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Vaya Retroactive Therapeutic Foster Care Rate Increase
Vaya Health is proud to announce an increase to our Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) rate. Effective immediately, the standard rate for the S5145 code with Vaya will increase from $97.22 to $175.00. The new rate will be retroactive to July 1, 2021 to allow providers to utilize this increase in funds to support their current therapeutic foster families as well as plan for expansion of TFC homes.
Vaya’s goal with the increase to our TFC rate is to create an extensive TFC network that allows our children to remain in their home communities with therapeutic foster parents who are dedicated to their success and transitioning home. In the coming weeks Vaya will be reaching out to contracted TFC providers to discuss these goals and to monitor the success of these new rates meeting the following objectives:
- To improve the retention rate of current TFC families
- To expand the number of therapeutic homes across the Vaya region
- To support children being served in their local communities with their local support systems
- To improve the coordination of services for children in care by assuring children are connected with medical, dental, and behavioral health services
- To provide additional support and training to TFC families
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Home and Community-Based Services Final Rule Update: Final Statewide Transition Plan Submissions, Settings Criteria Not Impacted by the COVID-19 PHE, and Requests from States for Corrective Action Plans
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a strategy for implementation of the home and community-based settings regulation, in partnership with the Administration for Community Living (ACL), that aligns the focus of federal support and state compliance activities with the realities of the direct-service workforce crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). CMS and ACL believe this strategy will ensure implementation of important regulatory criteria related to beneficiary rights in the short-term, with sustained state and provider efforts to fully implement all other settings criteria.
This multi-faceted implementation approach contains the following components, in order for states to continue federal reimbursement of home and community-based services (HCBS) beyond the transition period:
- States must receive final Statewide Transition Plan approval by March 17, 2023.
- States and providers must be in compliance with all settings criteria not directly impacted by PHE disruptions, including PHE-related workforce challenges, by March 17, 2023.
- Time-limited corrective action plans (CAPs) will be available to states to authorize additional time to achieve full compliance with settings criteria that are directly impacted by PHE disruptions, when states document the efforts to meet these requirements to the fullest extent possible, and are in compliance with all other settings criteria.
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Technical Brief on Mental Health Mobile Apps
We developed and pilot tested a framework to assess mental health mobile applications (apps).
The Framework to Assist Stakeholders in Technology Evaluation for Recovery (FASTER) to Mental Health and Wellness assesses the risk/safety, technical functionality, and mental health features of apps.
FASTER can be used by advocacy organizations, payers, healthcare systems, and others to inform selection of mental health mobile apps.
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EARN $100 BY HELPING US DESIGN A PARENTING GAME!
We have a new project around gamifying an evidence-based intervention, Triple P, to improve access for caregivers with addiction in order to reduce substance use outcomes in their children. We're in the beginning phases of game creation and are looking for parents and providers to participate in a 1-1.5 hour focus group in the beginning of June. There is compensation for participation ($100). All other details can be found in the flyers.
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NC Health News:
Lots of Buzz About Medicaid Expansion Bill
It finally happened.
In a move that many health care advocates have been pushing for years, the state Senate introduced a bill on Wednesday that would expand the state’s Medicaid program to some half million-plus low-income North Carolinians.
Until this point, Medicaid has been reserved mostly for children from low-income families along with a small number of parents in those families, poor seniors and people with disabilities. Since 2012, the possibility to sweep in many low-income workers has been on the table as a result of the Affordable Care Act, but Republican leaders in the state senate have been staunch opponents.
Sheriffs want to turn transport of psych patients over to mental health workers
When two sheriff’s deputies showed up at the hospital room of John Noel’s husband, Chris, he thought he was being arrested. No one had told him they were coming.
The deputies handcuffed Chris and escorted him to the back seat of a patrol car, according to Noel. Driving away from the hospital, Chris asked the officers if they were taking him to prison. They ignored his questions.
(NC Health News verified Chris’ identity and chose not to identify him by his real name due to the ongoing stigma of mental illness and involuntary commitment.)
The officers were taking Chris from the emergency department at Duke Regional Hospital in Durham to Holly Hill Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Raleigh under an involuntary commitment order.
Meanwhile, Noel was at home and had no idea. Had he known about the order, Noel says he would’ve tried to prevent it or driven Chris to Holly Hill himself.
Carolina Public Press: Child's death triggers new state response to Cherokee County DSS
The death of any child whose family was in contact with a county DSS unleashes a hurricane of bureaucracy. In North Carolina's system of state oversight and county administration, state workers examine whether county workers followed law, policy and accepted practice.
Kevin Marino, interim DSS director for Rutherford county, said the state is looking to answer a specific question: "Did the child die, or was there a high probability that the child died, as a result of maltreatment?" The death triggers a rapid response at the local and state level. The goal is to investigate whether faults with social workers contributed to or led to a child's death and ultimately remediate those faults.
This was also the case for Cherokee County DSS, which was perhaps under even greater scrutiny than the typical county. Just four years ago, the county was the subject of the first state takeover of a child welfare office in North Carolina history. Now, local attorneys representing parents in DSS court cases want more answers and have issued a subpoena to the county's DSS director to testify in court about the state's report. Although she did not appear Monday, one lawyer said he isn't giving up.
North State Journal: Senate lawmakers introduce "Parents' Bill of Rights" legislation
On May 24, Senate leader Berger (R-Eden) along with Education Committee Chairs Sens. Deanna Ballard (R-Watauga) and Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) held a press conference to unveil a "Parents' Bill of Rights." According to the bill draft and summary document obtained by North State Journal, the bill does seek to increase curriculum and materials transparency by school districts as well as notify parents regarding the mental health and physical well-being of their child.
The bill would require schools to provide parents with information related to parental involvement in schools, legal rights for their child's education, and guides for student achievement. The parental rights enumerated in a new Article by the bill include a host of items including direction of the child's education, care, upbringing, and moral or religious training, access to student records, making health care decisions for their child, access to health care records and covering attendance laws.
Montgomery Herald: State Supports Agency's Actions
Montgomery County Department of Social Services has come under fire on social media recently regarding practices involving foster care and child placement. The comments revolve primarily around one family who had a foster child removed from their home by social services with plans to reunite the child with a family member. The foster family, Jennifer and Adam Bowles, has had the child since birth in January and had hoped to adopt the child.
DSS Director Stephanie Smith, who cannot speak publicly about individual cases, felt the need to share information with community residents after she was made aware of the misinformation that is being shared on social media. Smith addresses the state and federal guidelines that DSS officials are required to follow in each case they handle.
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New: Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Self-Advocate Discussion Series
Time: 1:00 pm thru 2:00 pm
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New: Thursday, June 2, 2022
Getting Ahead of the Fire: Preventing Burnout before it’s too Late
Time: 1:00 pm thru 2:00 pm
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New: Friday, June 3, 2022
School Based Telehealth
Time: 2:00 pm thru 3:30 pm
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New: Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Enhancing Access to Pediatric Behavioral Health
Time: 12:00 pm thru 1:00 pm
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New: Thursday, June 9, 2022
Benchmarks' Child Welfare Webinar with Lisa Cauley & Karen McLeod
Time: 8:00 am thru 9:00 am
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New: Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Achieving Broad Participation in Meaningful Clinical Research at the Point of Care
Time: 2:00 pm thru 5:15 pm
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New: Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Competitive Integrated Employment Series
Time: 12:00 pm thru 1:00 pm
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New: Friday, June 17, 2022
Benchmarks' Friday Membership Webinar with Dave Richard & Karen McLeod
Time: 8:30 am thru 9:30 am
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Webinar Series: Learn to Write Policy Information That Is Easy to Understand
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Session 3: Easy Read Text
Time: 4:00 pm thru 5:00 pm
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Tailored Care Management Educational Offerings
Ongoing Webinar Sessions and Trainings: Some are free, some require a fee, and some are for CMA organizations that have passed the desk review only.
NC AHEC has partnered with the NC Department of Health and Human Services and Division of Health Benefits to equip Tailored Care Management (TCM) candidates with the tools and knowledge to effectively provide care management services to North Carolina’s Tailored Plan beneficiaries through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities. Find a list of monthly offerings below and join us for one or for all!
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