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Oct. 13, 2023

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


Announcements:


  • Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration Announcement


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


  • Announcing the Launch of the Direct Care Workers Satisfaction and Engagement Survey!


Memos:


  • Upgrades to the Existing Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Provider Enrollment Webpage & New Provider Specialty Finder Tool


  • Addition of the Developmental Disabilities (DD) Waiver to the Buy-In Program and Process to Opt-Out


  • Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Base Wage Rate Increase 2023 Attestation Final Notice


  • American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Enhanced Home Modification Benefit End and Close Out Timelines 


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

Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration Announcement

 

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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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.


  • Effected 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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Announcing the Launch of the 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.

Memos

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




  • Operational Memo - American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Enhanced Home Modification Benefit End and Close Out Timelines (Oct. 11, 2023): The purpose of this Operational Memo is to provide updated information to case management agencies (CMAs), providers, and stakeholders on the closeout timelines for the temporary enhancement to the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Home Modification benefit for the Elderly, Blind, and Disabled (EBD) waiver, Brain Injury (BI) waiver, Community Mental Health Supports (CMHS) waiver, Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) waiver, Supported Living Services (SLS) waiver, and the Children’s Extensive Supports (CES) waiver.

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

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: 


Limon:

Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, 12 to 1 p.m. MT

Limon Community Center South Room

477 D Ave, Limon, CO 80828


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 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.

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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Looking for Prior OCL Communications?


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  • Search OCL newsletters back to January 2021


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