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

Announcements:

• National Core Indicators (NCI) – State of the Workforce Survey—Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

• FINAL REMINDER: Expanding Health-Related Social Needs Services in Colorado Stakeholder Kickoff Meeting - Monday, March 11, 2024

• REMINDER: Apply Now for the HCPF/Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) Auditing and Accounting (A&A) Guidelines Committee

• HCPF Direct Care Workforce Public Awareness Campaign – Deadline: Sunday, March 17, 2024

General OCL Meetings:

• Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) Listening Session

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)-Related Meetings:

• Community First Choice (CFC) Council Meeting

• ARPA 1.05 Provider Informational Webinar

Announcements

National Core Indicators (NCI) – State of the Workforce Survey—Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

HCPF will soon conduct the National Core Indicators (NCI) —State of the Workforce Survey—Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (SotW-IDD) (formerly known as the Staff Stability Survey) for agencies providing services to individuals enrolled on the Supported Living Services (SLS) and the Developmental Disabilities (DD) waivers in early March 2024.

The SotW-IDD is conducted across the country and will help Colorado measure improvement in the quality and stability of the workforce of direct care workers assisting adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The SotW-IDD is required to be conducted every year by statute through House Bill 18-1407 to measure progress regarding Colorado’s direct care workforce. To evaluate and develop policies and programs to support the direct service provider workforce, HCPF requires reliable data on turnover, wages, benefits, and retention strategies.

Agencies included in the survey sample can expect to receive the link via email, to complete the survey online. We are asking agencies to complete survey by June 30, 2024. To encourage participation in the survey, HCPF will offer eligible and participating agencies a $100 gift card to DoorDash at the closure of the survey. Survey findings will be shared later in the year.

We thank agencies for assisting us with this mission-critical work that will help evaluate the stability of staff and services provided to the members we serve. For more information, please visit HCPF’s NCI webpage.

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FINAL REMINDER: Expanding Health-Related Social Needs Services in Colorado Stakeholder Kickoff Meeting - Monday, March 11, 2024

HCPF is beginning our work to engage stakeholders about how Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid program) and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) can better support the health related social needs (HRSN) of our members. A kick-off meeting will be hosted to present on HRSN initiatives underway at HCPF, national opportunities, collaborations across the state, and to collect input from attendees on their priorities.

All stakeholders are welcome, including those who perform social needs assessments and referrals or those who provide or receive those services.

The meeting will be held:

Monday, March 11, 2024

2:30 to 4 p.m. MT

Register Here via Zoom

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REMINDER: Apply Now for the HCPF/Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) Auditing and Accounting (A&A) Guidelines Committee

HCPF and the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) are accepting applications for the Auditing and Accounting (A&A) Guidelines Committee. A&A Committee members will be from a variety of interested parties and will provide crucial feedback relating to what is and is not allowed in the cost reporting process, which effects rate setting.

The A&A Committee meets to provide feedback to HCPF and the BHA relating to what can and cannot be included in cost reports for safety net providers. These cost reports factor into rate setting so affect the ways that managed care providers are paid. We are unsure of the exact time commitment right now, but the committee will meet no more frequently than monthly. A qualified applicant would:

• Have knowledge of how their organization's services are coded

• Understand how cost reports interact with their systems

• Be interested in contributing feedback on the contents of the codes which are and are not allowed on the cost report

• Have the ability to attend committee meetings

If you have questions, please email Spencer Green.

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HCPF Direct Care Workforce Public Awareness Campaign

Deadline: Sunday, March 17, 2024

HCPF is looking for feedback on the recent Direct Care Workforce Public Awareness Campaign. The purpose of this survey is to evaluate the impact of the campaign.

The survey will be open until Sunday, March 17, 2024. If you are interested in seeing some of the campaign videos and materials (available for download and use), you can find them at HCPF’s Direct Care Spotlight webpage.

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.

Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) Listening Session

EVV Listening Sessions are informal opportunities for stakeholders to bring questions to HCPF about your EVV implementation and operation. No new policy or technical processes will be announced in these Listening Sessions. New information will be discussed in the Quarterly EVV Stakeholder meeting and published on the EVV Stakeholder Workgroup page. Email EVV@state.co.us to have a calendar invitation sent for this ongoing session.

These Listening Sessions are held on the first Thursday of the month at 10 to 11 a.m. MT.

The meeting will be held:

Thursday, March 7, 2024

10 to 11 a.m. MT

Join via Google Meet

Join via Phone:

1-208-715-5308, PIN: 438 295 119#

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.

Community First Choice (CFC) Council Meeting

The CFC Council is in place to collaborate with and advise the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) on the design and implementation of a CFC option in Colorado. Primarily made up of individuals with disabilities, those 65 years or older, and their representatives, the council’s experience and expertise will help ensure that CFC is implemented in a way that best meets the needs of Coloradoans with disabilities.

Agendas, presentations, and other related materials for council meetings can be found on the CFC Stakeholder Opportunities webpage.

For more information, contact the CFC team at HCPF_CFC@state.co.us.

The meeting will be held:

Wednesday, March 6, 10 to 11:30 a.m. MT

Meeting topic:

CFC Services for Children, a Member Perspective

Join via Google Meet

Join via Phone:

1-260-230-1249, PIN: 719 313 221#

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ARPA 1.05 Provider Informational Webinar

These webinars will provide information to prospective applicants about the ARPA 1.05 Provider Grant. The intention of this grant is to provide more training opportunities and incentives for workers to gain higher-level skills that would promote greater retention within the HCBS workforce. This webinar will review the grant eligibility and application process. All interested stakeholders are welcome.

The meeting will be held:

Thursday, March 7, 2024

1 to 2 p.m. MT

Join via Zoom

Join via Phone:

(Toll-free)1-877-853-5257

Meeting ID: 993 1700 7314, Passcode: 396389

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