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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEI Provider Meeting Minutes 04-21-21Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Staff Present: Jenn Hawbecker, Erin Nye, Dan Rhodes Providers Present: Lauren Everetts (Fulton County Medical Center), Krista Miracle (Pediatric Therapy Specialists), Cynthia Bosserman and Lori Beam (PennCares Support Services), Holly Whiteside (Service Access & Management, Inc.), Marci Walborn (UCP of Central PA), Rachel Bechtel (Aspirations), Jenn Consorti and Stefany Messina (Invo HealthCare Associates), Sila Alegret-Bartel (ICTM) MEETING MINUTES 1. Welcome & Introductions This meeting was held via Google Meet. All providers introduced themselves and their agency affiliations. 2. Provider Updates and Announcements Pediatric Therapy Specialists (PTS) PTS has hired two (2) special instructors: Riley Degelman and Sabrina Herman. Riley will also be covering administrative duties in the PTS office. Sabrina is a special education teacher from Greencastle-Antrim School District and is currently working on her master’s degree. Sabrina will be available for weekend and evening appointments. PTS will be hosting a Grace & Heart jewelry fundraiser event at Grayce Gardens in Chambersburg on May 1st from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. All proceeds from the jewelry sales will be going to the special needs playground that Jennifer Morgan has been planning in the Warfordsburg area of Fulton County. Krista Miracle will send a link/flyer to anyone interested in attending this event. PennCares Support Services PennCares has recently hired two (2) special instructors that are serving Franklin and Fulton Counties. 3. Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) Updates Jenn Hawbecker reviewed the most recent OCDEL updates related to COVID-19. The Decision Tree document that providers use when deciding whether to schedule in- person visits has been updated with the following yes/no question: “Has the family determined that resuming in-home (in-person) services best support overall health, safety, and well-being of the child and the family?” OCDEL wants to ensure that providers are considering each family’s preferences for receiving in-person services, tele-intervention, or a hybrid model of both options. If the family has indicated a preference for an in-person option, providers may schedule in-person visits for any services that are included in the child’s Individualized Family Support Plan (IFSP). Providers should reach out to the child’s service coordinator to let them know whenever a family has requested to resume full or partial in-person services. All provider staff and family members are still required to complete screening questions prior to every Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 21, 2021 in-person visit. Providers and families may refer any questions/concerns about in-person visits directly to the child’s service coordinator. Due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the EI Program and families cannot ask providers if they have received a COVID-19 vaccination. This vaccination is not required to provide services and the decision to receive one is considered a personal preference. Nevertheless, providers and families are still required to observe safety protocols during in-person visits (i.e. wearing face masks, maintaining social distance, hand washing/sanitizing) regardless of whether they have received a vaccination. OCDEL has updated the screening tool questions that providers should be asking families prior to every in-person visit. The wording of a question about quarantine status has been changed and a question pertaining to out of state travel has been removed due to Governor Wolf’s decision to end testing requirements following out of state travel. Also, the screening tool now includes a statement at the bottom which acknowledges that participants “should practice public health measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 such masking, physical distancing, and hand hygiene” during in-person visits. The updated screening tool will be sent out with this meeting’s minutes. The Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Human Services have released separate guidelines for families/individuals and service providers entitled Staying Safe While Receiving In-Home Services. The guidelines will be sent out with this meeting’s minutes. Jenn encouraged providers to share these resources with their staff and families. 4. Fiscal - Contracts Contract season is currently underway. Jenn thanked all providers for submitting their contract documents. Jenn and Ashley McCartney will work on getting contracts put together and ready for signatures within the next couple of weeks. Providers may contact Jenn and Ashley if they have any questions about the contract process, amendments, or their encumbrance amount. 5. EI Service Delivery: Coaching Across Settings The Core Leadership Team recently participated in the third monthly Coaching Across Settings webinar. A PA Coaching Needs Assessment and Planning Tool was presented to participants during this webinar. Team members will be meeting on May 5th to work on the needs assessment tool by identifying which coaching processes/procedures are currently in place within the Franklin/Fulton EI Program and which ones still need to be developed. The steps for implementing new coaching processes/procedures will be written into EI’s next Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). Jenn will be sending the needs assessment tool to providers for review prior to the Core Leadership Team’s meeting so that they can give feedback and examples based on their experiences with coaching. The tool is designed to measure the accuracy/current status of descriptor statements that are related to the following questions:  How would you describe your community’s awareness of your county’s vision and process?  How would you describe your county’s linkage between Evaluation and IFSP Development to coaching supports and services? Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 21, 2021  How would you describe your county’s current efforts to integrate coaching into your Early Intervention practices?  How do you prepare personnel in your county to implement coaching? The needs assessment tool must be completed and submitted by the end of May. Jenn will reach out to providers with any additional updates. 6. Provider Registry/Training Records Provider staff were required to have their Provider Registry profile set up and assigned to the counties where they provide services as of March 30th. Jenn observed that all Franklin/Fulton’s EI providers have completed these steps and some have begun to enter training information into the Provider Registry system. All training information must be entered into the system as of August 1st. Jenn will be able to generate reports to access the training information that has been uploaded to the Provider Registry as of September 1st. New staff should set up their profile within the Profile Registry system upon starting employment. Jenn requested that providers continue to send her new hire information until further notice because these records must be saved in the County’s system and it is currently unclear how they will be pulled from the Provider Registry. Examples of new hire information include resumes, licenses, transcripts, clearances, liability insurance (if contracted), First Aid/Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) certification, Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA) Portal orientation trainings, and any agency specific pre-service trainings. OCDEL has created an Early Intervention Training Log that providers can complete and upload to the Provider Registry to record trainings that did not offer a certificate. Multiple providers have reported that they are not yet able to upload certificates to the Provider Registry. Jenn informed providers that she will not be able to view certificates/documentation that are uploaded to the Professional Development Outside of the PD Registry section of the Provider Registry. These entries will not be used to calculate annual training hours. Providers should upload their certificates/documentation for trainings such as Mandated Reporter and Fire Safety under the Early Intervention Training Entry section of the Provider Registry to ensure that they receive credit and training hours are calculated correctly. Cynthia Bosserman recently submitted a question to the OCDEL resource account (RA- ocdintervention@pa.gov) in regard to which date should be entered into the Provider Registry for a First Aid/CPR training that took place on two (2) different dates. The Professional Development (PD) Registry has confirmed that the older of the two (2) dates should be entered in this situation. Jenn will not be requiring providers to submit training logs this year because information will be pulled from the Provider Registry instead. Jenn will contact providers individually if she has any questions about their information or needs it uploaded to a different section of the Provider Registry. Krista Miracle asked if it would be acceptable for her staff to upload the Training Verification Log document that they have already been using to record training information Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 21, 2021 for the current fiscal year. Jenn confirmed that PTS staff could continue to use the Training Verification Log for the remaining months of the current fiscal year and then switch to OCDEL’s Early Intervention Training Log as of July 1st. Jenn requested that providers send her any Provider Registry related questions that have been referred to the OCDEL resource account so that the responses can be shared with all providers. 7. EI Provider Roster Providers should let Jenn know about any changes that need to be made to their entry in the EI Provider Roster. An updated roster will be sent out with this meeting’s minutes. 8. Vision Provider Needed for Franklin and Fulton Counties The EI Program is currently looking for a vision services provider for both Franklin and Fulton Counties. The Tuscarora Intermediate Unit (TIU) will no longer be contracting with the EI Program to provide vision and hearing services in Fulton County as of the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Prior to this development, there had already been a long-term search for a vision services provider in Franklin County. Finding this type of provider has been especially challenging because vision services are considered low incidence. Jenn expressed appreciation for Diane Richmond’s (Aspirations) willingness to provide hearing services to a Fulton County child. Jenn encouraged providers to refer any agencies or individuals that provide vision services directly to her. 9. Provider Reports Due Prior to the Next Meeting  Audited Financial Report (for calendar year ending December 31st) – June 30th  Audit Engagement/Extension Letter for fiscal year ending June 30th – July 10th  Progress Report on Outcomes in Appendix A (only for contracts with an encumbrance of $50,000 or more) – July 31st  Staff Training Logs entered into Provider Registry – August 1st  Monthly Billing – due 15th of each month  Employee Debarment and Exclusion Check – due 15th of each month Reminders of these reports are sent out 3-4 weeks prior to their due date. You can also review the reports/due dates in procedure statement MHIDDEI-416 Contract Required Reports and Due Dates. Next Meeting: Wednesday, July 21, 2021 starting at 10:00 a.m. 2021 Meeting dates: July 21st October 20th Minutes by Dan Rhodes