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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEI Provider Meeting Minutes 4-19-13Early Intervention Provider Meeting Minutes Friday, April 19, 2013 Staff: Trish Elliott, Ed Franchi, Ashley McCartney Providers: Debbie Reuvenny – Keystone, Jenn Hawbecker – UCP, Adam Rowland – Advanta Therapy, Shelley Tobin & Theresa Miller– Invo, Holly Whiteside, Jim Schu & Natasha Kara – SAM, Inc. Conference Call: Jody Bering – LIU, Cynthia Bosserman – UCP Absent: Claire Hornberger Meeting Minutes Welcomes & Introductions –  CPR/First Aid Training We are having CPR and First Aid Training on May 1st. Diane Harris will be instructing the trainings. CPR will be 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. then First Aid will be 10:30 a.m. until it is completed. It is $19.00 per a person. You will receive a certification card from the Red Cross. The training will be held at the Ag Building located on Franklin Farm Lane. Trish will send directions.  Service Access & Management, Inc. (SAM) Overview Natasha Kara is the Site Director for SAM located at 1061 Lincoln Way East. The numbers that MH/ID/EI had at the Admin Annex have transitioned to SAM. The case managers have stayed the same. The day to day practice has remained the same. SAM has tried to make as little changes as possible so the individuals we work with do not experience drastic changes. Holly has been communicating well with the AE and providers. SAM has been in business for years. They are very consumer focused. As for right now, the only change that has really taken place is the name to SAM. Jim Schu gave a brief overview. SAM provides EI services in multiple different counties. The piece to that is SAM has a lot of different resources that they use. The EI Directors come together to develop things to better the program. There is a lot of support in SAM. Jim stated that they feel real positive that it helps with the quality of the program and to develop the program. SAM has just received another 3 years of accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Services CARF. Questions/Comments/Concerns – Jody Bering: Always in the past, providers emailed Holly regarding questions, should they still email Holly or is there someone else who needs emailed? Natasha Kara: continue to email Holly and cc’ Natasha in on the email. This is so Natasha understands the culture and dynamics of Franklin/Fulton counties. She wants to assure the individuals get what they need. If the email is regarding a simple referral or things along that line, Natasha does not need copied in on that. If there is a process or something new going on, yes Natasha needs cc’d. Holly is familiar with EI and Natasha is familiar with SAM, so they can work together if there is a difference. Jenn Hawbecker: Each month when fiscal billing person does billing, there are some times when the plan doesn’t have enough units, does that go the County or Holly? Holly Whiteside: the County still gets it but it is then forwarded to Holly. Continue to do this how you have been in the past. Debbie Reuvenny: Who initiates the authorizations? Holly Whiteside: We put them in Pelican and the County approves the funding. Holly needs to adjust the units in Pelican then email Trish letting her know it is ready to be approved. Ed Franchi: How will SAM be billing the County? Will it go through Promise or will the county be getting a hard copy? Natasha Kara: Linda Hess understands a lot of what was done in the past. Linda works with Holly regarding the invoice. Natasha believes the County will get a hard copy but she will find out the answer and let the County know.  Jody Bering – Transitions LIU is in charge of looking at the child services being provided in the least restricted environment. It is a challenge when families are receiving multiple different services in their home. Jody is asking, as a reminder that nobody that is working with the children should be making up a prescription of what should be happening after age 3. LIU needs to complete an evaluation before a determination of services is decided. Jody asked to remind staff that work with families around transition time that they just talk to them about “when they go to the LIU they will talk about what services the child is eligible for”. Families are stating that service coordinators are telling them what to tell the LIU to provide them. This is not acceptable. This causes families to get upset when their child is not eligible for those services. The LIU is trying to meet the letter of the law and that is to get the least restrictive environment for children. Jody stated that she will be sending out an e-mail explaining the steps of the transition process and she has asked that Trish forward that when she gets it. Questions/Comments/Concerns – Jenn Hawbecker: is not aware of the issue but questioned if the LIU has something in writing regarding the guidelines in classroom? Jenn is trying to explain to families that there are certain criteria that need to be met. Jody Bering: There is currently nothing in writing. Jody wants to change the wording from “qualifying for classroom” to “being eligible for special education”. The families that the LIU is completing evaluations on are looking for yes or no answers. The LIUs job the day of the evaluation is to say whether or not the child is eligible for services. What should take place to follow the regulations is – say yes, your child is eligible for services but we will contact you back in a few weeks to set up services. At the evaluation, the delays of the child will be known but an IEP meeting needs to be held to see what services the child needs. Jody will follow up with this information in an email to Trish, in which Trish can then provide the information to all providers. Jenn Hawbecker: do you have something that says the teacher knows the itinerant? Jody Bering: We are actually making sure that people know that. There could be a child who comes in and has fine motor delays but it is not because there is something wrong with their motor skills. It is because, for example, the child has never picked up a crayon. In that case, we would send an iterant teacher instead of an OT. Jenn Hawbecker: is there a certain percentage of a delay that a child has to have for the classroom? Jody Bering: No. First, the LIU needs to look to see if the child is receiving services anywhere else. They also look at if the child’s needs are so great that there would be no success here. The LIU then looks at a restrictive setting. The LIU looks at the big picture, where they are, how grand their needs are, etc. Holly Whiteside: Holly talked to other people from other LIUs. One of the things they do twice a year is have an open house. They schedule it around transition kids where a certain point the families come there, they feed them and information can be explained to them. Here is what Holly thinks – coming from the therapists and SC stand point, they have been working with the families for three years so they know what they can and cannot do. So it’s a big shock for them when the LIU says they cannot provide services. Is that something we can explore for the future, partner with the LIU to do open houses for children in certain ages? Maybe one can be held in the fall and one in the spring. Jody Bering: If we plan ahead, we could definitely do an open house. Jody suggested calling it Transition Night or Afternoon instead. Holly and Jody will come up with ideas. Jody Bering: Starting in the summer or when the new school years starts in the fall (this is still in the planning stage but you will be notified before it happens), begin to tell families when they come to a transition evaluation at the LIU that they will not hear what they used to. They will hear their child is showing delays and that someone will be in contact with them to help meet those needs and what services will help. Holly Whiteside: asked if LIU will start putting in Pelican if a child is eligible. Jody Bering: Yes. Everything will be as is for the evaluation part of it.  Fiscal Review The County has received verbal confirmation from the State that we will be getting some increase funding. We have not received anything in writing yet. We have updated the State on the additional funding that we need to keep EI providing services through the end of the FY. The Commissioners went ahead and approved for services to continue. They will cover the expenses at this point, in hopes that the State will come back and fund us. Actual & Projected Expenses Analysis Handout: The Commissioners want to know how much the potential unfunded EI service expenses will be for the rest of the FY. We have already shared with them what we sent to the State. They want an updated number. Ed explained the handout, which is what we are expecting the providers to turn in with each monthly invoice. Ed has been receiving some spreadsheets where the formulas have been replaced by a “hand written” figure, causing the numbers to be incorrect. The gray area on the handout should be the only area that providers are entering information in. Ed would like a projected number for April, May and June, with actual billings through March. He asked providers that they try to look at the case load, the ones aging out, the services the client is receiving, etc. and give an accurate a number as possible, not just a random number. Claire will share the returned spreadsheets with the Commissioners so they can see the additional funding that is needed. If additional funds are needed, a contract amendment will take place to increase the encumbrance. The Commissioners office will make the call on the amount of additional funding that each provider will receive. Ed will email Trish a copy of the spreadsheet so she can email it to all providers. Please turn it around pretty quickly. Questions/Comments/Concerns: Jenn Hawbecker: UCP’s fiscal person already sends this information in monthly; does Ed need to be copied in on that? Ed Franchi: yes, Ed must receive this. Debbie Reuvenny: Keystone only does evaluation and has no clue how many referrals they are going to get, they have already projected out the information Ed is looking for and sent it in for the rest of the FY. Keystone does not know what kind of funding they are going to have with each referral, such as MA, etc. As for Promise, it is the end of the following month before providers receive an exact amount of billing for the previous month. Ed understands that it’s not easy for providers to project, but that they would certainly know better than he would. He asked that they do their best with the information they have. Holly Whiteside: for the providers that provide services, when you get in Pelican, can you see what type of funding a child has? Providers: all providers answered no. It is only when they bill in Promise that they can see that information.  General Discussion Claire tended to her resignation yesterday. Her last day will be May 3rd. Trish stated that most recently, Lebanon, York/Adams, Dauphin and Franklin/Fulton counties have been planning something for a year and half that has finally taken place last Friday – Appreciation for SCs. It took place at the Service Coordination Wellness Day. Trish read evaluations that were completed and only one of them was “iffy”. Most people seemed to have a great time. Holly reminded everyone that the 709-7222 fax is no longer being used. Providers must fax documents for SAM to 264-6297. SCs have their own cell phones so that should be the numbers that providers use since they are out in the community most of the time. Last Friday was Kaitlyn Taylor’s last day. SAM did interview individuals and have selected one. SAM will be making that announcement formally in the next week or so. The employees first day will be May 6th. Holly will provide everyone with that person’s contact information. All of Kaitlyn’s caseload has been temporarily reassigned. Upcoming Meetings/Events: LICC Meeting – May 3rd Fulton County Kids Fest – May 4th (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Ben Chambers Kids Fest – May 11th (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.)  2013 Provider Meeting Dates All provider meetings are on Fridays at 10:00 a.m. in the Human Services Building on 425 Franklin Farm Lane in Chambersburg. July 19th October 18th The meeting was adjourned. Minutes by Erin Nye