The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutEI Provider Meeting Minutes 4-17-15Early Intervention Provider Meeting Friday, April 17, 2015 EI 1 4/17/15 Staff Present: Trish Elliott, Ashley McCartney, Erin Nye Providers: Krista Miracle (Pediatric Therapy Specialists - PTS), Holly Whiteside & Matt Yingling (SAM), Adam Rowland (Advanta Therapy), Lori Beam (UCP) Providers Absent: Lincoln Intermediate Unit, Keystone Children Services, Building Blocks Therapy Conference Call: Shelly Tobin (Invo HealthCare) MEETING MINUTES Welcome & Introductions Fiscal Updates  Trish and Ashley have worked on a budget for FY 15-16 contracts; figures have been determined for each provider. Providers will be contacted in the next 3-4 weeks to finalize the budget. The meetings can be in person or conference call. In the meantime, providers should review workloads to see where they think their encumbrance should be for FY 15-16. The funding for EI has not changed; EI needs to stay within the allocation provided to them from the State.  Ashley thanked all providers for turning their projection sheets in!  Reports due prior to the next EI Provider Meeting: (Please reference procedure statement MHIDEI-2015-416)  Staff Training Logs - June 30th  Audit Engagement/Extension Letter (FY ending June 30th) - July 10th Goal for Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP)  The State would like EI and all the providers in the County, to discuss a goal for QEP. QEP is part of the verification process. Trish needs all providers to think of a goal that we, as a county and agencies, could be working on. She would like everyone to come together to discuss the goals. EI is already working on improving session notes to be family friendly, being more focused on the Coaching Model could be added. Coaching Model  There are 14 people who are going to take advantage of the $60 stipends. Coaching Model training will be held on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015. Krista (PTS) commented on what ay positive experience she has had with the Coaching Model. It carries therapy beyond the hour the therapists are at the families’ house. Therapists have seen a child in not only the child but the families as well.  The Community of Practice Meetings is an opportunity to receive great information and handouts. These meetings are held at the Ag Heritage Building on Franklin Farm Lane. The therapists share their concerns /challenges at the meetings. Anyone can go to the meetings and all are certainly encouraged to attend. Family Survey Review ~ (handout) Early Intervention Provider Meeting Friday, April 17, 2015 EI 2 4/17/15  Trish reviewed the Family Survey. There are areas of concern, such as not being able to indicate “not applicable” for a question or stating that the family does not understand the question. This causes false reporting because, at times, any rating is just entered to supply an answer. On the survey, the County has done better than or equally as well as the State. Two questions/ratings of concern are:  “Gave me information about organizations that offer support to parents ~ 83%.  “Helped families get to know and support each other ~ 76% county; 71% state. Families are provided with resources. Providers discussed websites that would be valuable to families: the Macaroni Kid (http://national.macaronikid.com/), Early Childhood Partnership (http://uwfcpa.org/early-childhood-partnership/) and Pediatric Therapy Specialists support groups facebook. Overall, the scoring of the Family Survey for both county and state is 92%.  Trish credited Holly and the Service Coordinators for not going to due process and for doing an exceptional job at assisting families and providing them with resources! Early Learning GPS ~ (handouts)  The Early Learning GPS (http://www.earlylearninggps.com) provides information for families to assist their children. Families can answer up to 10 questions for simple tips and links to reliable resources to help their child learn and grow. Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) ~ (handout)  There has been discussion statewide on ECO reporting. A document was distributed on questions and definitions about ECO. There has been no training update to the ECO since it was originally started. There is question on how numbers are obtained on the ECO. Training will be held for all therapists. At this point, it is unknown if it will be at PATTAN or a webinar on the Portal. The training will assist therapists in correctly scoring the ECO. When children move onto preschool, the EI program wants to make certain that the preschool has accurate data and that scoring is done correctly.  Holly ~ SAM and EI want to make sure everyone is training their staff on how to use the ECO, follow the decision tree and make a decision on what the score should be. One of the main concerns is the timeliness of entering the ECO. There is a 60 day window from the date the IFSP is developed to have the ECO in the system. After the first couple visits with a family, the therapist should complete the ECO and enter it into the system. ECOs cannot be stock piled and entered “later” as it will result in them being considered overdue. This is the same for children that will close out. There is a 60 day window until the child turns three years of age. The ECO can be completed and entered any time within those 60 days; it does not have to be the day before the child turns three. Franklin/Fulton scored second highest in the entire state for completing and entering the ECOs. SAM and EI want accurate and good data on the ECOs. Clearances & Childline Reporting ~ (handout)  Trish reviewed Keep Kids Safe PA (http://keepkidssafe.pa.gov/) and Employees having Contact with Child, Frequently Asked Questions. These documents pertain to the clearances needed due to the new Child Protective Service Laws. Beginning December 31, 2014, clearances must be obtained every 36 months. Timeframes for renewed clearances are based upon the date of each individual clearance. Trish will follow up with Steve Gauvry on how to handle the process and to get answers for questions providers have regarding the clearances.  Brief discussion was held on Childline Reporting. . Reports can be made by phone (717-795- 9048) or online (www.reportabusepa.pitt.edu), whichever is preferred. Please remember to notify the SC after the report has been submitted. Early Intervention Provider Meeting Friday, April 17, 2015 EI 3 4/17/15 Common Core & PA Learning Standards for Early Childhood  Early Childhood Education standards are being revised. Update to PA Core Standards: science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Trish and Holly will be attending training on May 14th on Core Standards. Trish recommends providers take a look at the common core and PA learning standards (http://www.pdesas.org/Main/News/609166). At this point, it is unsure when it will be rolled out. Every county has to have a team. Electronic Signature Process  Providers were sent a document from Erin on how to successfully electronically sign contracts. With the new contract season approaching, please remember to check your email for your contract. If anyone has any issues with the electronic contract process or would like the process document sent to them, please contact Erin Nye at ednye@franklincountypa.gov or 717-264-5387 ext. 21309. Nutritionist & Social Worker  Trish is still pushing to get a nutritionist and social worker. It has not yet been advertised; however, Trish wanted to bring it in through one of the provider agencies first before doing so. Holly recommended a social worker that she knows and is following up to see if she was interested in providing services to the area. It is unknown the amount of hours a week these services will be needed. Since the services are new, there is no past data to go off of. It is envisioned to start out slow but pick up. Both the nutritionist and social worker are meant to be provisional services.  There has been further discussion on the need for ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) testing, this service appears to be a need. Recruiting Families ~ Holly  Krista and Holly will be presenting on EI and Autism to WIC on April 23rd, 2015. It would be great to present at other agencies as well. Holly delivered brochures to WIC, Fulton County Medical Center and CYS in Fulton County. There has been discussion on putting posters in physician offices that have a pull off number. Trish is looking to do a billboard campaign. If anyone has any other ideas on how to recruit families, please let Holly know.  Community events to represent EI:  Fulton Chamber of Commerce 25th Annual Strawberry Festival ~ June 12th & 13th  Kick Off Your Drug Free Summery ~ June 17th  Pediatric Therapy Specialists is participating in Project Big Love ~ July 25th at Mont Alto Fair Grounds. The focus is on children with special needs. There is an expectation of 3,500 attendees. For those who would like to register, contact Krista Miracle. Next Meeting: Friday, July 17, 2015 starting at 10:00 a.m. Located at the Human Services Building (HSB) Remaining 2015 Meetings: October 16th Minutes by Erin Nye