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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEI Provider Meeting Minutes 04-18-18Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 18, 2018 EI Provider Meeting 1 4/18/18 Staff Present: Jenn Hawbecker, Ashley McCartney, Dan Rhodes Providers Present: Holly Whiteside (Service Access & Management, Inc.), Krista Miracle (Pediatric Therapy Specialists), Faith Blee and Joanne LaSalle (Invo HealthCare Associates), Adam Rowland (Advanta Therapy), Cynthia Bosserman (PennCares) Providers Present by Phone: Lauren Everetts (Fulton County Medical Center), Megan Lesko (Building Blocks Therapy), Jody Bering (Lincoln Intermediate Unit #12) MEETING MINUTES » Welcome & Introductions Everyone introduced themselves and their agency affiliation. » Fiscal Update  Contract season is underway for FY 18-19. Most providers have already met with EI staff to review their budget packets and contract documentation. Per procedure statement, the EI Program Specialist and Fiscal Officer have until April 30th to finalize their review and approval processes. Electronic approval through Echo Sign will follow during May with a final due date of the 30th after which the Commissioners will add their signatures.  Ashley McCartney reminded providers, especially those who do not routinely complete audits, to review Procedure Statement MHIDEI-412 Audit Requirements. Specifically, providers must be aware of the total combined State/Federal funding that their organization receives as a whole in order to determine whether an audit is required. This applies to every county in which the provider’s programs operate not just Franklin/Fulton. The following combined State/Federal funding thresholds were reviewed: o Less than $500,000: No Audit Required o $500,000 - $749,999: Audit Required o $750,000 or more: Single Audit Required Providers may refer any audit-related questions to Ashley and should send completed audits to her upon receipt. Fiscal Year End audits are due by the following December 31st and Calendar Year End audits are due by the following June 30th. If a provider requires an audit due date extension, they must specify a timeframe for when the audit is expected to be completed. » QEP Update The current Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) was updated in March to reflect the results of last year’s self-verification. Jenn Hawbecker identified and explained key items from the QEP (see handout).  Outcomes and the 14-day Deadline: Providers and Service Coordinators must coordinate to ensure that they are meeting with families and beginning service delivery within fourteen (14) days of the child’s IFSP being approved. For example, Service Coordinators are aware that they should not be Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 18, 2018 EI Provider Meeting 2 4/18/18 accepting service delivery offers from therapists who will out for an extended absence (i.e. vacation) unless there are no other options available. Any challenges to meeting the deadline that occur due to the family’s schedule should be thoroughly documented. Jenn stressed that providers must continue to focus on meeting the deadline as it is still not being met 100% of the time. The new EI referral process does not seem to have had an effect on meeting the deadline.  Results Goal – Procedural Safeguards (Item PS-1) and the Parent Survey: Last year Franklin/Fulton EI received a lower score on the Parent Survey compared to recent years. Jenn reviewed “Tips for Completing the Survey” which Service Coordinators and therapists may use to assist parents as they prepare to answer the survey questions. Parents will receive the surveys in the mail by late April or early May. Staff can start discussing the survey with them now. The tips suggest that parents skip/agree with questions referring to information they chose not to utilize and skip questions they do not understand rather than mark “disagree.” Most importantly, the meaning of the term “Procedural Safeguards” is explained as a reminder. It has been observed that parents and even some staff can become confused when the terms “Procedural Safeguards” and “Parents’ Rights Agreement (PRA)” are used interchangeably. Additionally, it was noted that the survey’s design (choice of questions and language/wording used) is a reason many counties struggle to improve their scores.  Results Goal – Service Delivery (Item SD-1): EI Program and providers continue to score well on delivering services and supports to families and children in their natural environments. Service Coordinators have been very successful at adapting to changing circumstances when the IFSP is considered a “living” document which is “to be revised as necessary to meet the needs of the child and family.”  Results Goal – Service Delivery (Item SD-2): Scores went down in all target areas related to the ECO process compared to the prior year and did not reach the year’s target goal. New staff should be completing ECO 201 training which is now available on the EITA Portal. They can sign up on the PaTTAN website to earn ACT 48 hours for the training or just go through the EITA Portal to earn infant/toddler hours and a certificate. Jenn requested that all staff complete ECO 201 training by the end of the current fiscal year, submit their certificate to her, and document this credential in their Training Log. EITA has provided Jenn with guidance on explaining the ECO outcomes process to families and she will be getting this information out to providers soon. Jenn acknowledged that having conversations about the ECO outcomes process with the families of children with certain diagnoses (i.e. severe developmental delay) can be very difficult.  Results Goal – Locally Identified: Service Coordinators and therapists continue to implement the Coaching Model. The model is extensively discussed at bi-monthly Communities of Practice Meetings. Any new staff will complete the Coaching Training on the EITA Portal and may submit a Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 18, 2018 EI Provider Meeting 3 4/18/18 training verification form to receive credit for completing the six (6) module course if no certificate is available. » LICC Updates  Two-hundred fifty (250) bags containing information about local organizations and services were distributed to Fulton County families at Pre- K Counts and Kindergarten registrations in March. This activity was part of the Child Find initiative. Additional events are being planned to utilize available Child Find funds. Jenn will present another update on these events at the next Provider Meeting in July.  A “Community Baby Shower” will be held at the Coyle Free Library on Saturday, April 28th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Several local businesses and organizations have contributed monetary donations and giveaway items for families in attendance. Gently used clothes and books can be dropped off at the SAM office through Thursday, April 26th. The event’s organizers are hoping for a large turnout due to the venue’s central location and increased visibility in the community after recent remodeling. » NICU  Jenn and Holly met with EI staff from other counties at the York NICU in March. The purpose of this meeting was to further strengthen each county’s existing relationship with the NICU and to ensure that children and families are experiencing a smooth transition process after discharge. York NICU staff offered guidance and assistance on enhancing Franklin/Fulton EI’s relationship with the Chambersburg NICU.  The York NICU has offered to host a multi-county training event for therapists that will exclusively focus on NICU-related topics. Jenn anticipates that the event will take place next fiscal year after a new allocation of training dollars is received. Jenn noted that the most likely location will be Gettysburg. Providers may contact Jenn to request potential topics while the event is in its planning stages. » Spanish Notes on Session Notes  Jenn suggested that therapists ask interpreters to write down the “Steps to do During the Week” and date/time of the next session in Spanish for the family to retain for future reference. Although this is not an OCDEL requirement, it is very helpful for families to be given this information in writing in their native language. Therapists should then document that the Spanish translations were provided to families in their session notes. » 9-Month Review Discussion  Therapists should be thinking ahead to the Annual Review when they are completing a child’s Nine (9) Month Review and asking themselves: “Will the child still be eligible/need services at the twelve (12) month mark?” They should consider how much progress the child has made so far and regularly Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 18, 2018 EI Provider Meeting 4 4/18/18 discuss this in conversations with the family and Service Coordinator. For example, therapists can point to increasingly higher percentages of goals and outcomes being met as a positive development bringing the child closer to the range of their same age peers. They must also listen and respond to the concerns of families who may be very reluctant to have their child discharged from EI services. Successful completion of the IFSP (OCDEL’s primary goal) should be described to families as a milestone and celebrated as an accomplishment for all of those who contributed to the child’s progress. Connecting families to resources following discharge must continue to be a system-wide focus of the EI Program. » Teaming Code Procedure Jenn distributed the January 15, 2013 OCDEL Memo “Teaming Procedures in Early Intervention, FY 2012-13 – Revised” (see handout) to review.  As per the memo, Teaming is billable through MA whenever multiple therapists directly “provide early intervention services to a child and family simultaneously (in other words, on the same date and at the same time).” Teaming Codes must be used whenever an additional therapist has an indirect role in providing services (i.e. observation). These services cannot be billed through MA but can be billed through Maintenance “if properly authorized.”  Jenn is currently revising Procedure Statement EI-110 Service Delivery to include guidelines which adhere to the Teaming Code Procedure. She will send out the revised procedure statement to providers for review before it goes into effect.  The following practices were suggested in regard to Teaming and Co- Treatment: › Therapists should notify the Service Coordinator prior to any situation requiring more than one therapist to be present, provide justification for Co-Treatment, and seek authorization if the Teaming Code scenario applies. › Whenever families double book therapists, the Service Coordinator should be contacted to inform them the length of time during which services overlapped should be documented. › If double booking occurs unexpectedly, therapists should contact the Service Coordinator immediately after the service to report it. » Managing Vicarious Trauma Workshop  Managing Vicarious Trauma Workshop will be held at the Brethren Fellowship Church (339 Lincoln Way East, Chambersburg) on Friday, May 4th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thirty (30) individuals have registered so far and up to sixty (60) may attend. Please email Jenn (jjhawbecker@franklincountypa.gov) to register by Wednesday, April 25th. Registration may be open to providers from other counties if space allows but preference will be given to Franklin/Fulton Providers. Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 18, 2018 EI Provider Meeting 5 4/18/18 » Provider Booklet  Jenn distributed a draft version of the “Guide to Infant and Toddler Early Intervention services in Franklin/Fulton County” booklet (see handout) which features service descriptions and contact information for each provider. She will be getting pricing quotes for a bulk order of printed and stapled booklets. Service Coordinators will be asked to give the booklets to families so that they are aware of available EI services in the community. » Provider Roster  An updated Provider Roster will be sent out to providers along with the finalized meeting minutes. Please contact Jenn to report any staffing changes at your agency to ensure that the roster remains current. » Required Documentation  Providers should be faxing or emailing updated versions of the following documents to Jenn as they are received: o Certificates of Liability Insurance o Therapists’ Licenses o Clearances including Mandated Reporter training completion certificate o Staff First-Aid and CPR certifications » Provider Updates and Announcements  Building Blocks Therapy: Megan Lesko requested that providers continue to send each child’s annual updates in advance of their scheduled evaluation as this information provides valuable guidance.  Fulton County Medical Center: Lauren Everetts shared that the office of Dr. Brady and Dr. Milroth is now known as Fulton Family Practice and is part of specialty services at FCMC. These doctors have started using ASQ screening which will hopefully lead to them making more EI referrals.  PennCares Support Services: Cynthia Bosserman announced that Executive Director Mike Wagner will be retiring at the end of April and succeeded in this role by Deborah Allen. She comes from a behavioral/EI background and will be introduced to staff at a series of “welcome” luncheons. Sensory Storytime continues to occur at the Coyle Free Library on a monthly basis and has now switched from a morning to early afternoon session (1 p.m.). Brochures will be distributed to providers in an effort to increase attendance at this event.  Pediatric Therapy Specialists: Krista Miracle announced that Amy Spade and Jennifer Morgan have received approval to build a special needs playground in Fulton County. They are currently preparing to order equipment for the playground. Candy Hess and her daughter’s advocacy group “Ava’s Army” will be organizing a special needs beauty pageant and informational event in September to raise funds for the playground. Candy Early Intervention Provider Meeting Wednesday, April 18, 2018 EI Provider Meeting 6 4/18/18 will be speaking at the York NICU’s annual staff training on April 27th about the sensory component and Ava’s experience transitioning from the NICU.  Invo HealthCare Associates: Faith Blee introduced Joanne LaSalle as Invo’s new Program Coordinator. She has succeeded Shelly Tobin in this role in anticipation of the latter’s retirement. Joanne has developed a background in EI while working with her sister who was formerly a speech therapist at Invo. To accommodate the County’s current needs, Invo has hired an additional program leader, a new physical therapist, and plans to hire another speech therapist in the near future. » Provider Reports The following reports are due prior to the next EI Provider Meeting:  Audit Engagement/Extension Letter (due July 10th)  Monthly Employee Debarment and Exclusion Check Next Meeting: Wednesday, July 18, 2018 starting at 10:00 a.m. Located at the Human Services Building (425 Franklin Farm Lane) Remaining 2018 Meetings October 17th Minutes by Dan Rhodes