Good Morning,
Above: (clockwise) Tiffany, Steven, Joseph, Stanley, Shelley, Hector & Dustin.
Submit your photo or video (either YOUR PLEDGE or actual vaccination) by texting "SELFIE" (English) or "SPASELFIE" (Spanish) to 552020. Then upload your photo. You can also email it to DHS.COVID19@Illinois.gov. If you want to be in the DDD Comments you can also email it to me directly!
QUICK NOTES
- As of yesterday, the preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from January 7-13, 2021 is 6.8%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from January 7-13, 2021 is 8.0%.
- Updated IDPH COVID-19 Vaccination Play V.5
- Did you miss the link for Dr. Landon's COVID-19 Vaccines presentation? You can find it here.
- Registration for the DDD Update webinar (with me!) on February 18th at 1pm
1100 HOUR ANNUAL "DAY SERVICES" CAP
The Division would like to remind our waiver funded residential providers and Community Day Services providers (CDS) that there is an 1100-hour annual CAP that needs to be shared between those utilizing At-Home Day services, Supported Employment, VDS and CDS services As we enter into the second half of the fiscal year, providers need to be aware of this and have necessary discussions with partners about hours usage. The Division is concerned that CILA providers utilizing At-Home Day may exhaust the available hours and which will not allow for individuals' return to CDS in the latter part of the fiscal year.
WAIVER SERVICE TRANSITIONS
The Division is updating its policy from switching from one waiver service to another, such as switching from Adult HBS to CILA, and will be issuing an Information Bulletin in the coming days. Moving forward, if there is a change in an individual's condition or circumstance, that renders their current waiver service unable to meet their needs, or no longer allows them to meet the outcomes laid out in their Personal Plan, the individual and their family/guardian will work with their ISC agency to submit a service request packet for the waiver service change. The packet should be submitted to the assigned Community Services Region Representative within the Division. The Division will then determine whether a waiver service change is warranted. Once approved, the packet will be processed for an award letter and the ISC agency will work with the individual and family/guardian to transition.
In FY20, the Division worked with the ISC agencies to reach out to individuals receiving Waiver services while also on the PUNS list in the "seeking services" category. Individuals who affirmed they wished to change services through this process, will be receiving letters from the Division this week to let them know they can begin working with their ISC agency to transition waiver services. These individuals, as well as any others, in this category (receiving Waiver services and "seeking services" on the PUNS list) will be removed from the PUNS list moving forward. Because a process for transitioning between waiver services is now available to all waiver recipients, there is no need to be on the PUNS list while also receiving waiver services.
SPEAK UP AND SPEAK OUT: ILLINOIS RATES FOR DD SERVICES WEBINAR
On Monday, February 8, 2021 at 1pm (Central) the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Arc of Illinois, the Going Home Coalition and the Self Advocacy Alliance will present a plain language presentation for people who don't know all the alphabet soup of acronyms to understand the recommendations in the Guidehouse Rates Study. Please see the attached "Illinois Rates for DD Services" handout for a plain language explanation of the rate recommendations.
QSEP TRAINING
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed "Targeted COVID-19 Training for Nursing Homes" which is available through their Quality, Safety and Education Portal (QSEP) that is appropriate for ICF/DDs and may be useful for our waiver funded providers. There are 2 options for the COVID-19 training. One is for frontline staff and the other is for management. The training is intended to provide clinical staff members with best practices for containing and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in long term care facilities. Training objectives include:
- Identify how to prevent the spread of infection through hand hygiene, personal protective equipment and cleaning.
- Implement appropriate screening, surveillance, and cohorting practices.
- Identify how to care for residents with dementia during a pandemic.
- Prepare and implement a vaccine delivery system.
The training can be accessed by going here: https://qsep.cms.gov/welcome.aspx. You will need to click the "Sign Up" button, then "Providers & Other Learners" button, and filling out your information. When asked to "Select your User Role", you need to select the "Educator/Author/Researcher" option. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with a link. Follow the link and go to the "CMS Targeted COVID-19 Training for Frontline Nursing Home Staff" training. The training is expected to take 3 hours and must be completed in one sitting. Note: the Division will not be reimbursing training time for providers or staff who choose to participate in this training.
Thank you for all you do. Pledge to get vaccinated!
Warmly,
Allison V. Stark
Director, Division of Developmental Disabilities
Illinois Department of Human Services
600 East Ash-Building 400, Springfield, IL 62703
Tel: (217) 782 -6803
The information contained herein should not be considered a substitute for the appropriate official statutes, rules, regulations, or the advice of legal counsel.
To request to be added to our email database, or to update your contact and service information, please complete our Contact Survey at the following link:
https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?module=17&item=110637&surveyid=1458.
Information provided will help us to better tailor communications to you in the future.
