December 2024

ARPA Project Pulse Newsletter

As we close out the year and step into the holiday season, we find ourselves in a moment of reflection and gratitude. The holiday spirit brings an opportunity to celebrate our achievements, express our thanks, and look forward to what’s ahead. At HCPF, this sentiment is particularly poignant as we approach the conclusion of our work under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Since its inception, ARPA funding has empowered us to make tremendous strides in transforming Colorado’s health care landscape. Together, we’ve tackled ambitious projects, driven meaningful change, and improved countless lives through targeted investments and innovative initiatives.

In this issue of the Project Pulse you’ll find updates on several new project completions, info about our most recent quarterly update webinar, now available to watch on YouTube, and another highlight of the metrics dashboard.

Our team would like to extend warm wishes for a joyful and restful holiday season. Thank you for your partnership, your passion, and your dedication to improving home and community based services in Colorado.

~ The ARPA Team

Did you see the December Quarterly Update Webinar?

Watch now for updates on specific project completions, key dates for the end of ARPA, a demo of the metrics dashboard, and more!

Thumbnail of the December 2024 ARPA Quarterly Webinar video

✅ Completed Projects ✅

1.02

Direct Care Worker Data Infrastructure

Over three years, this project successfully administered surveys targeting direct care workers (DCWs) and Aging and Disability providers (State of the Workforce Survey). The project aimed to enhance the state's data infrastructure to assess the supply and demand for DCWs and evaluate the effectiveness of various investment strategies on recruitment, retention, and turnover.

1.03

Standardized Core Curriculum and Standardization

Through successful extensive stakeholder engagement, this project developed a comprehensive curriculum for direct care workers, featuring 19 core modules and 12 specialized modules. These training materials cater to those providing homemaker services and personal care support.

1.04

Resource and Job Hub

This project created the Direct Care Careers (DCC) hub, a centralized platform for job search, employer matching, and access to resources, such as training modules and certification tracking for individuals in or looking to enter the direct care workforce.

3.01

Equity study

Through research and analysis, this project found that there is underrepresentation in Colorado HCBS waiver programs among non-white races/ethnicities and overrepresentation among white members. Based on the underrepresentation finding, HCPF conducted stakeholder analysis and engagement to understand the barriers to enrollment in HCBS among communities of color and released a report that provides a set of comprehensive recommendations to promote equity, increase awareness, and improve enrollment in HCBS.

4.06

Supported Employment Pilot Extension

This project demonstrated that an Outcome-Based Supported Employment model can be successfully implemented in Colorado’s HCBS waiver systems and promises to improve employment outcomes for waiver members. This work is critical, as employment is considered a Social Determinant of Health.

4.09

Respite Rate Enhancement

The Enhanced Respite Rates team implemented a 25% rate increase for all respite services across all Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waivers where respite is an available service, excluding group respite settings. Read more using the link below to see a table detailing the HCBS waivers and respite services impacted.

Public ARPA Metrics Dashboard

This month we are highlighting an interactive map, which shows information about the geographic reach of our Grants and Community Funding projects.

The map allows you to see the number of grants awarded by project in each county, or you can select one or more counties to see all of the projects that have a recipient within each county.

Visit the Dashboard

Reasonable accommodations will be provided upon request for persons with disabilities. Auxiliary aids and services for individuals with disabilities and language services for individuals whose first language is not English may be provided upon request. Please notify John Barry at 303-866-3173 or John.R.Barry@state.co.us or the 504/ADA Coordinator at hcpf504ada@state.co.us at least one week prior to the meeting to make arrangements.

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