COVID-19 Update
June 30, 2021
The Arc New York Chapter Staff Discuss Vaccine Hesitancy
We are proud to share a video produced by the New York Alliance for Inclusion & Innovation, which includes employees from Arc New York Chapters. These employees share their stories about their initial hesitation in obtaining a COVID-19 vaccination. Chapters represented in the video include The Arc of Monroe, AHRC Suffolk, The Arc Oneida-Lewis and The Arc Herkimer. 
 
Revised Interim Guidance on Criminal Background Check and Training Flexibilities
The Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) published two updated interim guidance documents with provisions that took effect June 25, 2021. These revised interim guidance documents were issued in response to the Governor’s end of the state of emergency.

The first document discontinues the prior flexibility of abbreviated criminal background checks and supervision of new employees. OPWDD included a grace period for providers to return to compliance. Please see the document for additional details on these timelines.

The second document is a revision of the interim training and recertification guidance that was last issued at the end of March. This document also includes a grace period for returning to compliance with various training requirements.

We discussed these documents in greater detail during our Wednesday morning call with the Chapters.

Essential Workers Scholarship Announced
As we shared previously via email, OCFS is administering $25 million in scholarship funds available to essential workers to provide child care support. A link to the release and steps to apply can be found here. Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis. We encourage you to share this opportunity with staff as soon as possible if you have not done so already.

This and all related updates will be cataloged on The Arc New York COVID-19 Resource Page for future reference. Please contact us if you have questions regarding any of this information.
CONTACT: Josh Christiana, Director for Quality, Compliance & Chapter Relations
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