July 7, 2021 CP State News We're here for you!

OPWDD newly adopted regulation: Service Duration Limits Appendix K

OPWDD has adopted the Service Duration (14 NYCRR 635-10.5) regulation as of today July 7, 2021. The regulation allows providers of day habilitation and site-based prevocational services to bill for services using the flexible definitions of day program durations provided in guidance by the OPWDD Commissioner during the COVID-19 public health emergency.  Click here to read the regulation.

DOL releases Infectious Disease Prevention documents The NYS Department of Labor has released the following documents, required under the recently enacted HERO Act: The Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standard Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan Specific Industry Templates As you may be aware, the HERO Act has a broad impact on businesses that operate in New York State. Read a summary of the HERO Act from our partners at Ostroff Associates.

OPWDD emergency measures no longer in effect Late Friday, July 2, OPWDD Commissioner Theodore R. Kastner issued revised guidance documents related to Visitation, Community Outings, Day Services and Staffing Management: Post State of Emergency COVID-19 Guidance for OPWDD Certified, Operated, and/or Funded Facilities and Programs Revised Interim Guidance Regarding the Delivery of Services Through the Use of Telehealth Modalities by Facilities and Programs Certified or Operated by OPWDD During the COVID-19 Federal Public Health Emergency Read the full letter at cpstate.org.

Urge the Gov to sign S.6516-A/A.8013 because students with disabilities deserve equitable funding! Urge the Governor to sign S.6516-A/A.8013 which would ensure that 4410, 853 and Special Act schools receive funding increases commensurate with public school foundation aid. S.6516-A/A.8013 would correct a long-standing inequity and show the public school students served by 4410, 853 and Special Act schools that they matter too. Click here to use CP's one-click advocacy tool.

OPWDD Crisis Services grant opportunity Applicant conference on 7/9, application deadline 7/21 OPWDD has an RFP and is seeking applications from non-profit organizations authorized to do business in New York State to serve as the provider of Crisis Services for Individuals with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (CSIDD) and a Resource Center(s) in OPWDD’s Developmental Disabilities Regional Office 2 (“Region 2”).  A Letter of Intent is required prior to submitting an application and in order to attend the Mandatory Applicant’s Conference on July 9 at 10 a.m.  Click here for more information and to begin the application process.

July 8, 2-3 p.m. Webinar: Preventing agitation among patients with I/DD Join the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) for a conversation on managing agitated patients with Kelsey Ruppel, Ph.D., an expert in preventing and managing problem behavior in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Dr. Ruppel will share considerations and approaches to meet the unique needs of this vulnerable population. Recordings of past sessions of our popular Preventing and responding to aggressive patient behavior webinar series exploring causes and impacts, liability and interventions for pediatric patients are available on the event page. Please note this July 8 program is open to non-members of HANYS. Click here to register.

Help individuals with impaired speech use voice-activated tech Project Euphonia is a Google Research project started two years ago with the goal of helping people with speech impairments communicate faster and gain independence. A few months ago, they reached a milestone of 1,000 hours of recordings from 1,000 participants! Their next goal? Collect speech samples from an additional 5,000 participants! For the type of research Project Euphonia is doing, having data from a large number of speakers representing a broad spectrum of speech characteristics helps the most. Learn how you can help - and maybe make some money recording speech samples for Project Euphonia - by visiting bit.ly/CPStatePE. DSPs and other staff can get paid for their time too! See how it works: Click the thumbnail to hear Mike from Ability Beyond talk about his experience with Project Euphonia.

NYC Ballet hosting access workshop on July 17 We are happy to announce that the New York City Ballet (NYCB) will conduct a free dance a workshop for children with disabilities on Saturday, July 17, from 10-11 a.m. at the National Museum of Dance. The workshop last year was held virtually due to COVID, but this year we are again holding the workshop in person! This one-hour workshop will be co-led by a pair of NYCB Dancers and will include a warm-up and choreography inspired by NYCB’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Modifications and movement options will be offered throughout, and movers of all abilities and their siblings are welcome. Unlike in the past when we’ve had medical/PT/OT “buddies” pair up with our young dancers, for this workshop we will be encouraging a parent/guardian of the participant to join the workshop in offering support for their child.  Click here for more information and to register. In addition, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) will again offer a limited number of complimentary tickets to either the matinee or evening performance on Saturday. Up to 4 complimentary tickets will be available to each participant.  Information to request these tickets is in the “checkout” section of the registration. Please share this information with individuals and families that may be interested in attending.  The Workshop and Ballet tickets are FREE, so we hope to see many of you on the 17th!

Don't forget, we're back in-person for this year's conferences!

CP of NYS | cpstate.org

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