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As part of INARF’s continuing commitment to ensuring members are informed, we have compiled updates on key issues and activities in which the INARF Board of Directors, Governmental Affairs Committee, and Staff have been engaged in on your behalf. Have a question or want to share your perspective on the issues below? Please contact Kim Opsahl for assistance. Have an issue or concern that is impacting your business that is not listed in this update? Please let us know by clicking here. Waiver Re-Write and Residential Daily Rate Implementation: The Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services is working along with the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning to respond to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) formal questions on the Family Supports Waiver renewal, the Community Integration & Habilitation Waiver amendment, and both waivers respective HCBS Settings Transition Plans. It is anticipated that the response will be submitted within the next week. Upon submission, CMS will have 90-days to review and either submit additional questions or approve the documents. In the interim, the RHS Daily Implementation Work Group continues to meet with the Division to discuss implementation issues. Over the next couple of weeks, the primary focus will be on better understanding situations where individuals / teams shift resources from residential supports and into the DAYS reserve. The group also continues to discuss ways to address loss of housemate, exceptions to the CHIO limitation, short-term, extraordinary support needs, and the interaction between the daily rate and PA services. On April 1, the Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services announced plans to make adjustments to Objective Based Allocation’s (OBA) for individual’s whose living arrangements were updated / corrected in Advocare. The communication included guidance on how to view living arrangement information through the Advocare Provider Portal. Case managers were advised to work with any impacted individuals and their Individualized Support Team to update the Cost Comparison Budget based on the new OBA by May 1st. Related to the HCBS Transition Plan, the Division is hosting a presentation entitled “Planning for Indiana’s Future,” on April 28, 2015 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Indiana State Library located at 315 W. Ohio St. in Indianapolis or via a live webinar. At the presentation, DDRS along with their partners at the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) will provide national and federal perspectives for stakeholders of state service systems for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This forum will be an opportunity for interested individuals to help identify key priorities for Indiana’s community service systems moving forward and to begin to think about what we want our community service systems to look like in the future. The Division will use the information gathered through the forum in its planning efforts as the state considers compliance with CMS' Home and Community Based Service Rule. To attend via webinar, please click here on the day of the webinar (no pre-registration required) Facility and Community-Based Employment Services: The VR Rate Reform Work Group continues to provide feedback on policies, procedures, training, and other related aspects of the July 1st Hybrid Model implementation. Training for vocational rehabilitation counselors and staff, community employment providers, and other employment specialists is planned throughout May and June. Dates and registration details were for this training were announced in late March. Please Note: Training participants are required to view an Overview: Employment Service Revisions available on IIDC’s website, prior to attending the training. The Division recently released a Request for Funding announcement seeking creative proposals from providers interested in exploring ways to support transition from facility to community based employment. Presentation slides, sign-in sheets, and questions/answers from the April 15th Pre-Proposal Conference were recently posted. Proposals are due on May 7th with a target award date of June 24. Also, the Bureau of Rehabilitation Services recently posted its proposed Vocational Rehabilitation Services rule (460 IAC 14) and Notice of Public Hearing. INARF will be conducting a thorough review and analysis of the rule in order to prepare the Association’s public comment. These comments will be shared with members for their reference prior to the May 15th public comment deadline From a National perspective, the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor released proposed rules to implement key provisions of the Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The rules are available through June 15 for public comment. INARF plans to work closely with its partners at ACCSES and ANCOR to review the rule and formulate comments. We will share our proposed comments for member references before the June 15th deadline. The Proposed Rules cover the following areas: • EDUCATION: State Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program, State Supported Employment Services Program and Limitations on Use of Subminimum Wage • EDUCATION: Programs and Activities Authorized by the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (Title II) • EDUCATION AND LABOR: Joint Rule for Unified and Combined State Plans, Performance Accountability and the One-Stop System • EDUCATION: Miscellaneous Program Changes Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services: The federal Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) is conducting a site visit of Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services in mid-May. In advance of this visit, AIDD is soliciting comments from interested parties on the work, program, and strategies used by IPAS in meeting the needs of Hoosiers with developmental disabilities. Comments should be sent in time for receipt by May 11th. Please visit the IPAS website for information on how to submit comment. Supervised Group Living: INARF is re-convening its Supervised Group Living Advisory Work Group to review and discuss current issues. If your agency is experiencing any concerns related to this program, please contact Kim Opsahl.