August 09, 2019
I think it is safe to say that this has been a terrible week – between the tragedy of deaths of Dr. Melton and Hailey Green, and the 31 deaths in El Paso and Dayton, I feel like we are gasping for air! It is, sometimes, too much to get our arms around. So let me share three tiny bits of positive news:
- We are expecting to have a productive dialogue with the Office of Licensing about the issue of financial stability; it is still important for you to make the comments on the current proposal on Townhall “just for the record.”
- The contract for the QSR reviews (Qlarant/Delmarva) for individuals or agencies that have been so time consuming and, in the end, not terribly productive is being rebid. We don’t have much in the way of details yet, but we do know that the selection is going to be “by provider” for both agency and individual reviews – one visit, not repeat requests when they select another individual. That will be a huge improvement and will reduce the burden on the providers considerably.
- Laura Nuss, the new Deputy for DD Services at DBHDS spoke yesterday about her interest in taking a hard look at some of the Waiver Services that are under utilized to see what the barriers are for individuals and for providers. Services such as Community Engagement, Shared Living, Supported Living, Independent Living, and several others that are designed to promote and support independence, but are clearly not being utilized as effectively as possible. We are very glad that we will have the opportunity to do this analysis even though it will, of course, potentially prompt another round of regulatory change!
Let’s hope for a quiet weekend!