March 18, 2020
New CDC guidance on PPE. In view of the nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines that significant loosen the requirements. The new guidelines, which are not setting-specific, are broken down into separate pieces on facemasks, gowns, N95 respirators, and eye protection. They give direction on how safely to reuse and thereby conserve PPE. We urge all members to familiarize themseves with the new guidance in face of continued difficulties obtaining PPE.
Pandemic child care centers. Although there is still some lack of clarity, which is understandable given the rushed nature of this initiative, long-term services and supports providers now can apply for a license to offer child care. The Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) adopted an emergency rule this morning spelling out the licensing criteria for the pandemic centers. They pledged quickly to review and decide on issuing the license. Pandemic centers that are not already licensed child care centers will require an inspection. If you are interested in offering this service to children of your employees, please complete and file this application right away, plus review the licensing criteria carefully, along with the appendix on staffing ratios. One of the requirements is for background checks of anyone working in the center, which we know is a problem because of the growing lack of availability of fingerprinting sites. We communicated the issue to the state. ODJFS stressed that only children of health care, public safety, or other essential service workers are eligible to use the pandemic center. The agency anticipates an order closing regular child care centers in the near future.
Recording available from today's all-provider call. We regret that we were only allocated 250 phone lines for today's call on the employment aspects of COVID-19 by Rob Pivonka or Rolf Goffman Martin Lang. For anyone unable to get in or otherwise was unable to participate, here is a link to the recording. In addition, Rolf offers a frequently asked questions document on this subject.
In case you missed it yesterday, here is the link to the recording of OHCA's general COVID-19 update for long-term services and supports update.
ID/DD updates. The Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) announced this evening that they soon will issue two weeks of payments to providers of Adult Day, Vocational Habilitation, Group Employment, Integrated Employment, and Non-Medical Transportation services. These payments are designed to assist with the anticipated closure of day programs. Please see the announcement for details on these payments.
DODD also provided flexibility on renewal of medication administration certificates, and Governor Mike DeWine recognized direct support professionals for their service in his press conference yesterday.
All non-governmental OHCA members in ID/DD services automatically are ANCOR members, and ANCOR and the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration are offering free access to the realistic job preview video for a limited time during the staffing disruption caused by COVID-19. This resource, which can typically be licensed for $100-$750 per organization, is a proven way of helping recruit employees who come into the job with a realistic sense of the work. Please use this link and the password #RJP2020 to view the video.