Category: State Government Actions

GAO Report Looked at Effectiveness of ESSER (October 28, 2024)

According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released October, 23, 2024, school districts prioritized spending of COVID-19 emergency (ESSER) funds based on community input, financial need, state policies and other influences. It also found that the effectiveness of the ESSER money for COVID-19 recovery efforts is difficult to determine because school districts were involved in many activities during the pandemic. Additionally, long-term improvements are unknown because not enough time has passed since initial positive effects were noted.

Republican members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee had asked GAO to examine school district ESSER spending. Some conservative lawmakers at the federal level have questioned the proper use of the money. A statement posted on the Senate HELP Committee GOP page on X said that the report “found it difficult to determine what uses were effective. More research is needed from the field.”

In addition, AASA, The School Superintendents Association released a September report on spending practices from ESSER’s allocations from the American Rescue Plan and found most districts directed money toward expanded learning time, including summer programming and after-school activities. But because districts had various fiscal priorities and approaches for investing the money in different phases, it was difficult to generalize the best practice approaches for the emergency funds.

GAO’s report said education officials from varying states sometimes differed on what they considered was an allowable expense for district-level use of federal COVID-19 emergency funds for schools. Directives from state legislatures also influenced spending practices. Pennsylvania officials told GAO researchers that proposals to renovate or upgrade athletic fields, stadiums or tracks were denied because school districts could not justify that those improvements were necessary to respond to the pandemic.

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Ed. Sec. Mumin Records Audiobook at the Library of Accessible Media for Pennsylvanians (October 13, 2024)

On October 11, 2024, PA Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin visited the Library of Accessible Media for Pennsylvanians (LAMP) to tour the library and record a narration of It Fell From the Sky by The Fan Brothers. Secretary Mumin’s recording will be entered into the Library of Congress’ National Library Service Catalog.

LAMP is funded through the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries and administered throughout the state of Pennsylvania by Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the Free Library of Philadelphia.

The library provides people with disabilities access to free materials shipped to them in accessible formats like braille, audio, described movies, and large print, as well as digital access to downloadable audio or braille to hundreds of thousands of titles. The library also hosts a state-of-the-art recording studio that has added more than 700 audio books to the National Library Service Catalog. Since the early 1970’s, the library’s three accessible sound booths and full digital array of equipment and support systems offer a unique and accessible service that adds locally themed books to the collection.

LAMP’s services are available to eligible Pennsylvania residents who have difficulty using standard print materials because of a visual, physical, or reading disability. To access services, users must submit an application form certified by a health professional or public or welfare agency authority (e.g., social worker, counselor, rehabilitation teacher, certified reading specialist, or superintendent). Professional librarians or anyone approved by the Library of Congress may also certify eligibility for patrons.

In addition, Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2024-25 budget secured more than $2.5 million in funding for LAMP, $3 million for Library Access, $70 million for the Public Library Subsidy, and more than $2.6 million for the Office of Commonwealth Libraries.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website.

Department of Human Services Highlights Trauma-Informed Research and Resources for Individuals with Autism (October 8, 2024)

On October 7, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) released the latest issue of the Positive Approaches Journal, which aims to provide the most recent research for people with mental and behavioral health challenges, intellectual disabilities, autism, and other developmental disabilities to help them live an everyday life. This edition focuses on the importance of trauma-informed research and the best practices that can be implemented to support people with autism.

“DHS works to ensure that Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism have the services and supports they need,” said DHS Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh. “We know that there is a higher prevalence of trauma among individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism, and it is our hope that the research in this edition of the Positive Approaches Journal can help individuals and families find the resources they need to improve their everyday lives.”

The Shapiro Administration believes that every Pennsylvanian with intellectual disabilities and autism deserves to receive the supports they need to achieve an everyday life with dignity and opportunity to pursue their goals and live, work, and recreate among their families and peers. Life-changing investments in Governor Josh Shapiro’s bipartisan 2024-25 budget secured historic increases in funding for home- and community-based services for Pennsylvanians with intellectual disability and autism (ID/A) as well as increases in rates for the providers responsible for essential care and support of these individuals every day.

This edition of the Positive Approaches Journal features research and articles on the following:

  • Data Discoveries outlines an increased prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder among individuals with autism and identifies trends that indicate an urgent need for further research, clinician training, and increased awareness.
  • Creating a Trauma-Informed Human Services Workforce in Pennsylvania:  A Successful Cross-Sector Collaboration details the delivery of Trauma-Informed Care in Pennsylvania and demonstrates how collaboration between state government and other stakeholders helps to create safe, supportive environments that promote healing and resilience for children and youth.    
  • Trauma and Social Adversity in Autism: Considerations and Directions for Clinicians and Researchers highlights recent research on the influence of the environment on mental health outcomes among people with autism.  
  • Utilization of Art Therapy in Processing Overwhelming Emotions for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder details research that found that there was a trend in reduced depression and PTSD symptoms for these individuals after art therapy sessions. 

The journal is a collaboration of DHS’ Office of Developmental Programs and Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. It collects resources, observations, and advancements in mental and behavioral health in order to better serve people in their communities.

Read this edition of the Positive Approaches Journal. 

For more information visit www.dhs.pa.gov.

PDE Introduces New Benchmarking Tool to Measure Student Achievement (October 7, 2024)

On October 2, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced a new voluntary and free tool to help schools to track student achievement, The Pennsylvania Firefly Student Progress Indicators (PA Firefly) is a PA-specific tool that will allow educators to assess students’ mastery of material taught in PA classrooms and covered on end-of-year exams, and intervene earlier to help students who need more help to fully master certain material.

“Pennsylvania’s new PA Firefly benchmarking tool provides a comprehensive view of student learning in real time, helping teachers meet day-to-day goals and end-of-year targets,” said Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin. “We want students across the Commonwealth to succeed and have all the tools necessary to do so at their fingertips. Resources like PA Firefly help to gauge where students are at, so we can meet them there and help them grow and thrive.”

Earlier this year, Governor Josh Shapiro announced changes to the state’s system of school assessments that will reduce the amount of time students spend taking standardized tests, mitigate stress and anxiety around testing by adopting question types that match how students learn, help teachers spend more time teaching, and save the Commonwealth millions of dollars.

PA Firefly will be available in Pennsylvania schools to support student learning throughout the year, starting this school year. The diagnostic exam is fully aligned to Pennsylvania standards to reflect and measure the same student knowledge and skills measured by the summative end-of-year and end-of-course assessments. It signals student readiness for Pennsylvania’s end-of-year exams and lights the way with high-quality reporting and instructional resources for teachers throughout the year.

As a custom benchmark assessment built specifically for Pennsylvania classrooms, PA Firefly will support student learning throughout the year and provide feedback relative to on-grade expectations, as well as predictions for student performance on end-of-year assessments.

PA Firefly is a fully online, computer-adaptive assessment designed to be administered as single-session tests on the same platform as Pennsylvania’s summative assessments. Testing is available throughout the year, beginning in the fall and ending with the spring assessments. Seasonal testing windows will enable educators to track progress and help learners meet milestones throughout the school year. 

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website.

DHS Proposes Increases in Medicaid Behavioral HealthChoices Rates Through Mid-Year Adjustment to Support Behavioral and Mental Health Care (October 6, 2024)

On September 30, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) announced its intent to increase rates paid in its Behavioral HealthChoices program, which provides access to mental health, substance use disorder, and other behavioral health services for Medicaid recipients. Once approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the new rates to the Behavioral HelathChoices (BHC) Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) will be retroactive to July 1, 2024 for their current 2024 contract agreements with DHS.

The increase to BH-MCO rates come following a mid-year review of managed care organizations’ enrollment and what services and supports beneficiaries are using the most. The increased rates, if approved by CMS, will support access to behavioral health care for Medicaid recipients and ensure these MCOs are better positioned to appropriately compensate providers working in the behavioral health field, ultimately helping to recruit and retain this critical workforce.

More information on behavioral health and crisis resources in Pennsylvania is available on DHS’ website.