Late last month, the PA Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that Pennsylvania is receiving an estimated $42 million in federal funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) through the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Program to continue existing and support new activities that make serving individuals in the community possible.

The MFP program allows states to leverage federal dollars to help Medicaid beneficiaries who live in institutions to instead receive services they need in a community. The MFP program provides the state with the financial flexibility to allow services to “follow the person” as older Pennsylvanians or those with a disability transition from an institutional setting back into the community. Two such programs are:

Capacity Building for the Dual Diagnosis Population and Individuals Under 21
The Capacity Building Institute (CBI) Strategy educates, informs, and trains staff to identify and work with individuals who have a dual diagnosis. CBI offers high level education with focus on best practices in supporting individuals with complex needs. Funding also supports education and training to build capacity of the multiple systems involved in serving individuals under 21 with developmental and intellectual disabilities with complex needs transitioning from Residential Treatment Facilities (RTFs.)

START PA
The START (Systemic, Therapeutic, Assessment, Resources, and Treatment) PA Program is a community-based program that assists individuals with an intellectual disability or autism and have a co-occurring mental illness. These individuals are at a higher risk for inpatient hospitalizations when they experience crisis and require a high level of specialized skill in assessment and treatment approaches. START PA builds upon local resources, works to close current gaps in the systems of care, and provides crisis intervention and response services and supports for these individuals in the community instead of in State Hospitals or State Centers.