USDA Offers Webinars in Regards to the Community Connect Grant Program (FY2018)

March 19, 2018

April 5th from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT
April 10th from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) will host webinars focused on the Community Connect Grant Program. These webinars will inform participants about the major eligibility and regulatory requirements of the program and will provide detailed guidance on how to submit a successful application. There will also be time for participants to ask the speakers specific questions about putting together an application.

On March 15th, the Community Connect Grant Program’s Notice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA) was published in the Federal Register.  A copy can be found here.

You can register for the April 5th session here and the April 10th session here. We recommend you do this registration early and run a system check to ensure quick access on the day of the webinar.

If the above registration link does not work, please copy & paste https://cc.readytalk.com/r/5pj6gcnhk5hb&eom into your browser for the April 5th session or https://cc.readytalk.com/r/54s0o7ogdupz&eom for the April 10th session.

Questions? Please contact the RUS at deborah.anderson@wdc.usda.gov or gayle.buckner@wdc.usda.gov or call (202) 720-0800 with any questions about these events.

Further details can be found in the attached flyer.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.

Behavioral Health Virtual Job Fair – April 11th!

March 19, 2018

HRSA Behavioral Health Virtual Job Fair
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
6:45-10:15 p.m. ET

REGISTER NOW

The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) is hosting a Behavioral Health Virtual Job Fair with more than 100 healthcare organizations representing hundreds of job opportunities. Please encourage behavioral health students and practicing clinicians to participate in this Virtual Job Fair and have the unique opportunity to get real-time answers to their employment questions.

This Virtual Job Fair will have job opportunities for:

  • Psychiatrists
  • Psychologists
  • Licensed Clinical Social Workers
  • Licensed Professional Counselors
  • Marriage and Family Therapists
  • Nursing professionals*
  • and Physician Assistants*

*specializing in psychiatry, mental health, or behavioral health

After registering, participants can prepare for the Virtual Job Fair by going to the Health Workforce Connector to build a searchable professional profile. In this professional profile, they can highlight and share their professional experience, education, and employment preferences with organizations searching for qualified candidates like them! With nearly 5,000 job opportunities throughout nearly 22,000 organizations, the Connector helps future and current health professionals find careers in underserved communities. Click here to set up a new account.

Please share this information with behavioral health professionals. Space is limited. For more information, visit the Behavioral Health Virtual Job Fair website.

Thank you for helping to spread the word about this opportunity!

No Cost | THREE LOCATIONS | MAT Waiver Training | 2018

March 19, 2018

Available MAT Waiver Training

No-Cost Half & Half | THREE LOCATIONS

Opioid STR, in partnership with the Missouri Coalition for Community Behavioral Healthcare, is providing an 8-hour MAT Waiver Course. This course is different from the traditional 8-hour live course, as the first 4 hours will be in person and second 4 hours will be individual online work. 

Once you complete the first 4-hour live training, you will receive an email from AAAP with a link for the other 4 hours of individual work. Once that work is completed, they will send you a certificate of completion.

Note that while medical residents can take the waiver training, they will not be able to apply until they have a personal DEA number and an unrestricted medical license. 

If you obtain your buprenorphine waiver following this course, you (or your agency) are likely eligible to receive $500 reimbursement for your time. 

Scheduled Trainings (all trainings are 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.):

  1. May 12, 2018 | Columbia, MO | Register online now: https://katiehorst.wufoo.com/forms/z1tvvupa07j2szu/
  2. June 2, 2018 | St. Louis, MO | Register online now: https://katiehorst.wufoo.com/forms/znhsvbd1udf6xj/
  3. September 29, 2018 | Kansas City, MO | Register online now: https://katiehorst.wufoo.com/forms/z1h3ax300k39net/

NP & PA’s – this coursework will go toward your 24 hours of training. If you complete this, you can go online and finish the other 16 hours of work to get your certificate. The link below will take you directly to the registration page for the other 16 hours of training
https://e-learning.apna.org/products/medication-assisted-treatment-mat-16-hour-waiver-training

After completion of the required training:

  • Participants must submit a Notice of Intent form (NOI; link provided after training)
  • Participants must submit their certificate of completion (provided after completing the training, verifies coursework completion)
  • Once participants receive their waiver, upload to https://katiehorst.wufoo.com/forms/z1fglcxq1u8h0fg/ to receive $500 reimbursement, if applicable, and connect with clinics in Missouri in need of your services

Ongoing mentorship and support:

  • PCSS-MAT has a comprehensive library of materials with continuing education, available at no cost for healthcare providers. PCSS-MAT also has a no-cost clinical coaching/mentoring program to provide one-on-one clinical expertise for primary care providers. You can post a question to a listserv with an addiction specialist and be matched with an addiction specialist.
  • Additionally, the Missouri STR team has local buprenorphine-waivered and experienced physician and NP consultants available to meet individually or respond to queries by phone or online. Email Philip Horn (philip.horn@mimh.edu), STR Project Manager, to connect with someone.

For questions or additional information please contact:

Katie Horstman
Training & Event Manager
Missouri Coalition for Community Behavioral Healthcare
221 Metro Drive | Jefferson City, MO 65109
Phone: 573.634.4626, ext. 110
KHorstman@mocoalition.org

Proposed Changes to Eligibility of Certain Rural Areas

March 15, 2018

Determining Property Eligibility by Application Date

On March 16, 2018, the proposed ineligible area maps for the Rural Development Single Family Housing (SFH) and Multi-Family Housing programs were posted to the USDA Income and Property Eligibility Site at https://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov.  Users will need to select the “Proposed Ineligible Areas” tab after choosing the appropriate program (e.g. Single Family Housing Guaranteed) to view the new ineligible area maps.  The “Proposed Ineligible Areas” maps show all ineligible, non-rural areas and not only the new non-rural areas.  In some cases, previously ineligible areas will now become eligible rural areas.

The new ineligible areas will become effective on June 4, 2018.

Loan Guarantee Processing

On June 4, 2018, all properties for new applications must be located in an eligible rural area based on the new maps.  However, a property that is located in an area being changed from rural to non-rural may be approved if all of the following conditions are met:

  1. The application is dated and received by the lender prior to June 4, 2018 and the Loan Estimate was issued by the lender within 3 days of application receipt.
  2. The applicant has a signed/ratified sales contract on a property that is dated prior to June 4, 2018.
  3. Applicant meets all other loan eligibility requirements.

If the property is located in an area being changed from rural to non-rural, lenders must provide Rural Development all of the following information in addition to all other required documentation.  For loans submitted via the Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS), the documentation must be uploaded into the system.

  • Copy of the signed/ratified and dated sales contract.
  • Copy of the Loan Estimate issued to the applicant.
  • Verification that the property was located in an eligible rural area prior to June 4, 2018.  Note: Maps of the “Previous Eligible Areas” will be available on the Eligibility site beginning June 4, 2018.  A printout of the map indicating the property address was previously eligible is acceptable.

GUS underwriting recommendations will display an INELIGIBLE property determination for property that is no longer located in an eligible rural area.  The INELIGIBLE property determination is the second half of the GUS underwriting recommendation.  For example, an ACCEPT/INELIGIBLE underwriting recommendation will apply to a request where the applicant’s credit and capacity assessment is an ACCEPT (first part of the underwriting recommendation) however the property is located in an INELIGIBLE area (second part of the underwriting recommendation).  This does not prevent the lender from completing the final submission to Rural Development.  The Rural Development reviewer will be able to override the property eligibility determination when the lender has uploaded the required documentation noted above.

To assist Rural Development in processing your loan guarantee request expeditiously, lenders should ensure the documentation noted above is submitted to Rural Development for review when requesting the guarantee.

Announcements from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

March 8, 2018

What’s New

Interoperability, Patient Choice at HIMSS.  On Tuesday, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma announced a new initiative, MyHealthEData, “to empower patients by giving them control of their healthcare data, and allowing it to follow them through their healthcare journey.” Speaking to attendees at the annual conference of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in Las Vegas, Verma said that CMS plans to overhaul requirements for the agency’s meaningful use program and MACRA’s Quality Payment Program to increase the focus on interoperability and reduce barriers to compliance – both areas presenting a challenge to rural providers.  The HIMSS Conference runs through the end of the week.  Those in attendance can find our FORHP colleagues at HRSA Booth #10219 in the Federal Health IT Pavilion.

Updated Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America.  The rural atlas, maintained and updated by the Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides statistics on three broad categories of socioeconomic factors:  demographics, including migration and immigration, education, and characteristics of veteran population;  jobs, with employment trends, industrial composition and household income; and county classifications that include the rural-urban continuum, economic dependence, persistent poverty and other characteristics.

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