Posts by Oregon Support Services Association
OSSA Announces Kathryn Weit as Association Executive Director
By Margaret Theisen Oregon Support Services Association President The Oregon Support Services Association (OSSA) is pleased to announce the hiring of Kathryn Weit as our Executive Director. Kathryn is well known as an advocate and leader for services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her extensive history in our State includes participating in launching the Oregon Support Services Brokerage system, leading the Oregon Developmental Disabilities Coalition and serving as the Executive Director of the Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities. Her primary roles are advisory to OSSA regarding advocacy needs on major policy, budget and customer...
Read MoreState Announces Payment Systems Change Delay; Provider Enrollment Agreements Still Needed
Dear Providers, Yesterday, newly-appointed ODDS Interim Director Trisha Baxter announced that Oregon is putting the brakes on its move to centralize payment to providers of brokerage services. The new target date for the change is July 1st, 2014, pending agreement between the State and SEIU. For quite some time, there has been great concern amongst brokerages, providers, and customers regarding what has been a rather rocky implementation process. Payment to our essential provider base must be top priority for our community and system. We applaud ODDS’ move to delay for solid planning and pledge to work with the Department on development of a thoughtful and thorough...
Read More11/26/2013 Update on Provider Payment Changes and Provider Enrollment into the State’s System
Dear Providers,There continues to be a lack of timelines and details regarding the State’s move to take over payment to providers of brokerage services.Representatives from the Office of Developmental Disabilities Services promise there’s continued work on a solid plan, but as of right now they have produced no clear plans or feasible timelines. What we understand is this:Due to the lack of a transition process presently, payment will not be coming through the State effective January 1st, 2014 Brokerages will continue to provide your payment until an appropriate plan is developed and agreed upon. Given the amount of work left to do during implementation, our best guess...
Read MoreNotice to Providers Regarding Issues with State Payment System Changes and Processes
Dear Personal Support Workers, Domestic Employees and Independent Contractors,Recently, there have been some mixed messages regarding the new State payment system and the Provider Enrollment Number you will need in order to access it – including what you need to turn in and to whom you should submit those items. Many of you have reported getting conflicting information from one contact person to the next. Once the brokerages were alerted to the issue by calls from providers, we quickly made contact with leadership at ODDS (Office of Developmental Disabilities Services) and the OHCC (Oregon Home Care Commission) to address the communication breakdown and resulting...
Read MoreOSSA/Brokerage Positions on K Plan Implementation; DHS Response to Concerns
On June 12th, 2013, several brokerage directors met with Erinn Kelley-Siel (Director of the Department of Human Services), Tricia Baxter (Chief Operating Officer for Aging and Disability Programs) and Patrice Botsford (Director of the Oregon Office of Developmental Disabilities Services) to discuss concerns related to planned changes to services for brokerage customers and individuals throughout the system. During the meeting, we shared a formal position document (see below*) outlining concerns, questions, and recommendations. Given the significant amount of systems change occurring in Oregon right now, the paper touched only on high level, immediate issues. Within a...
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