In August, OFA started to roll out our Q1 priorities; launching our first Employment Services Project SEARCH program with LEGOLAND California, expanding our Service Accessibility program throughout all of San Diego and the Inland Empire, an in-depth program analysis of ILS/TDS/SLS, implementation of our Employee Engagement initiatives, while continuing to outperform our budgeted Net Operating Income OFA was celebrated as a Best Place to Work in San Diego and was invited to present at our industry conference in September on the success of our recruitment of Hispanic and/or Latino clients and staff. It's been an exciting and highly productive August!
-Brian
PILLAR UPDATES
Best Place to Work
Preparedness Kits
As part of our Best Place to Work strategy, our Employee Experience Manager formed an employeeled Engagement Committee. This committee collected feedback from team members across the organization to identify a series of initiatives aimed at improving key areas important to them. One of these areas was Preparedness (providing support and resources to help team members be effective at their jobs). In August, the committee procured supplies relevant to each program and distributed "Preparedness Kits" to every team member.
Deliver Exceptional Services
Options For All and LEGOLAND California building careers one LEGO
at a time.
Project SEARCH assessment day occurred on September 10th at LEGOLAND California. The team made offers to 10 interns (1 waiting list), filling the cohort. The program begins October 1.
Service Accessibility and Equity
• We hired a Promotora and a Spanish-speaking recruiter for the Inland Empire.
• New Promotora completed 140 one-to-one contacts.
• We joined and facilitated multiple recruiting fairs, meetings, and events.
• Onboarded 3 new Latino and/or Hispanic staff members and 19 clients
• OFA exceeded all of our grant goals
• We completed our grant application for our third round of funding
Have a Thriving Business Model
The month continues the positive trend observed last month in terms of revenue generation and expense management. The driving factors behind our strong performance include:
• Higher than budgeted attendance rates in our Community Engagement program
• Continued growth in our Employment Services program
AUGUST FINANCIALS:
• Revenue: $2,489,422
• Expenses: $2,124,055
• Net Operating Income (operating profit): $365K vs Budget of $131K
YEAR TO DATE FINANCIALS:
• Revenue: $4,921,950
• Expenses: $4,126,875
• Net Operating Income (operating profit): $795K vs. Budget of $211K
INDUSTRY UPDATES
Rate Reform, QIP, and Provider Directory Updates
Rate Reform Update:
Over the coming weeks, the Department of Developmental Services (Department) will release a series of directives to regional centers to fully implement new rate models on January 1, 2025. These directives will include:
• An overview of Rate Reform and detailed directives for individual service types
• Information on the QIP’s Provider Directory measure for use in the new rate models
• A description of roles and responsibilities for changes to services within Rate Reform
• Guidance for special circumstances and exceptions Service providers within Rate Reform already have received two rate adjustments based on the services currently being provided. In the coming months, regional center staff and service providers will need to reference the forthcoming directives to consider changes to some services covered by the rate study, including new definitions and provider requirements. Service providers either must align with these requirements or change to a service that best reflects the services being provided.
Quality Incentive Program (QIP) Update:
The Department continues to review and analyze data gathered through the current QIP measures The Department also is working with providers and QIP focus groups to further develop longer-term quality measures.
• At this time, there are eight QIP measures available that providers may participate in to earn incentives. These include the Provider Directory. More information about eligibility, measures and incentives can be found here: www dds ca gov/rc/vendorprovider/quality-incentive-program.
• The Provider Directory, which includes all vendored providers, is the sole QIP measure allowing providers to earn the quality incentive portion (up to ten percent) of their rate. DDS will rely on the Provider Directory information for administering future activities, including QIP quality measures and outcome payments, so it is important that all providers participate.
Provider Directory Update:
Data collection and cleanup efforts are underway, led by a third-party data management vendor, Protiviti.
• Protiviti, the Department, and regional centers continue to outreach to service provider contact people. This outreach will continue during August for data collection, surveying, and cleanup activities.
• Service providers who have not yet responded to this outreach should expect to be contacted via email or a phone call. There also is a self-service survey located on the Provider Directory website. Multiple contact attempts will be made so that all service providers can confirm their records and qualify for an incentive payment.
• Learn more about the data cleanup, registration, and validation steps in the previous bi-weekly email on the Provider Directory website: www dds ca gov/initiatives/provider-directory
Next
Steps (Key take aways, action items, or important dates):
Rate Reform:
• Regional center staff and providers should check the website for updated information on rate reform, directives, trainings, and office hours: www dds ca gov/rc/vendor-provider/rate-study-implementation
• Before December 31, 2024, regional centers will confirm provider vendorizations through the rate reform workbooks
• Final rates will be determined by the verification of completed activity in the Provider Directory
QIP:
• The next QIP workgroup meeting will be scheduled and held in late summer 2024. A registration link will be distributed and added to the DDS Stakeholder Events webpage later in August 2024
Provider Directory:
• Participation in the Provider Directory by October 31, 2024, is the only measure that will be for the quality incentive portion of the rate model’s full rate that starts on January 1, 2025. It will be the only measure for the 2025-26 fiscal year, as well. DDS will be sharing more guidance on the enrollment and validation process in the upcoming weeks.
• DDS and Protiviti are reaching out to regional centers and service provider contacts for the data collection information.
• A toolkit has been shared to support regional centers in outreach to service providers It is available on the Provider Directory website
• After the initial data collection is validated, all providers are required to go into the online Provider Directory and update any information about their business This applies to all providers of developmental disabilities services, regardless of whether the Rate Reform applies to that provider. Details about how to do this will be released in the coming weeks in a directive from the Department.
State Provider Directory Update
Helping Californians with developmental disabilities and their families access services is central to the DDS mission To make provider data easier to find and use, DDS is gathering service provider information into one, centralized, online portal called the “Provider Directory.”
This Provider Directory will be developed in phases.
Why is this important?
With accurate data, the Provider Directory will serve two key functions:
• For advocates and families: Identify service provider options in their community.
• For service providers: Earn a possible one-time payment from the Quality Incentive Program (QIP) for complete submissions. Provider directory data will be used to inform the 10% change in rate setting.
We will rely on the Provider Directory information for future QIP activities, including payment for outcome and quality measures
State Fiscal Update: July Income Taxes 16 % Above Projections
Helping Californians with developmental disabilities and their families access services is central to the DDS mission To make provider data easier to find and use, DDS is gathering service provider information into one, centralized, online portal called the “Provider Directory.”
This Provider Directory will be developed in phases.
Why is this important? July 2024 income taxes, inclusive of both personal income and corporation taxes, were $1.26 billion (16.4%) above monthly budget projections based on preliminary data from California state tax collection agencies July generally is one of the slowest tax collection months of the year in California.
Corporation taxes were $844 million (161.8%) above the monthly projections due to an unusually robust receipt day on July 16. As I noted then, such large single collection days can result from payments by a single corporate entity, but information on payments by specific taxpayers is confidential.
Personal income tax payments in July were $418 million (5.8%) above projections. Withholding from workers’ paychecks was basically on target, with the gains resulting from quarterly and other payments. As of today, August 5, U.S. stock prices (as measured by the S&P 500 index) are up 15% from one year ago and remain 5.8% above the economic projections that undergird the 2024-25 state budget plan.
2023-24 state revenues were an estimated $3.2 billion (1.5%) above budget projections, according to last month’s Department of Finance Finance Bulletin. July 2024 is the first month of the 2024-25 fiscal year The vast majority of any revenue overage in 2024-25 is likely to be paid to schools and community colleges under Proposition 98’s maintenance factor provisions
With accurate data, the Provider Directory will serve two key functions:
• For advocates and families: Identify service provider options in their community
• For service providers: Earn a possible one-time payment from the Quality Incentive Program (QIP) for complete submissions. Provider directory data will be used to inform the 10% change in rate setting.
We will rely on the Provider Directory information for future QIP activities, including payment for outcome and quality measures.
In Other News…
August's Operational Results
• We brought on 25 new clients
• Client Retention Rate increased to 97%
• Employee NPS stayed steady at +48 (vs. goal of +40)
• Client NPS hit an all-time high of +52
• Film & Media Capacity and Attendance Rates increased from July to August
• OFA was named a Best Place to Work by the San Diego Business Journal
• Q1 Playbook Meeting conducted to examine the program performance of ILS/TDS/SLS
Changes at State
• Director of DDS, Nancy Bargmann officially retired.
• Chief of Data and Strategy, Pete Cervinka, was named Interim Director of DDS.
• CalHHS Secretary, Dr. Ghaly, stepped down and was replaced by former Director of Social Services, Kimberly Johnson.
Stay Up-To-Date with DDS Meetings
Links on the Stakeholder Events, DS Task Force, EVV Meetings, Master Plan for Developmental Services, and Rate Study Implementation pages.
On The Horizon…
Best Place to Work
Thursday, October 10, 2024, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Exceptional Services
Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 10:00am - 11:00am
Thriving Business Model
Wednesday, October 23, 2024, 11:00am12:30pm
Governance
Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 9:30am - 10:30am
Upcoming Board Meeting:
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 3:00pm - 5:00pm OFA San Diego Admin Conference Room 4250
