Accomplishments 2023: Training and Technical Assistance

• 2023 By the Numbers
• Research, Evaluation, and Analytic Services
• Training and Technical Assistance
• Product Development
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Strategic Communication and Outreach
• Accessibility Services
• Website and Software Development

Training and Technical Assistance

New Editions has a long history of providing targeted training and technical assistance (TA) to support stakeholders at the federal, state, community, and individual level. Our TA approach is grounded in strategies that build trust and relationships and that allow for two-way communication, joint decision-making, and shared responsibilities. Our work this year has focused on helping to streamline processes for collecting, submitting, and reviewing data; implementing federal requirements; expanding services in the community; and ensuring the safety of services.

• Provided TA for states expanding their home and community-based services (HCBS). Responded to 18 TA requests covering such topics as how states can expand and improve HCBS services, self-direction, needs assessments, community integration, quality improvement strategies and more. We continue to receive outstanding levels of customer-reported satisfaction with the TA provided. Survey respondents provided the following comments:

• “The New Editions team was great to work with and understood the needs of the State and what we were looking to explore.”
• “My team and I were very impressed with New Editions. The TA plan included best practices and practical yet innovative ways to implement DD expansion.”

• Developed national training in support of the CMS HCBS, including the home and community-based Settings rule. Trainings were well-received by State Medicaid agencies, their partners, and stakeholders. Trainings included the following:
  • Unwinding HCBS Public Health Emergency Flexibilities
  • 1915(i) HCBS State Plan Option: Requirements for Needs-Based Criteria and State Option to Target Benefits
  • HCB Settings Compliance Post- March 2023
  • Medicaid HCB Settings Regulation: Fitting the Pieces Together
  • Person-Centered Service Planning in HCBS
• Supported CMS by reviewing state documents associated with the implementation of the Settings rule. Reviewed 88 Statewide Transition Plans achieving initial approval for two states and final approval for 22. Also reviewed 124 heightened scrutiny packages from 14 states, and 36 Corrective Action Plans. This represents a 73% increase in reviews over the previous year.
• Planned and conducted state heightened scrutiny site visits. Continued to support site visits, refining the planning process as needed based on experience. Participated in site visits to 7 states, three of which required two teams, documented findings in a site visit report, and facilitated site visit de-briefs between CMS, ACL, and the state.
• Provided ongoing support through CMS to states for the Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) Medicaid requirement. Provided technical assistance to states by responding to 99 TA requests, hosting 16 Regional calls, conducting four specialized Services Office Hour calls, and presenting four PASRR 101 sessions.
• Provided quality and timely support to the Administration for Community Living (ACL) Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator (HSPA) during a quick contract start-up. With the contract awarded late September 2023, New Editions, along with our subcontractor, USAging, hit the ground running completing all activities to develop and implement an application and Federal review panel in selecting states to participate in this groundbreaking activity. HSPA will kick off in January 2024, bringing together states interested in developing or expanding innovative housing-related supports and services targeted to Medicaid-eligible persons with disabilities and/or older adults who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing homelessness for peer-to-peer learning activities.
• Contributing family caregiving subject matter expertise to the ACL Administration on Aging (AoA), Office of Supportive and Caregiver Services (OSCS). New Editions provides assistance, guidance, and coordination of activities to the ACL/AoA/OSCS, their grantees and stakeholders, in support of ACL’s Family Caregiver Support Initiative: Advancing Aging Network Capacity to Support Family, Kinship and Tribal Caregivers. This specifically supports the Caregiving Projects of National Significance that focus on the goals and priorities of ACL’s 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers to provide a flexible mechanism to respond quickly to the various requirements in support of ACL’s mission.
• Provided technical assistance to Older Americans Act (OAA) Title VI grantees to support the use of the Title VI data entry workbook that New Editions developed in prior years. The workbook allows grantees to track the services they provide to tribal elders and caregivers and automatically calculates values for their annual program performance reports. This year’s TA included outreach to over 250 grantees to provide an overview of the workbook, as well as to train them on how to use the workbook. New Editions also provided on-demand TA, weekly group trainings, and office hours sessions.
• Won the NEW National Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Audit Program Blanket Purchase Agreement ensuring Medical Examiners and commercial drivers meet FMCSA regulations and criteria. This multi-million dollar contract spans five years to provide support to FMCSA auditing the FMCSA Medical Programs. New Editions geared up, promoting and hiring staff to support these tasks. Staff were trained and work closely everyday with FMCSA to ensure MEs and drivers comply with Department of Transportation requirements designed to promote road safety among commercial drivers.
• Supported safe driving for interstate and commercial drivers for FMCSA. Continued to support the National Registry program that ensures the over 80,000 medical examiners (ME) nationwide meet the requirements to serve as an ME. New Editions provided help desk support and validated MEs’ credentials in support of the national registry for MEs who play a key role in assuring that individuals meet the medical criteria for continuing to serve as commercial drivers. FMSCA recognized the outstanding work of help desk and management throughout the year.
• Ensured commercial drivers meet medical criteria required to drive by supporting the FMCSA Hearing and Seizure contracts. New Editions worked with FMCSA to set up the Hearing Exemption Program and the Seizure Exemption Program and to ensure drivers in these programs are meeting the requirements that help keep drivers safe on the roads. Staff created letter templates and Federal Register Notices. Our medical document reviewers worked closely with our New Editions nurse specializing in seizure disorders. This medical review team received many accolades directly from FMCSA upper management.
• Defined and provided technical assistance to SBA to inform agency efforts to promote equity in federal contracting. Technical assistance focused on building consensus around a definition of equity in the context of federal procurement, building a logic model to serve as a conceptual framework for SBA evidence building in this area, and on providing recommendations for the use of appropriate equity-focused terms.
• Successfully completed six-month technical assistance services for the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Aging and Adult Services to support the state in adopting consistent practices within its adult protective services (APS). For this engagement, New Editions reviewed alignment of relevant Louisiana APS state regulations as well as its APS policies, procedures, and processes with the APS Guidelines. In addition, with support from NAPSA, New Editions managed a systematic quality review of a sample of APS case records and their alignment with quality assurance criteria. Results, including written reports, detailed case review findings, and discussion of findings with agency leadership and staff in an exit conference, were provided. New Editions also developed and provided the state with draft materials for potential presentation at an industry conference (e.g., NAPSA 2024).