In line with Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s latest orders intended to prevent the spread and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn announced an upcoming return of outdoors programming at state parks and expansion of occupancy limits within park and state forest buildings effective Sunday, April 4.

“Environmental education and other outdoors programs helped our state parks system attain national prominence and we know they were sorely missed by our visitors,” Dunn said. “This and other operational changes follow Department of Health guidelines while broadening the enjoyment of state park and forests visitors. Since the pandemic’s outset we kept our lands open to all so that people can safely enjoy outdoor recreation to maintain positive physical and mental health.”

At Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests, the following will be in effect starting Sunday, April 4:

• Outdoor, in-person programs will resume with a limit of 40 participants per program. Masks and social distancing are required;
• Visitor center exhibit halls, interpretive areas and theaters will open with a 75 percent capacity visitation allowance. Masks and social distancing are required;
• Volunteer work days will resume with a limit of 40 participants per group. Masks and social distancing are required;
• Virtual and self-guided programs will continue to be offered;
• Scheduled programs will be listed on DCNR’s Calendar of Events; and
• Large, DCNR-sponsored events remain canceled until further notice.

State park and forest visitor centers, offices, theaters and interpretive wings will return to an occupancy limit of 75 percent of capacity. All visitors and staff must wear masks and practice social distancing and frequent hand sanitizing or washing.

Volunteer Friends group meetings must be virtual or outdoors at park or forest facilities.  Outdoor facilities must be under the 50 percent occupancy limit, and social distancing must be practiced and masks worn.

Not considered organized park or forest events, volunteer work days are permitted to resume. Guidelines include maximum at 40 per group. Multiple groups are permitted in separate locations, multiple groups may attend at different times, and masks and social distancing are required.

Third-party events can continue if established guidelines are followed. DCNR staff may be present to assist with public safety and to maintain compliance with the event agreement.

All occupancy changes are subject to reevaluation going forward and will maintain consistency with all applicable Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Pennsylvania Department of Health guidance.

Secretary Dunn noted visits to Pennsylvania state parks have increased by more than one million visitors a month since the start of mitigation efforts, and that interest is expected to hold strong through spring and into summer.

In a related development, DCNR announced last month that campsites will be available at an additional 17 state parks to accommodate fishing enthusiasts who want to stay overnight on April 2 for the new statewide trout opener the following day. A total of 34 parks throughout the state will provide camping at this time.

To help avoid exposure to COVID-19 and still enjoy the outdoors:

• Don’t hike or recreate in groups – go with those under the same roof, and adhere to social distancing (stay 6 feet apart)
• Take hand sanitizer with you and use it regularly
• Avoid touching your face, eyes, and nose
• Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with a tissue or flexed elbow
• If you are sick, stay home

Visitors can help keep state parks and forest lands safe by following these practices:

• Avoid crowded parking lots and trailheads
• Bring a bag and either carry out your trash or dispose of it properly
• Clean up after pets
• Avoid activities that put you at greater risk of injury, so you don’t require a trip to the emergency room

Pennsylvania has 121 state parks and 20 forest districts; all are open year-round.

Information about state parks and forests is available on the DCNR website and here.

The HHS Office of Minority Health has partnered with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other HHS agencies to identify and compile multilingual resources and materials for Medicare providers to assist them in providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

Translated resources include materials and information regarding specific diseases and conditions, health insurance, women’s health topics, substance use, emergency preparedness and response, and more.

Translated resources include materials and information regarding specific diseases and conditions, health insurance, women’s health topics, substance use, emergency preparedness and response, and more.

Download the file here to access translated resources and materials for Medicare providers.

On March 22, 2021, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra released the following statement on the eve of 11th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act:

“In the eleven years since it became law, the Affordable Care Act has saved lives, brought down health care costs, and expanded Medicaid to our most vulnerable neighbors. The lifesaving law has been a game changer, protecting roughly 133 million people with pre-existing conditions and extending quality, affordable health care to millions more.

“While health care is more in reach today, we have more work to do. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust families into crisis. Over the last year, too many people have had to mourn lost love ones or struggle to pay their bills. President Biden promised to bring down health care costs and that is exactly what we at the Department of Health and Human Services will do, beginning with implementation of the American Rescue Plan.

“Beginning on April 1, millions of Americans will be eligible for even more affordable options on HealthCare.gov. Because of the American Rescue Plan, four out of five enrollees will be able to qualify for coverage for as little as $10 per month.

“As HHS Secretary, I’m committed to building on this monumental progress to bring every American the peace of mind that comes with knowing you can take care of your family without going into debt.”

On March 23, 2021, President Biden announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is extending access to the Special Enrollment Period (SEP) until August 15 – giving consumers additional time to take advantage of new savings through the American Rescue Plan. This action provides new and current enrollees an additional three months to enroll or re-evaluate their coverage needs with increased tax credits available to reduce premiums.

“Every American deserves access to quality, affordable health care – especially as we fight back against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Through this Special Enrollment Period, the Biden Administration is giving the American people the chance they need to find an affordable health care plan that works for them. The American Rescue Plan will bring costs down for millions of Americans, and I encourage consumers to visit HealthCare.gov and sign up for a plan before August 15.”

To read the HHS press release, visit: HHS Press Release

To view the extended opportunity SEP fact sheet, visit: Extended Opportunity 2021 SEP Fact Sheet

See the updated technical guidance on the SEP at: SEP Technical Guidance

For FAQs on the 2021 SEP and the American Rescue Plan visit: SEP and ARP FAQs

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Today, @POTUS announced that @CMSgov is extending access to the Marketplace Special Enrollment Period until August 15.  Access the tweet at:  https://twitter.com/HHSGov/status/1374479825897844737?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced the launch of a program that will deliver rapid relief to millions of Pennsylvanians at risk of eviction or loss of utility service. With federal funds allocated through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the Wolf Administration built the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) in partnership with the General Assembly through Act 1 of 2021 to distribute about $569 million to Pennsylvania households through partnerships with local leaders. An additional $278 million in rental assistance was directly allocated to Pennsylvania’s largest counties by the federal government.

“With thousands of COVID-19 vaccines administered to Pennsylvanians every day, we are starting to see the light at the end of this year-long tunnel. But we must remain focused on the fact that so many of our neighbors are still struggling to cope with the pandemic’s economic fallout,” Governor Wolf said. “Millions of Pennsylvania households are less financially secure today than they were a year ago because a pandemic stole jobs and income from Pennsylvania workers. The ERAP is designed to provide housing security and utility assistance for these families and individuals so that they can focus on caring for their loved ones, getting back to work and healing from this traumatic experience.”

Pennsylvanians can submit applications for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program online at www.compass.state.pa.us. Forty-seven counties have opted to collect applications from county residents through the COMPASS website provided by the Department of Human Services (DHS). DHS will route applications submitted through COMPASS directly to counties for processing.

The online application is available in English and Spanish. Applicants can also download and print an application or obtain an application from their county ERAP office.  DHS has also translated the paper application into Russian, Vietnamese, Arabic, Chinese and Cambodian and made those available to all participating counties.

Twenty counties have opted to accept applications from county residents through their own application process. However, residents of all counties can visit COMPASS for information on how to apply for ERAP, including residents of counties that have developed their own process. If a person tries to apply through COMPASS but indicates that they reside in one of the 20 counties with its own application, they will be provided with information about how to apply, including a link to the county application if available.

“The Department of Human Services designed this program to quickly and efficiently get help to people who need it. We stand ready to work with our partners in every Pennsylvania county to make this program a success,” DHS Secretary Teresa Miller said. “I encourage all Pennsylvania families and individuals struggling with rent and utility bills to apply for assistance through ERAP.”

Households may be eligible for up to 12 months of assistance to cover past-due or future rental and/or utility payments. The amount of a household’s monthly rent or utility bills does not preclude eligibility, but the amount of ERAP assistance provided to a household is determined by program administrators at the county level.

Assistance can be provided to a tenant for future rental payments, and for unpaid rental or utility arrears that were accrued on or after March 13, 2020 on a residential rental property. Counties may choose to provide additional assistance to eligible households if funds remain available.

Residential tenants can apply for themselves, or a landlord/utility provider can apply on behalf of a current tenant. Additionally, landlords do not have to agree to participate in the program for tenants to receive assistance.

To qualify for assistance, a household must be responsible to pay rent on a residential property and meet each of the following criteria:

• One or more people within the household has qualified for unemployment benefits, had a decrease in income, had increased household costs, or experienced other financial hardship due directly or indirectly to the COVID-19 pandemic; AND
• One or more individuals in the household can show a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; AND
• The household has an income at or below 80 percent of area median income, which varies by county. Income limits by county are available on the DHS website. Resources (like bank accounts and cars) are not relevant to ERAP eligibility.

Applicants will need to provide the following information: head of household’s personal information; income information for all household members 18 and older; rental lease and amount owed; landlord’s name and contact information. If applying for utility assistance, applicants must provide utility expenses and utility provider information.

Applicants should be prepared to provide documents that substantiate information provided, such as pay stubs, tax filings, unemployment letters, and rental/utility arrears. However, if applicants do not have documents, county ERAP offices will work with applicants to obtain documents or written attestations.

The program will end when all funds have been expended, which DHS expects to happen by September 2021. Per Act 1 of 2021, all funds must be spent by December 31, 2021.

More information about ERAP can be found at www.dhs.pa.gov.

Pennsylvania Governor’s Wolf Administration’s Opioid Command Center announced the availability of the Statewide Naloxone Allocation Request Portal. The portal allows eligible organizations serving high-risk populations the ability to request additional naloxone nasal spray.

“We are committed to ensuring that naloxone is widely available to help those with the disease of addiction,” Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said. “Naloxone has one role, and that is to save someone who is suffering from an overdose. It is essential that every Pennsylvanian consider obtaining naloxone to help save a life.”

This portal will supplement the Central Coordinating Entities’ (CCEs) efforts through the Naloxone for First Responders Program (NFRP) with a dedicated supply of naloxone focused on supporting distribution efforts to reach high-risk and high-need populations.

Eligible organizations must utilize naloxone provided through this portal to support one or more of the following priority populations:

• Individuals using Syringe Service Programs (SSPs) and harm reduction services;
• Individuals leaving state prisons and county jails;
• Individuals engaged in and/or leaving treatment or detox and those who are in recovery;
• Individuals who have experienced a nonfatal overdose; and/or
• Other high-risk populations identified by the organization (i.e., pregnant/post-partum women with a history of opioid use disorder, individuals experiencing homelessness, etc.).

“Naloxone has been a key component of battling the opioid epidemic in Pennsylvania,” said Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Jen Smith. “The Wolf Administration has worked hard to ensure that all Pennsylvanians have access to naloxone. This portal will help ensure that we are able to fulfill the needs of the commonwealth’s more high-risk overdose populations, and ultimately save lives.”

Launched in 2017, the goal of the NFRP is to increase the availability of lifesaving medication for individuals at greatest risk of opioid overdose as well as the systems most likely to interact with these individuals. NFRP provides no-cost intranasal naloxone to priority first responder groups through a network of 48 CCEs. Since inception, CCEs have distributed more than 80,000 kits of NARCAN to first responder groups, resulting in more than 17,094 reported overdose reversals to date.

“PCCD remains committed to the distribution of naloxone throughout the state to prevent overdose deaths and save lives,” Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency Executive Director Michael Pennington said.  “Our agency will continue to work with our partners at the state and local levels to increase availability of this life-saving medication for individuals and communities with the greatest need.”

Additional naloxone efforts include the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s standing orders to make naloxone more accessible for the public, first responders, and last year, a standing order for community organizations to distribute naloxone through mail order. Additionally, the Wolf Administration has sponsored two public giveaway events as part of Stop Overdose in Pennsylvania: Get Help Now week, where nearly 10,000 kits of naloxone were distributed.

The Opioid Command Center, established in January 2018 when Gov. Wolf signed the first opioid disaster declaration, meets every week to discuss the opioid crisis. The command center is staffed by personnel from 17 state agencies and the Office of the Attorney General, spearheaded by the departments of Health and Drug and Alcohol Programs. Last year, the command center released a strategic plan highlighting accomplishments to date and providing a roadmap for the continued work to help those with substance use disorder.

Efforts over the past several years, working with state agencies, local, regional, and federal officials, have resulted in significant action to address the opioid crisis.

• Physician General  signed an updated naloxone standing order permitting community-based organizations to provide naloxone by mail.
• In September, DDAP announced the launch of Life Unites Us, an anti-stigma campaign, utilizing social media platforms to spread real-life stories of individuals and their family members battling substance use disorder, live and recorded webinars detailing tools and information necessary to effectively reduce stigma to more than 350 community-based organizations focused on SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery throughout Pennsylvania, and a web-based interactive data dashboard detailing the progress of the campaign.
• The Wolf Administration called on all Pennsylvanians to carry naloxone.
• The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program has reduced opioid prescriptions by 36.6 percent and has virtually eliminated doctor shopping.
• The number of people receiving high dosages of opioids (defined as greater than 90 morphine milligram equivalents per day) has dropped 58.6 percent since the PDMP launched in August 2016.
• The Opioid Data Dashboard and Data Dashboard 2.0 has provided public-facing data regarding prevention, rescue and treatment.
• Pennsylvania Coordinated Medication Assisted Treatment (PacMAT) programs are serving as part of a hub-and-spoke model to provide evidence-based treatment to people where they live. 8 PacMAT programs have served patients through this initiative.
• More than 45 Centers of Excellence, administered by the Department of Human Services, provide coordinated, evidence-based treatment to people with an opioid use disorder covered by Medicaid. The COEs have treated more than 32,500 people since first launching in 2016.
• The waiver of birth certificate fees for those with opioid use disorder has helped more than 6,090 people, enabling easier entry into recovery programs.
• A standing order signed by former Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine in 2018 allowed EMS to leave behind more than 2,400 doses of naloxone.
• Education has been provided to more than 9,500 prescribers through either online or face-to-face education.
• More than 880 drug take-back boxes help Pennsylvanians properly dispose of unwanted drugs, including 178,540 pounds of unwanted drugs in 2019. 2020 data is not yet available because of COVID.
• The Get Help Now Hotline received more than 49,000 calls, with more than half of all callers connected directly to a treatment provider.
• The state prison system has expanded their Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) program, which is viewed as a model program for other states.
• A body scanner pilot project was successful in reducing overdoses and violent crime in a number of facilities. Body scanners are in place in more than 30 locations and are currently being expanded to additional facilities.
• Several agencies have worked together to collaborate on the seizure and destruction of illicit opioids across Pennsylvania.
• Education and training on opioids have been provided to schools. Future plans are in place to make opioid education a standard component of school-based training.
• The coordination with seven major commercial providers has expand access to naloxone and mental health care, while also working to make it more affordable.
• Naloxone has been made available to first responders through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency since November 2017, with more than 80,000 kits made available and more than 17,094 overdose reversals reported through the program. More than 6,600 of those saves occurred in 2019.
• EMS have administered more than 51,760 doses of naloxone and more than 10,000 doses were made available to members of the public during the state’s naloxone distribution in 2019.

More information on the opioid crisis can be found on the Department of Health’s website at health.pa.gov or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.