Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association

01/06/2026

Michaela “Michi” Benthaus, an aerospace and mechatronics engineer at the European Space Agency who uses a wheelchair, traveled to space in late December. Benthaus was one of six passengers on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket for the journey above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space, days after its initial launch was scrubbed due to unspecified issues.

For the first time ever, a wheelchair user traveled above the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.

12/31/2025

Rewriting The County Playbook
December 30, 2025 | Monica E. Oss

The past year’s many shifts in federal health and human service policies have brought a host of “trickle down” effects to the field. Some of these changes affect reimbursement of specific services—like the plan to discontinue Medicaid reimbursement for health-related social needs (see CMS Rescinds Medicaid’s Health-Related Social Needs Guidance) and new criteria for services for the homeless and housing support grants (see A Look At The New Executive Order And The Intersection Of Homelessness And Mental Illness). Full article link:

https://mailchi.mp/openminds.com/daily-executive-briefing-4324117?e=56f596e6fa

Article reprinted with permission from OPEN MINDS. To sign up for a free OPEN MINDS news feed on https://www.openminds.com/market-intelligence/, go to https://www.openminds.com/membership/.

The past year’s many shifts in federal health and human service policies have brought a host of “trickle down” effects to the field. Some of these changes affect reimbursement of specific services—like the plan to discontinue Medicaid reimbursement for health-related social needs (see CMS Re...

12/30/2025

Pennsylvania will get $193 million in “Rural Health Transformation” funds during the current fiscal year, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Monday. That’s the state’s share of $10 billion in funding, allocated under the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — passed by Republican majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and signed into law in July by President Trump — to partly offset an estimated $90 billion to $100 billion in Medicaid cuts annually during the next decade, according to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania will get $193 million in “Rural Health Transformation” funds during the current fiscal year, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid …

12/30/2025

Who received the naloxone dose and in which schools it was administered were not made public by the health department. But the growing impact of opioid abuse, and fentanyl in particular, prompted two Philadelphia-area lawmakers in October to introduce legislation that would require schools to stock naloxone and provide training to at least one volunteer — a school nurse or other employee — on how to use the antidote.

Bethel Park School District school nurse Tracy Ford shows what a dispenser of naloxone looks like on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, at Bethel Park High School. (Shane Dunlap | TribLive)

12/29/2025

The lawsuit filed Tuesday by 19 states and the District of Columbia is a response to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' plan announced Thursday that would cut federal funding – including Medicare and Medicaid – to hospitals that provide puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries to children and adolescents.

The proposed rules would cut Medicare and Medicaid funding to hospitals that provide puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries to youth.

12/29/2025

Allegheny County will use a controversial legal tool for involuntary mental health care in the community starting Jan. 1, according to a letter county officials sent Tuesday to the state’s Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Called assisted outpatient treatment (AOT), it’s a law that no other Pennsylvania county has been able to successfully implement since state lawmakers voted for it in 2018.

Dalton and other human services officials explained the county’s reasoning during an interview Tuesday with Pittsburgh’s Public Source.

12/29/2025

York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler says the $10 million paid out to nonprofits fighting drug abuse over the last three years gives them a chance to better people’s lives.

The $5 billion settlement from pharmaceutical giants will go to funding groups aiding victims of substance abuse.

12/29/2025

Pennsylvania Budget Finally Clears, With Not Much Optimism Ahead (RCPA President/CEO Richard Edley Interviewed)
https://paproviders.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Mental-Health-Weekly-12-22-25.pdf

12/26/2025

Scientists are redefining autism as a complex condition with multiple forms, challenging traditional notions.

Scientists are redefining autism as a complex condition with multiple forms, challenging traditional notions.

12/23/2025

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging announced the latest performance results for two additional Area Agencies on Aging as part of a broader transparency push under its new Comprehensive Aging Performance Evaluation system. The results for the Clarion and Lebanon agencies bring the total number of evaluated agencies posted publicly to 16, covering 26 counties statewide.

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania officials last week unveiled a sweeping series of initiatives aimed at strengthening oversight of aging services, expanding community support for older adults, and accelerating research into …

12/23/2025

Researchers have pursued use of the drugs to help those suffering from a host of disorders and found significant success. Patients with PTSD, addiction, depression and even anxiety related to terminal illness, have all seen some relief through their use, and major research institutions like Johns Hopkins University have published extensively on their successes.

(The Center Square) - It has been difficult for lawmakers to draft policies that make a meaningful impact on mental health issues within the veteran community, including high rates of

12/23/2025

The funds will be awarded over the next three years and were approved by the York County Board of Commissioners last week.

York County Commissioners announced they are disbursing more opioid settlement grants, totaling over $3 million to local organizations.