Yesterday was a celebration! Today is about action!
Yesterday we celebrated the release of the new guide. It was a monumental day for our field. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act charged CMS with this task. It allowed opportunities for NAME to engage in meaningful conversations around challenges and barriers. We received a call from CMS thanking our organization for the part we played in its development. We began conversations with CMS, in reference to this guide, last July. We were thankful that they were willing to participate in our conference, where many of you were able to ask specific questions and share your barriers. NAME was asked toform specific focus groups over the past several months and many of you were willing to participate. Thank you for your willingness to contribute to the process and share your experiences.
Today is about action! We will reread with purpose. As we read, we will make marks, take notes, and start a list of questions. If you do not have a collaborative network that includes your State Medicaid Agency, State Department of Education, and LEAs, we strongly encourage you to form one. If you do have an established system of communication, we urge you to work collectively to share this information and to plan a series of opportunities where stakeholders might thoughtfully review your current plan, the flexibilities that are explained in the guide, and how these might impact your state. The next three years will be critical to formulating the best possible plan for each state.
NAME is here for its members! We have been planning opportunities to discuss the new guidance. You should have received an email yesterday with an invitation for two upcoming webinars. Please make plans to participate! Do your part by sharing this with colleagues and interested parties. We also have links on Facebook and Twitter to increase the distribution of information. Additionally, we are also actively preparing a robust conference agenda that you will not want to miss! Be sure to make plans to attend and register soon. Please stay engaged. We want to hear from you and support you. You will be hearing from us!