Meaningful Day Program Updates

As of right now, the Meaningful Day Program (MDP) is set to end July 1, 2025 for all participants. We know this is devasting and heartbreaking. Many of you have built your homes and care plans around this program. You have every right to feel frustrated, angry, and deeply disappointed—not just by the decision itself, but by how unclear and confusing this process has been. The state eliminated MDP in a way that we believe violates our contract and applicable statues. Get the update on how the Council is responding to this decision in a letter to the membership from our Interim Executive Director linked below.

Important June Dear Provider Letters

Dear Provider Letters are notices sent from the Aging and Long-Term Support Administration regarding updates for AFH providers about policies, WAC changes, best practice guidance, and more. Get information on important new Dear Provider Letters published in June at our AFH News post linked below.

ProviderOne Planned Outage

Saturday, June 14, 2025, through Sunday, June 15, 2025

The ProviderOne system will be unavailable from 5:30 a.m. Saturday, June 14 until 8 a.m. Sunday, June 15 (26.5 hours) due to scheduled maintenance. Please report any issues to: mmishelp@hca.wa.gov. If you are not the biller or person who submits claims for your organization, please share this information with your claims submitter/biller!

There’s a WAC for That!

Medical Devices

The #3 citation listed on the RCS Spring Forum is related to medical devices. We also learned that the “medical device” definition in WAC 388-76-10000 does not include an inclusive list. Medical devices encompass a wide range of tools and equipment used for diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring in healthcare. Get more information and relevant WAC on medical devices at our newsletter linked below!

Temporary Leadership Shifts at HCLA and DSHS

DSHS released an email newsletter on May 27 with details about a temporary shift in leadership at Home and Community Living and the Department of Social and Health Services. Get an update on the latest changes at our AFH News post.

Long-Term Care Foundation Summer Conferences

Theme: The Care Equation: Recruit + Train + Retain

Empowering adult family homes with practical tools to hire with intention, educate with purpose and lead with heart.

Topics:

• Building Your Professional Care Team with Intention: How We Can Help

• Onboarding vs Orientation: Establishing Your System

• Creating Your AFH Culture and Sustaining a Successful TEAM

• Q&A

4.0 CEU’s available to all who attend.

There’s a WAC for That!

Medication Systems in AFHs

The #2 citation noted from the RCS Spring Forum is related to medication systems. AFHs receive residents from all kinds of settings – homes, hospitals, other facilities – that all may handle medications differently. Other potential barriers include multiple or various prescribers and/or pharmacies. However, none of these can be a barrier to having a medication system in place. Learn what’s required for your medication system in our newsletter linked below!

Licensing Fee Increase Effective July 1, 2025

On May 22, a Dear Provider Letter was sent from the Department of Social and Health Services outlining an increase to AFH license fees. This was enacted as part of the 2025 State Budget. Please review our AFH News update for details on the legislative change impacting your licensing fees and contact information for questions regarding your renewal date. We are in communication with DSHS and will share additional information on this process as we receive updates.

Death with Dignity Rule Making Meeting for AFHs

July 8  |  10:30am — 12:00pm

A Dear Provider Letter was released on May 16 to share that there will be upcoming rulemaking meetings regarding Death with Dignity (DWD) proposed rules. Register with the link below to share your feedback on language for DWD medications for the rule making session dedicated to AFHs.

LTCF Summer 2025 Survey

We Want to Help You Build Your Care Team!

Our mission is to champion the adult family home community and the best way for us to do that is by helping you build and support your team! Our programs are designed to provide funding for required training and to provide education to help you develop your workforce and retain great caregivers!

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Please take a few moments to answer our short survey in order to help us provide you and your care team with the best trainings, resources and support possible!

2025 Legislative Session Overview

As the 2025 legislative session draws to a close, we want to take a moment to reflect — with gratitude, pride, and determination. This legislative session was not easy. In fact, it is the toughest we’ve seen in over a decade. Programs were cut, services were slashed, and every line item was on the chopping block. Yet, you showed up. You stood together. And because of that, we made meaningful progress that would not have been possible without your advocacy, your passion, and your voice. Get the update on what we’ve gained, what to expect, and the obstacles we’ll be facing as we position ourselves for the next session in our update.

Upcoming Webinar:

Supported Employment for Your Residents

June 11, 2025 @ 2pm

This training will demonstrate the benefits of employment for individuals with disabilities living at your facility who have a desire to work. It will cover the myths and misconceptions around our clients who would like to work. We are going to dispel those myths and explain how our clients can work, enrich their lives from community engagement, improve their health, yet maintain services with us and not lose their important benefits.

Updated ProviderOne Billing Guides — Coming Soon

DSHS and the Health Care Authority (HCA) have been updating and consolidating ProviderOne billing guides. The new guides will be published to the ProviderOne for Social Services webpage within the next couple of months. Providers will be notified via email when the new guides are available. After the guides are published, DSHS & HCA will also host trainings for AFH providers to review the new guides, and review ProviderOne basics. More information about these trainings soon!

Updated Community Behavioral
Health Support (CBHS) Guidance

The guidance for Community Behavioral Health Support (CBHS) Supervision services was updated in February 2025. Please review the guidance published by the Health Care Authority and DSHS for more information on claims submissions deadlines and documentation requirements. Please note: the AFH Council is working to understand the full scope of CBHS changes and is engaging in conversations with the Health Care Authority and DSHS. We will provide additional updates as soon as we have them.

Changes to Residential Support Waiver (RSW)

DSHS recently released a Dear Provider letter outlining changes to the Residential Support Waiver (RSW) scheduled to start July 1, 2025. Services under RSW include Expanded Community Support (ECS) and Specialized Behavior Support (SBS). The state is shifting how it pays for behavioral health support to leverage better federal participation and reduce state costs, which means that SBS and ECS will no longer be the primary program for serving residents needing behavioral or mental health support.

The AFH Council was specifically told that current RSW clients would remain on RSW, and only new residents would begin CBHS— but this letter states they intend to begin converting all eligible residents now. Read our latest AFH News post to learn more about the impact and how we are working to address this information.

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