Question 1

Does ODP provide the policies and procedures?

Accepted Answer

No. ODP publishes the regulation, the announcements, and the qualification forms, but the New Provider Self-Assessment requires policies and procedures you developed and aligned with ODP requirements, and that packet is what your AE validates. The state supplies the checklist logic, not the documents.

Question 2

I already have a DOH Chapter 611 home care manual. Does it cover Chapter 6100?

Accepted Answer

No. The Chapter 611 manual answers the Department of Health home care license (hiring, clearances, competency, consumer protections), and some ground overlaps, such as OAPSA background checks and abuse reporting. Chapter 6100 is a Department of Human Services framework with its own policy set: individual rights with signed acknowledgments, EIM incident management, 24-hour annual training, restrictive procedures, quality management, and medication administration. The two manuals sit side by side.

Question 3

What is the 60-day window everyone mentions?

Accepted Answer

Under ODP Announcement 26-006, you must email the DP 1059, the New Provider Self-Assessment Tool, your policies and procedures, the Provider Qualification Documentation Record, and supporting documentation to your assigned AE within 60 calendar days of the date on your Provider Applicant Orientation certificate. Missing the deadline means a Not Qualified determination, and starting again requires waiting 365 days from your most recent full-day orientation session.

Question 4

Which waiver services does this apply to?

Accepted Answer

Providers qualifying for the Consolidated, P/FDS, and Community Living waivers under ODP. For an agency starting ID/A services, the typical specialties are In-Home and Community Support and Companion, which need cleared, trained staff and a waiver service location in Pennsylvania or a contiguous state (In-Home and Community Support also allows Washington DC and Virginia) rather than a facility license, and which since January 2026 carry a minimum of 3 participants served in the first fiscal year after enrollment and service delivered every quarter. Whether a Department of Health home care license also applies to your services is a question for the Department of Health.

Question 5

What is EIM and who has to report into it?

Accepted Answer

EIM is the Department's Enterprise Incident Management system. Providers must file the first section of an incident report within 24 hours of discovery for most categories (death, abuse, neglect, missing person, hospitalization, law enforcement, injuries beyond first aid, rights violations, among others) and within 72 hours for restraint use and reportable medication errors, investigate starting within 24 hours, and finalize the report within 30 days unless they notify the Department in writing that an extension is needed (§§ 6100.401-405).

Question 6

How many training hours do my staff need?

Accepted Answer

Direct service professionals, life sharers, and their direct supervisors need 24 documented hours per year; management, program, administrative, fiscal, and ancillary staff, and consultants, contractors, volunteers, and interns who work alone with individuals, need 12 (§ 6100.143). Orientation covering rights, abuse reporting, person-centered practices, incident recognition and reporting, and job-related skills must happen before staff work alone, and within 30 days of hire or of starting to provide a service (§ 6100.142).

Question 7

Can you guarantee my AE approves the packet?

Accepted Answer

No, and no honest vendor can: the AE is ODP's designee and the qualification decision is theirs. What we do instead is build every policy to the section that mandates it, and if your AE requests specific revisions within 30 days of delivery, we make them at no charge. After that, Policy Updates at $149 a year covers them.

Question 8

What can a policy manual not do?

Accepted Answer

Your CEO must complete Provider Applicant Orientation. You must carry commercial general liability and workers' compensation insurance, obtain the checks the waivers require for staff (the PSP criminal history check, the FBI check for staff who have not lived in Pennsylvania for the two years before employment, and all three clearances, FBI included, for staff who work with participants under 18), sign the ODP Waiver Provider Agreement, enroll in PROMISe within 60 days of the DP 1059 qualification date, and actually deliver and document the required training. A manual carries the written-policy layer of the packet, nothing else.

Policy	Citation
Quality management plan: performance measures, improvement targets and strategies, feedback methods, data sources, and staff responsibilities, implemented, and analyzed and revised every 3 years	55 Pa. Code § 6100.45
Protective services and abuse reporting under the Adult Protective Services Act, Child Protective Services Law, and Older Adults Protective Services Act, including keeping any involved staff person, household member, consultant, intern, or volunteer from direct contact with individuals until the investigation concludes and the investigating agency confirms no abuse occurred or the findings are inconclusive	55 Pa. Code § 6100.46
Criminal history checks for staff persons in any staff position, consultants, interns, and volunteers who provide a service, life sharers, and adult household members in life sharing homes and out-of-home overnight respite, under the OAPSA and CPSL frameworks	55 Pa. Code § 6100.47
Child abuse certifications for staff serving children, per the Child Protective Services Law	55 Pa. Code § 6100.49
Complaint handling: individuals informed of the right to complain at entry and annually, oral, written, and anonymous complaints accepted, no retaliation, and each complaint resolved with the findings or resolution reported to the complainant within 30 days of submission, unless circumstances beyond the provider's control prevent it and the provider documents why	55 Pa. Code § 6100.51
Conflict of interest policy, established and followed	55 Pa. Code § 6100.53
Recordkeeping and confidentiality: records kept confidential and secure, shared beyond the Department, the AE, and the support coordinator only with written consent, and retained at least 4 years from the later of the Commonwealth's or the provider's fiscal year-end and until any audit or litigation is resolved (5 years after a program is terminated)	55 Pa. Code § 6100.54
Staff orientation before working alone with individuals and within 30 days of hire or of starting to provide a service: person-centered practices, rights, abuse prevention and reporting, recognizing and reporting incidents, and job-related knowledge and skills	55 Pa. Code § 6100.142
Annual training program with documented records: 24 hours per year for direct service professionals, life sharers, and their direct supervisors; 12 hours for management, program, administrative, fiscal, and ancillary staff, and for consultants, contractors, volunteers, and interns who work alone with individuals; required topics include plan implementation and behavior-support safety	55 Pa. Code §§ 6100.141, 6100.143
Individual rights: the enumerated rights of § 6100.182, communicated at entry and annually, with a kept statement signed by the individual acknowledging receipt	55 Pa. Code §§ 6100.181-186
Service documentation and billing integrity: documentation completed on the date of delivery, required claim elements, claims submitted only on that documentation, and progress notes at least every 3 months	55 Pa. Code §§ 6100.226, 6100.227, 6100.483
Restrictive procedures: a written policy defining the prohibition or use of specific restrictive procedures, the circumstances in which one may be used, who may authorize use, and a mechanism to monitor and control use, with the prohibited-procedures list and behavior support plan requirements	55 Pa. Code §§ 6100.341-350
Incident management: reporting through EIM within 24 hours (72 for restraints and reportable medication errors), investigation starting within 24 hours with certified-investigator categories, final report within 30 days unless extended in writing, a documented trend analysis at least every 3 months, a point person who manages each incident from beginning to end, and an Incident Management Representative with overall responsibility who becomes a certified investigator within 12 months	55 Pa. Code §§ 6100.401-405; ODP Bulletin 00-21-02
Medication administration: who may administer (licensed professionals or staff who passed the Department-approved course), storage and disposal, medication records, and error reporting	55 Pa. Code §§ 6100.461-469

Your AE gives you 60 days to submit Chapter 6100 policies. We build them to the section.

The qualification path, and where the policies fit

The written policies Chapter 6100 requires

What catches new ID/A providers off guard

The 60-day window is the whole game

Not Qualified costs a year

A Chapter 611 manual does not cover this

Training is counted in hours

Incident management has named roles

The rules move by announcement

A fraction of the enrollment consultant’s price.

ODP Chapter 6100 Policy Manual

Policy Updates

ODP Chapter 6100 FAQ

Sources