For client announcements, please click here.

Did you know that H.O.P.E. Group can bill Insurance Companies for ABA services?  We are contracted providers for TriCare/TriWest, MHN, Aetna, United Health Care and have individual contracts with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of AZ. and Magellan. For more information please call the office at 480-610-6981.

*** Attention All Employees and Clients 2010 Budget Issues - IMPORTANT!: 

As many of you have heard, because of the Arizona State Budget deficit, the Division of Developmental Disabilities and DES has cut the payments of all services by 10%. In response to these cuts H.O.P.E. Group wants to assure everyone that we will continue our services to our clients as usual. This means that our Providers/Employees will NOT receive a decrease in pay.  However, because of the 10% CUT in the payments that H.O.P.E Group will receive from the State of Arizona for the fiscal year 2010: July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010 - we are forced to suspend pay raises for this fiscal year. Again, be assured that our employees will not receive any decrease in pay, just a suspension in the raise you might typically receive. If you have any questions please contact the office at (480) 610-6981. As always THANK YOU for your support and CONTINUED HARD WORK!

URGENT: Please take a few minutes to call or email your Legislators – it is urgent that we do all we can to try and stop additional cuts.  If you don’t know who your Legislators are, you can go to: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MemberRoster.asp and click on “How do I find my Legislators”. Then you enter your zip code and it will let you know who your Reps are.

EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS: Please recognize/understand that you must be fluent in English and/or Spanish (if you're working with a Spanish speaking client) in order to complete the Orientation and Training process required by the State of Arizona and be able to work with English speaking clients.  If you do not speak English it will be difficult for you to work with a client who only speaks English.  If you wish to work with a family member/friend who speaks the same language you speak, but it is not English or Spanish, please contact the office about one-on-one language specific trainings. If you have any questions about this please contact the office at (480) 610-6981. Thank You.

H.O.P.E. Group accepts credit card payments for Consulting services.  For more information please review the instructions on the "Services" page.

***ATTENTION EMPLOYEES: Please remember that as an employee you have signed and agreed to our HIPAA agreement. All client information is confidential and you cannot share or divulge this information to others. This means that if for any reason, you have to receive a ride to or from work you must call the office and have Sony, our Client Services Manager get a verbal or written consent from the parents allowing you to provide the address to the person giving you the ride. This is a precaution and to make certain that the family’s personal information is protected.  Any questions on this process, please contact the office.

"These are our Stories...Is Anybody Listening?" Is a wonderful video from Advocacy United in Tucson. Please click on the attached link and then click on the video to see how potential budget cuts can affect all of us in the disability community. http://WWW.advocacyunited.com

Check out our PowerPoint Presentation on "Steven's Law"  for your information and education. Click here: "Steven's Law"le:///K:/Documents/Ann/Health Insurance info/Steven’s Law – Arizona House Bill 2847.ppt

H.O.P.E. Group is a proud member of the Arizona Autism Coalition! Please see the AZ Coalition Website  http://azautism.wordpress.com/for more information.

* Hey there! H.O.P.E. Group L.L.C is using Twitter http://twitter.com/Hopegroupllc Twitter is a free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Join today to start receiving Hope Group updates.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Please take a look at our April calendar. We have a new class - "Hab In Action." "Hab In Action" is a class demonstrating NET, working through/fading prompt levels and filling out habilitation reports among other things. What a great way to get informed AND get paid!

***ATTENTION**** Please allot extra time when mailing your timesheets during any holiday throughout the year as the post office typically gets behind schedule.

IMPORTANT! When filling out Time Sheets/Hab reports or any other employee forms, please make sure to document your full legal name as well as the client’s name. Sample: John Russo-Smith. Please no nicknames or short names, etc. 

IN ADDITION: When turning in Composite Schedules please be sure to be specific with the services that were worked/performed. Please make certain to write the time, date, and the client name. Thank you!

As of January 1, 2010 the old habilitation reports will no longer be accepted.  The new reports must be submitted with your next timesheet.  If you are unsure on how to fill out the new reports or you do not have the client’s current Individual Support Program Plan, please contact Starlla Duran.

Habilitation Report Checklist- See Below:     

• Client’s Full Name
• Client’s Date of Birth
• Your Full Name
• Month and Year (even if the line got cut off for some reason)
• Function for each goal
• Domain for each goal
• Write the FULL goal in the goal box (from Measurable Outcomes page of the ISP or Measurable Outcomes from H.O.P.E. Group form)
• Prompt level in the box for the days that you work on that goal (this is your part in the goal)
• Write how the client did with that goal in the summary section (this is their part in the goal). If there are teaching strategies from H.O.P.E. Group goals then write the number of the teaching strategy that you are working on.
• If a goal was not worked on during that month, the goal still needs to be listed and in the summary section write, “we did not work on this goal this month”
• Make sure parents are signing the front and the back of the report (even if there is not a line on the front).
• Make sure that you are signing and dating it as well!
• Make sure that if there are any marks other than what is supposed to be on the report that the parent initials each mark!

*  It is important to keep track of the amount of service hours your client is authorized to receive so that you do not over-bill. If you have questions please call Sony Escoto at the H.O.P.E office.

Do you have a provider or know of one that you think deserves recognition for their great work?? We will select one employee a month who has done an outstanding job.  If you know anyone who you would like to nominate to be a star, please nominate them here. When you nominate the employee, please make sure to tell us what makes them stand out!
 

H.O.P.E. Group would like to congratulate Diana Davis for her achievement on becoming a BCBA!! Way to go Diana!

Thank you for organized, clean, no-error time sheets. We really appreciate the effort you put in to making these legal documents as professional as possible!

Did you know that H.O.P.E. Group  provides training locations in Phoenix, Glendale and Tucson? If you need dates, times and location information please see the training calendars or call the office.
 

IMPORTANT: Because of DDD’s new FOCUS system, respite services that are billed at 13 hours or more in a 24 hour period will result in a deduction of 24 hours from your child’s respite authorization – regardless of how many actual hours worked.  This is called respite continuous or RSD. Please be aware of this with upcoming fall and winter breaks.  If your provider bills under 13 hours of respite in a 24 hour period then the actual amount of hours will be paid to the provider and subtracted from your child’s respite authorization.  If your provider bills 13 hours or more of respite in a 24 hour period, you must have prior approval from HOPE Group and you must contact your child’s support coordinator for a respite continuous authorization.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact Client Services.  

Incident/Accident Report: If you or your client experiences an injury or if there is some other incident while you are working, you must fill out an Incident/Accident Report form and fax or bring into the office within 24 hours. It is also your responsibility to call the office or emergency phone (if a weekend or holiday) within that 24 hour period as well.

IMPORTANT! We have been getting a lot of complaints from parents that providers are sending and receiving texts while working.  As discussed during your orientation, phone calls and texts should not be occurring during your work time/shift. If you need to reschedule or cancel a shift please be professional and call in advance. It is H.O.P.E. Group’s policy and you are required to follow it. Any infractions could be cause for disciplinary action, so please do not use your cell phone in any manner while you are “on the clock” for H.O.P.E. Group. Thank You!

REMINDER: Please help us be successful during payroll, as it is the busiest time for our staff. We appreciate your cooperation by delaying all non-payroll related questions or concerns until payroll has been completed. Thank you.

IMPORTANT: It has been brought to our attention that employees and applicants are having difficulties finding clients.  The more flexible you can be with your time/availability and willingness to travel, the easier it will be for you to find a client.

IMPORTANT: If you are interested in doing Emergency Respite Relief to possibly pick-up extra hours, please call the office and ask to speak to Maricela Santana, so that you can be added on to the list.

IMPORTANT: If you attend a training class or a lead comes to the home to do some training with you, you do not need to write that on your timesheet. The lead will turn in a separate form for you. If you have any questions please contact Maricela Santana in HR.

~ It is very important to include suite # 103 on our address when mailing in your timesheets, if not they may arrive late to our office.

~ Providers, please make sure to have parent/guardian initial any errors you might have.

~ If you are administering medications, please contact Maricela in Human Resources as we have a new policy and the appropriate paper work must be filled out.

~ Program Support Providers: If you are interested in working with clients on Consultant written ABA programs, and meet the requirements on the Services section of our website, please email your resume to Diana Davis.

Important: ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT WE COULD NOT POSITIVELY AFFECT THE LIVES OF CHILDREN WITHOUT YOU! The value of your service is priceless! We can not thank you enough for your commitment to HOPE Group.

 TAKE NOTE:
~ Do you have your check direct deposited into your account every month? IF SO, we ask that you please still make a point to open the envelope your paycheck stub comes in. Our office often sends other important information in that envelope. Here are some things you may be missing if you do not open your paycheck stub envelope: the Employee Update, Error Notices from previous timesheets, next month's calendar, certification expiration notices, documents for your file that we need sent back, as well as other paperwork. Please do not disregard this envelope just because you received your direct deposit. 

~ Please Note: It is VERY important that you submit the correct timesheet(s) for the service(s) you are providing. There are multiple timesheets available online, so please be sure that you are printing and submitting the correct one each month. If you have questions about your timesheet, please call us at the office - that is what we are here for! Services are paid at different rates, so submitting the wrong timesheet can result in incorrect payment, as well as incorrect billing which affects your client's authorization hours. If it is found that an incorrect timesheet was submitted, payment adjustments will generally be made the following month. Because submitting the correct timesheet is your responsibility, we will generally not issue manual checks for owed payment of services and you may have to wait until the next paycheck is issued.

We have many clients throughout the state of Arizona that need your help!  If you have even just a few hours of extra time, please contact Client Services Manager Sony Escoto.  Also, please check out our Clients in Need  section. There are blurbs about some of the clients that need your help.

Please remember that DDD requires that all providers are trained in Adult CPR and First Aid.  If you take only a child/infant CPR or First Aid class, you will be required to take Adult CPR or First Aid to remain an active employee. If you have a choice, Hope Group prefers that you take a child/adult combination class, as most of our clients are children.

You may take your CPR or First Aid class through any agency; the instruction you will be given will not vary. Please see additional information in our requirements. These certifications are very important and so we want to thank you for your attention to this matter!

 ~ CPR and FA Certifications: due to an influx of employees trying to take classes online, we must now have every employee submit the actual card they have been given from their “instructor lead” class. Per policy, online classes are not acceptable and we will therefore no longer be accepting copies of CPR and FA cards. When you renew a certification, please send us your card(s). We will check them, make a copy for your file and then mail them back to you. Thanks for your cooperation!

If you or your clients have any toys, etc. that you would like to donate to our toybrary we would greatly appreciate your generosity. Also, remember that do we have toys, books, games, movies, etc. that you can borrow to use in therapy with your client(s)--come check it out!  If you have toys that you’ve borrowed in the past and haven’t returned yet, please do so now so other providers and clients can use them.

IMPORTANT: It is required that all toys be cleaned/disinfected if they will be shared. If you have a sick child in your care, it is extremely important that you keep an eye on the toys that he or she plays with and do not allow other children to play with them. Before you use any chemical to disinfect your child's toy, you should properly read the label. All the toys in our Toybrary have been disinfected, so please ensure that they have been disinfected again before returning them back to the Toybrary.