To all H.O.P.E. Group Employees and Families:

On September 30, 2011, CMS (Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services) approved an additional AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System) 5% cut on provider rate reimbursements. DDD (Division of Developmental Disabilities) has sent out a new rate book to providers with the 5% cut included. As many of you know, we have now sustained 15% in direct rate cuts as well as a drop in respite hours since the mandated cut from 720 to 600 hours.  At this time - WE ARE NOT REDUCING EMPLOYEE WAGES. The owner of H.O.P.E. Group will continue to monitor and review the affects of these cuts on the company, and we will continue to communicate our findings and/or changes to you as they occur. We sincerely appreciate all the hard work and dedication of our employees and the support from our families.  We will get through this. Please contact the office if you have any questions at 480-610-6981.

We would like to welcome our new Bilingual Human Resources Administrative Assistant Yesenia Ibarra Welcome to our team Yesenia!  We are very excited to have you as part of our team!

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!
 

To all H.O.P.E Group Employees 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.

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.

Autism Votes: Now let your voice Be Heard! Stand up. Sign up. It’s time for LAWMAKERS TO LISTEN! The next time someone asks, “What can I do for Autism?” Tell them to GET INVOLVED. Sign up on www.autismvotes.org Text AVOTES to 30644.

Open Enrollment for Medical/Dental Insurance will be from 02/01/2011 to 02/29/2011. You may change current coverage, cancel coverage or enroll, if you are working required minimum amount of hours. Please contact Administrative Director Lauren Sletten if you have any questions.

Attention: We are now offering our trainings to the public! If you know anyone that would be interested in attending our trainings, the fees are as follows: Our regular 2 hour training classes will be $10 per class and the ABA training will be $25/class.

Important: If you currently have a 401k plan with H.O.P.E. Group, LLC or have been eligible in the past, it is necessary for you to read the “Safe Harbor Notification.”  An e-mail blast was sent out with this notification.  If you did not receive it, please contact Lauren Sletten for a copy to be mailed to you.

Please note: If you have moved, please make sure you have changed your contact information with us to ensure you receive your W-2’s.

Clients Need Your Help!   If you are looking to add some Habilitation or Respite hours to your schedule, please email or call 480-610-6981 Leah Williamson at Ext. 10 lwilliamson@hopegroupaz.com  If you are working with a client(s) that is in need of more providers please have the parents contact Sony Escoto at sescoto@hopegroupaz.com  to get the schedule that they are looking to fill. Also remember, if you have any friends, acquaintances, classmates, etc. who you think might like this job, let them know about us!

Certifications: Please remember that DDD requires that all providers have the following certifications valid at all times. Fingerprint Clearance Card, Article IX, CIT, Adult CPR and First Aid. If any of your certifications are expired, we are unable to process your timesheets according to the expiration date.  Thanks for your cooperation!

*  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.

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. 

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.