TRAIN: Autistic and intellectually disabled people are at increased risk of being victimized and experiencing trauma, however, few therapists are skilled in both supporting these communities and providing trauma-focused care. To bridge this gap, psychologists with the ASERT team created the TRAIN program—12 weeks of self-guided learning and live webinars for mental health therapists licensed in Pennsylvania who are currently working with Autistic and/or intellectually disabled adults. TRAIN is an integrative and neuro-affirming approach to trauma-focused care with neurodivergent adults, centering clinical work with the Autistic and intellectually disabled communities. After completing the 12 weeks of learning, participants have the option to continue their training through clinical consultation with the developers of TRAIN. This program covers:

• Trauma-focused mental healthcare

• Types and prevalence of trauma

• Expressions of trauma

• Neurodiversity and Neuro-affirming practices

• Navigating disclosures of abuse and ethical considerations of reporting abuse and neglect of dependent adults

• Assessing trauma and using trauma-focused interviews

• Trauma-focused and neuro-affirming psychoeducation

• Trauma response and nervous system regulation strategies

• Trauma processing techniques

• Resiliency and therapist self-preservation

Target Audience: This program was developed for therapists, counselors, and clinical social workers who already have experience working with clients who have an Intellectual Disability/Autism (ID/A) diagnosis and are looking to gain knowledge and skills related to trauma therapy. Therapists who do not have experience with ID/A clients are also welcome to participate, but the expectation is they would be committed to taking such clients into their practice after completing the program as the purpose is to build capacity in this area across the state. You must currently be licensed and provide 1:1 talk therapy sessions to adult clients at the moment to qualify for this course and participate in the case consultation presentations.

The Office of Developmental Programs’ (ODP) requests your assistance sharing the September 2025 training and events calendar. Please share widely.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) requests your assistance sharing the attached communication, ODPANN 25-069: Clarification for the 6100 Annual Incident Management (IM) Training Requirements. The purpose of this communication is to announce:

• A direct path to annual training requirements for IM and protective services for Providers and Supports Coordination Organizations (SCOs) as outlined in the Chapter 6100 Regulations.
• A new condensed IM training module that meets 6100.143 (c) (4) requirements.

Please review the announcement for additional information and details.

It has come to our attention that the previous release of the Office of Developmental Programs Training and Events Calendar had an incorrect link. We are reissuing the communication with corrected links to the two training sessions. Please use this version going forward to register for these sessions.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) requests your assistance sharing the attached communication, ODPANN 25-060: Newly Released Lesson: Death Investigations. This communications announces the release of a new training opportunity, Death Investigations.

Please review the announcement for information on how to access the training and additional details.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) requests your assistance sharing the attached communication, ODPANN 25-048 New Skill Building Trainings for Direct Support Professionals Now Available on MyODP. This communication announces the release of the Skill Building Trainings for Direct Support Professionals. Please review the announcement for instructions on how to access the trainings.

The Office of Developmental Programs’ (ODP) requests your assistance sharing the May 2025 training and events calendar.

The Office of Developmental Programs’ (ODP) is excited to announce the Room and Board Bulletin (00-25-01), which was released in March 2025.

ODP extends gratitude to all stakeholders who participated in the development of the bulletin.

The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) requests your assistance sharing the attached communication; ODPANN 25-030: Reminder of 6100 Annual Training Requirements. This announcement serves as a reminder to all Office of Developmental Programs’ (ODP) Providers and Supports Coordination Organizations (SCOs) of the Annual Training Requirements outlined in the Chapter 6100 Regulations.

Please review the announcement for additional information and details.

Attached please find April’s Training and Events Calendar. Please share widely.

Below are the PA Family Network additional waiver workshops for March 2025. Thank you for sharing these important workshops with your network!

Register for upcoming events at www.pafamilynetwork.org/events.

The Office of Developmental Programs requests your assistance sharing the attached communication, ODPANN 24-110 UPDATE: ODP Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind Required Training. The purpose of this announcement is to announce the new Deaf Services required training. This training is replacing the previously required, Harry M Settlement training. Please review the announcement for additional information and details. Corrections to the original announcement are in red.

Please use this version of the announcement going forward.