The Bureau of Policy, Planning and Program Development is responsible for performing a full range of planning and developmental functions within the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS).
The bureau is responsible for performing a full range of behavioral health system and service planning as well as grant-funded program management functions.
This includes:
- managed care design and development,
- service system design and development,
- policy and program development,
- state and county planning and human resource development.
Commonly identified as “OMHSAS Policy,” the bureau coordinates:
- legislative analysis,
- bulletin creation,
- regulation development, and
- the issuance of regulatory waivers of mental health program licensing regulations and bulletins.
Divisions
The Division of Program Development has the policy lead on OMHSAS’ role in county oversight and supporting mental health services.
The Division is responsible for the development of evidence-based and promising practices, supporting a spectrum of mental health services, addressing social determinants of health including promoting supportive employment and housing for individuals with mental illness, workforce initiatives for the behavioral health field, telehealth policy, county plans including both human services and Olmstead plans, and providing subject matter expertise to inform regulatory, legislative, and policy analysis.
The Division of Program Management and Planning takes a policy lead on OMHSAS’ role as a payor of behavioral health care services.
The Division is responsible for Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care policies related to behavioral health, Medicaid demonstration waivers (1115 waivers), federal grants, and homelessness related initiatives. The federal grants that the Division currently manages include the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (CMHSBG), the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH), and the Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) grants. The Division also actively supports First Episode Psychosis (FEP) programs funded with CMHSBG dollars blended with Medicaid dollars. Substance use disorder related matters also come under the purview of this Division. The Division also provides policy clarifications and develops behavioral health bulletins and is also responsible for the review and analysis of new federal statutes and rules. Additionally, the Division oversees the development and management of OMHSAS’s electronic learning management system, MyOMHSAS. The SSI/SSDI Outreach Access Recovery (SOAR) initiative is another program supported and promoted by the Division. SOAR is a national initiative that helps individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness, who also have disabilities, obtain supplemental security income (SSI) and/or social security disability income (SSDI) benefits.
The Division of Behavioral Health Policy takes the policy lead on OMHSAS work as a regulator of mental health services.
The Division leads legislative and regulatory analysis, develops policy guidance and bulletins, and advances proposed regulations to strengthen behavioral health services across the Commonwealth. The division reviews and evaluates regulator waiver requests, issuing approvals/denials in alignment with statutory and programmatic requirements. Through research, stakeholder engagement, and data-informed analysis, the division ensures that behavioral health policy is compliant, responsive, and positioned to advance access, quality, and system accountability.
Contact
the Bureau
Director
Jill Stemple
P. O. Box 2675
Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675