Quick hits: Pennsylvania news in brief for Monday, March 29

Department of Education to study pandemic’s effect on teaching, learning

The Pennsylvania Department of Education will study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on K-12 students to create responsive education and teaching strategies.

The state received about $1 million in grants to fund the department and Mathematica partnering to research the educational inequities brought on by COVID-19 and strategies to reduce those inequities.

Policymakers and educators will use these findings to identify how to respond to future pandemics, support students at risk for dropping-out, recruit and retain teachers most effective for disadvantaged students, and assess the most effective educational methods.

Results will be released at the end of 2022.

Muth requests update to nursing home regulations

State Sen. Katie Muth, D-Royersford, and her Senate colleagues sent a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf and Department of Health Acting Secretary Amanda Beam requesting an immediate update to the Pennsylvania nursing home regulations that have been in place for 30 years.

According to AARP, Pennsylvania has the fourth-worst rate of nursing home deaths in the nation. Prior to COVID-19, Pennsylvania received an “F” in nursing home quality of care from national advocacy groups.

“While the pandemic exposed the deep flaws and failures of Pennsylvania’s nursing home regulations, these are issues that have impacted the quality of senior care for decades,” Muth said.

The letter requests that the administration increase minimum staffing requirements to 4.1 hours of care per day per resident and make health insurance, adequate sick time, and a living wage available to nursing home staff.

Legislation to create applied behavioral analysis licensure

Rep. Tom Mehaffie, R-Pitman, partnered with Rep. Lynda Culver, R-Sunbury, to introduce legislation that would create a licensing process for the practice of applied behavioral analysis.

House Bill 19 would ensure practitioners meet training and academic requirements and help to retain skilled professionals in Pennsylvania.

“I hear all the time from analysts and families who want to see licensure developed in Pennsylvania because licensure will create and retain jobs, prevent fraud and protect consumers,” Mehaffie said.

The legislation was referred to the House Professional Licensure Committee.

Kosierowski introduces legislation to allow nurses multistate licenses

Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, D-Taylor, introduced legislation that would allow licensed Pennsylvania nurses to practice in other states.

The bill would implement a Nurse Licensure Compact in Pennsylvania and create an expedited process for nurses in the 34 member-states of the NLC to receive a multistate license.

“Doing so would greatly expand the availability of health care services vital to our ability to provide care,” Kosierowski said. “We only need to look at the past year to understand how important this legislation is to ensure our health care frontline – regardless of geographic location – isn’t stretched beyond its means.”

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