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Foundational Community Supports (FCS) is an initiative of Medicaid Transformation. It allows qualified providers to receive Medicaid reimbursement for delivering supportive housing and supported employment services for people with the greatest and most immediate social and health needs.
During the first full week of August, members of the Washington Health Care Authority Foundational Community Supports (FCS) joined our partners with Home and Community Living Administration (HCLA) and Department of Commerce at the annual conference, "Annual Addressing Homelessness Through a Public Health Lens," in Washington, D.C.
During the conference, the Housing Related Social Needs Program (HRSN) was a highlighted focal point. The team learned that, along with the state of Arizona, Washington is farther along in the development of our waiver project, and we were supporting other states with ideas on how to further their programs.
This was a great opportunity for our program to share lessons learned, learn ways that other states are initiating and running their programs, and provided intentional time for all of us to strategize each of our programs moving forward.
Our FCS Team returned to Washington State feeling humbled by the progress we have made and even more hopeful for the continuation of our waiver project.
Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team in partnership with Rutgers School of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling are presenting this harm reduction webinar.
Webinar: Wednesday, October 8, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
This 90-minute webinar is designed for supportive housing staff seeking to enhance their understanding and application of harm reduction strategies.
Attendees will explore foundational principles of harm reduction, practical techniques for supporting individuals who use substances and how to foster a safe, respectful, and non-coercive environment. Emphasis will be placed on trauma-informed care, stigma reduction, and promoting autonomy.
Objectives
- Define harm reduction and explain its core principles
- Identify practical harm reduction strategies applicable in supportive housing settings
- Apply communication techniques to effectively engage with individuals around substance use and related behaviors
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) in partnership with Rutgers Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions is hosting the October career services learning community call.
Webinar: Thursday, October 9, at 9 a.m.
You're invited to join us for the October monthly supported employment learning community call. Providing and accepting critical feedback can be a challenging skill to master. Whether we are offering constructive feedback to job seekers about their job-seeking skills, such as during interviews with employers, or addressing concerns about work performance, it is never an easy task in our role as Employment Specialists.
This webinar focuses on identifying and practicing ways to provide feedback in a positive way that is encouraging, and strengths-based manner. We’ll also review successes and challenges for support from others on the call.
Objectives
- Define constructive feedback
- Describe strategies to provide feedback to job seekers in a positive and strengths-based way
- Review successes and challenges for support from others participating in the webinar
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team invite you to attend the monthly Supported Employment Coordinating Committee (SECC).
Webinar: Wednesday, October 15, from 9 to 10 a.m.
We would like to invite you to the monthly meeting for the HCA Supported Employment Coordinating Committee (SECC) to improve the employment rate for people with behavioral health and other challenges. The current SECC was originally the Olmstead Policy Academy started in 2013 to create a strategic plan to improve the employment rate for people experiencing mental health and/or substance use issues.
The SECC carries on with the same intent with a goal of accessing a broader audience. We still have much to do to improve employment rates and support Medicaid recipients’ return to work. At each meeting we will share new ideas and challenges, as well as discuss strategies to improve results. We will also include trainings from specialists working on various programs and projects.
We are changing the way in which we are scheduling. From this point to the foreseeable future, the invitation will be in the FCS newsletter, and attendees will use the information below to attend via computer or via telephone.
Save the link below in a calendar hold for the third Wednesday from 9 to 10 a.m. monthly. Feel free to distribute to others who be interested in these important conversations.
Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team in partnership with Rutgers School of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling are presenting this monthly supported employment webinar.
Webinar: Thursday, October 16, from 8:30 to 10 a.m.
In this webinar, participants will gain knowledge, skills, and strategies to teach individuals in career services how to identify their needs or preferences when seeking help in work or social situations.
Targeted behavioral skills covered in this training include evaluating situations, identifying methods to get assistance, selecting the appropriate person to ask, and effectively presenting requests. Active participation from all attendees is encouraged.
Objectives
- Define the skill 'asking for help'
- Explore benefits and scenarios of when to use the skill asking for help
- Apply skills and strategies on how to teach the skill asking for help
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) supported employment trainers are hosting a two-day virtual Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and Fidelity reviewer training.
Webinar: Part 1 Monday, October 20, from 10:05 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Webinar: Part 2 Thursday, October 23, from 10:35 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
There are those of us who enjoy the process and intent of fidelity reviews. Continuous Quality Improvement resonates within us. If you are one of those people, this is the training for you. To conduct fidelity reviews in greater numbers, we must increase the number of qualified IPS fidelity reviewers.
This training will help gain in-depth knowledge of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) as the evidence-based practice for supported employment services and how to evaluate programs. The focus of this training is skill development of potential fidelity reviewer cadre members as well as enhancing knowledge of staff of agencies that will host fidelity reviews.
Objectives
- Brief review of the FCS program and fidelity review goals under FCS
- Explore key principles of the IPS supported employment model related to fidelity review
- Learn what it is like to participate in fidelity reviews
- Develop skills to be a fidelity reviewer
- Learn interview and documentation techniques for fidelity scoring
- Acquire skills related to writing part of the fidelity report
- Overview of collecting and reporting data to the IPS Employment Center
(There will be a scheduled lunch break each day. Please plan to attend both parts.)
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) in partnership with Rutgers School of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions is hosting the cultural responsiveness training for the FCS providers.
Webinar: Tuesday, October 21, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
In this webinar, participants will explore cultural responsiveness in FCS programs through the practice of broaching. Broaching gives providers concrete skills for opening conversations about race, ethnicity, culture, and identity. Drawing on Dr. Day-Vines’ framework, the session will highlight common challenges in practicing cultural responsiveness and offer strategies for working through discomfort. Participants will engage with real case examples, reflection questions, and activities designed to strengthen cultural humility in their daily practice.
Objectives
- Explore Dr. Day-Vines’ broaching framework as a practical tool for starting and sustaining conversations about race, ethnicity, culture, and identity in services
- Recognize common barriers to broaching and practice strategies for moving through them
- Strengthen cultural responsiveness by working with case examples and reflection activities that highlight intersectionality in service planning
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team in partnership with Rutgers School of Psychiatric and Counseling Professions to bring you the supervisory learning community training.
Webinar: Wednesday, October 22, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Effective supervision is a cornerstone of high-quality supported employment and supported housing services. This webinar will provide participants with a framework for understanding the structure, function, and core competencies of supervision.
Through an appreciative inquiry approach, we will examine strategies that build on strengths, support staff development, and enhance organizational outcomes. Participants will leave with practical tools to refine their supervisory skills and a deeper appreciation of supervision as both a relational and structural process.
Objectives
- Identify the core supervisory functions for effective oversight of supportive employment and supported housing staff
- Describe supervisory practices that foster accountability, professional growth and quality outcomes in supervision
- Apply an appreciative inquiry lens to strengthen supervisory relationships and build supervisory capacity
- Reflect on personal supervisory practices and develop strategies for continued skill-building
Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team are presenting this monthly housing topical training.
Webinar: Thursday, October 23, from 9 to 10:20 a.m.
The October monthly housing topical will be a training that will be giving an overview of the GOSH (Governor's Opportunity for Supportive Housing)program. This will include GOSH eligibility, the ALTSA subsidy and partnerships with agencies.
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team is pleased to share the upcoming training for Individual Placement and Support (IPS) presented by IPS Employment Center Zero Exclusion Committee.
Webinar: Tuesday, October 28, from 8 to 11:30 a.m.
Discover how Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and trauma informed practices work together to create safer, more empowering pathways to employment and recovery. Please join us for our upcoming webinar!
What is Trauma-Informed Care? Trauma-informed care is a framework for supporting individuals by recognizing the deep impact of trauma and creating environments rooted in strength, safety, trust, and empowerment. Through principles such as collaboration, peer support, and cultural sensitivity, this approach fosters pathways and recovery for people who receive IPS services.
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team is hosting a two-part training in November training for Fidelity reviewers.
Webinar: Part 1 Monday, November 3, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Webinar: Part 2 Tuesday, November 4, from 1 to 3 p.m.
The supportive housing benefit under the FCS program is based on the federal evidence and research-based Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) model. FCS staff are committed to training and assisting FCS providers in pursuing strategies that will result in improved services and outcomes for people enrolled in FCS.
Who should attend
- Anyone who is interested in learning about SAMHSA's permanent supportive housing evidence-based practice
- Staff who are new to supportive housing or FCS
- Providers who would like a refresher of the permanent supportive housing principles
- Individuals interested in Fidelity Reviewer Certificate Training
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team are pleased to announce the bi-monthly Medicaid documentation training series return.
Next training: Thursday, November 6, 2025, from 1 to 3 p.m.
This training is recommended for those who:
- Are new to providing Supportive Housing and Supported Employment services.
- Are interested in improving personal or agency documentation standards, especially around Medicaid billing requirements.
- Are considering participating in a fidelity review and would like more information on how to prepare for it.
We hope participants will come away with a thorough understanding of:
- How to keep interactions billable and how to document them as such.
- How comprehensive documentation enhances participant outcomes.
- The following elements of Supported Employment/Supportive Housing:
- Career profiles
- Job search and job support plans
- Disclosure forms
- Eligibility assessments and housing assessments
- Participant logs
- Housing and employment plans
Dates are bi-monthly into 2026 as follows (all sessions are from 1 to 3 p.m.)
- September 4, 2025
- November 6, 2025
- February 5, 2026
- April 2, 2026
- June 4, 2026
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team are hosting the November monthly supportive housing topical. November's topical will have Emalie Huriax from the Department of Health (DOH) Office of Infectious Disease.
Webinar: Wednesday, November 12, from 9 to 11:30 a.m.
Please join Emalie Huriaux from the Washington State DOH to learn about the framework of harm reduction, both as a practical strategy for addressing the individual impacts of substance use and as a social justice movement founded in the autonomy and human rights of people who use drugs.
This presentation will also provide a brief overview of drug policy and periods of prohibition and regulation in the United States. Understanding this history is critical to understanding the current overdose crisis and persistent drug-related health disparities among Native American/Alaska Native, Black/African American, and Hispanic/Latino communities.
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team in partnership with Rutgers School of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions is hosting the November Supported Employment webinar for career innovations.
Webinar: Thursday, November 13, from 9 to 10 a.m.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an approach that has been shown to be effective with individuals in the earlier stages of change, such as pre-contemplation and contemplation—stages where most people typically find themselves when facing change. MI focuses on exploring and resolving ambivalence and is geared toward understanding and enhancing internal motivations that facilitate change. During this session, we will review and practice using the MI techniques of open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries (OARS) to enhance our communication skills with job seekers.
Objectives
- Define open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries (OARS) in MI
- Observe the use of OARS
- Practice using OARS in employment scenarios
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) team is hosting a housing providers webinar in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH) drug user health team member Chelsie.
Webinar: Wednesday, December 3, from 9:30 to 11 a.m.
Chelsie Porter (she/her) is a member of the Drug User Health team at the DOH. In her role as Syringe Service Program Coordinator, Chelsie helps promote programs and strategies that protect and improve the health of people who use drugs, including syringe service programs, overdose education, and naloxone distribution.
Objectives
- Learn about opioids and overdoses, including how to respond to opioid overdose using naloxone
- Identify practical strategies for preventing and responding to overdoses in housing and shelter settings
Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) Foundational Community Supports (FCS) trainers are inviting you to join them in a six-part training series for The Golden Thread Documentation Training.
Webinar: Thursday, December 4, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Join us for a six-session training series that provides a comprehensive overview, with practical applications FCS documentation. Each webinar covers a specific type of documentation and addresses Medicaid requirements and the importance of the connection between assessments, service plans, and progress notes, known as the Golden Thread. The series will be presented with the newly developed Golden Thread Toolkit, a valuable new resource for FCS staff. It is recommended that participants attend all sessions in the series, as the information presented is cumulative.
This training is recommended for those who
- Are new to providing supportive housing and supported employment services
- Are interested in improving the standards of personnel or agency documentation standards
- Are considering participating in a fidelity review and would like more information on how to prepare for it
Objectives
- To use Medicaid-compliant documentation of Foundational Community Support services specifically the assessments, service plan, and progress notes.
- What the Golden Thread is, and its importance in providing quality services to participants.
- Writing documentation in a way that accurately and completely reflects a participant’s story in a person-centered way
This series continues into 2026 with webinars scheduled for March 5, May 7, and July 2, 2026.
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