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*INVITATION to take part in a thirty-day PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD*

*about your Services*

*?*September 1 to September 30, 2022

Dear HCBS Participant or Guardian, as applicable,

We are writing to tell you of a thirty-day public comment period about your current Home and Community Based Services (HCBS).?You may know these services as community supports, home supports, day programs, work supports, or services where you live. The reason you are getting this letter now is because the Federal Government made changes to the rules about how your services are provided. These changes make it so that you will have more choices about how you would like to live your own life, within your own home, and within your own community.?The Statewide Transition Plan (STP) is the State?s plan to the Federal Government explaining how the State?s HCBS will meet Federal and State HCBS rules. The STP was posted for public comment on April 20, 2022 and can be viewed at: [link removed] [ [link removed] ]

The Department has submitted the Statewide Transition Plan to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on July 19, 2022 for review and approval.

It?s important for you to be around other people in our community. You are receiving this letter because some of your HCBS services may not fully support you to be around people in the community who are not receiving HCBS.

Your Provider has drafted a plan which explains the changes they will make so they can meet the new federal and state rules. These HCBS settings are identified in the STP Appendix ?Each Setting?s Evidentiary Package?.?

The Public Comment Period gives you the chance to tell us what you think about your home or day services and your provider?s plan and to make suggestions for changes.

The public comment period is from September 1 until September 30, 2022. You have options on how you can tell us what you think.? These options are detailed below.??


* Providing written comments by email to: [email protected]
* Providing written comments through an online form at: ?www.maine.gov/dhhs/rulemaking-comments [ [link removed] ]

We encourage and welcome your comments about your HCBS Provider?s services. We will review your comments and consider them in determining whether the setting is able to overcome its isolating qualities.

If you need help submitting or putting your comments together you can:?


* Ask your Case Manager
* Reach out to Speaking Up For Us (SUFU) by email at [email protected]

If you have questions about the STP or where an HCBS setting is located within the STP Appendix, please contact [email protected] or (207) 287-6214.

Please share your thoughts.

Sincerely,






Elizabeth Hopkins

Elizabeth Hopkins

Associate Director

Developmental Disability and Brain Injury Services








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