ARPA Stakeholder Engagement Plan

Purpose 

The purpose of this document is to explicitly define how the methods by which the public and specific stakeholder groups will be informed of HCBS ARPA project activities and how they can engage with HCBS ARPA projects.

Introduction

The Stakeholder Engagement Plan is a resource for stakeholders who are interested in participating in the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (Department) Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) projects. This plan defines the methods the Department will use to communicate project status and activities to stakeholders and outlines the ways stakeholders can engage with the HCBS ARPA projects. It will build upon the initial stakeholder outreach that the Department has conducted to date and set the basis for future engagement efforts.     

The scope of this document is limited to ARPA Provision 9817, which focuses on expanding, enhancing, and strengthening the state’s HCBS system. This document focuses on both the overarching effort and the individual project-level stakeholder engagement. The Department acknowledges that ongoing stakeholder engagement activities are critical to project success.

Department ARPA stakeholder engagement activities will, when possible, utilize and build on existing outreach and engagement. In this fashion, the Department intends to broaden, not limit, community relationships and communication channels. 

Though every effort will be made to ensure the comprehensiveness of this document, the Department acknowledges that it may not be considered complete and all-encompassing at all times. This is a living document intended to inform stakeholders and will be updated as needed.

Stakeholder Engagement Expectations

Stakeholders have a critical role in the HCBS ARPA initiatives. To date, stakeholders have assisted the Department in identifying key areas of need, lent their expertise to designing and scoping HCBS ARPA projects, and provided invaluable feedback on proposed initiatives. Moving forward, stakeholders will play an important part in shaping how initiatives are further designed, implemented, and promoted; contributing to their overall success. In particular, the Department will look to stakeholders to: 

• Share feedback and perspectives on HCBS ARPA projects of interest by participating in project-related meetings/web conferences and other forms of engagement, like surveys
• Stay up to date with HCBS ARPA projects of interest by reviewing the HCBS ARPA Newsletter (sign up and access to current and archived issues are available through the HCBS ARPA webpage)
• Regularly visit the HCBS ARPA webpage to obtain relevant information about HCBS ARPA projects

The Department is committed to gathering and using stakeholder feedback to ensure HCBS ARPA projects are implemented with integrity and transparency. 

The Department will be using several strategies for gathering input that will differ by ARPA project. Some projects may use existing workgroups to gather input, others will set up new meetings, and others will use surveys or other means to collect feedback. 

The Department will be using a variety of methods to communicate these opportunities to provide feedback, outlined below. Also included below are the methods the Department will use to report on the progress of the HCBS ARPA initiative and how feedback from stakeholders is used in decision-making and implementation. 

Stakeholders are strongly encouraged to frequently visit the Department’s HCBS ARPA webpage to both track the progress of individual projects that interest them and to learn about the various stakeholder opportunities to provide input.

Communications/Engagement Methods

This section describes HCBS ARPA project communication channels and stakeholder engagement strategies. Additional strategies and approaches to stakeholder engagement may be added as the HCBS ARPA projects continue to move forward.

The Department ARPA webpage will be the central location for all information and resources related to stakeholder engagement for HCBS ARPA work. The Department will update the webpage with all project-specific engagements so stakeholders can easily identify opportunities and review material from past or future meetings. The webpage will include information such as links to surveys, meeting times and details, agendas and notes from meetings and any other meeting materials. Some projects will use existing engagement channels, like workgroups, and in those cases, the website will link to the appropriate place to find that information. The Department ARPA webpage is https://hcpf.colorado.gov/arpa.

The day-to-day engagement of stakeholders on specific projects will be led by the individual project teams. While each project under the HCBS ARPA umbrella is unique, the project teams will have access to the same tools to establish stakeholder engagement with their respective projects. For example, the Department has created a survey for stakeholder engagement that all project teams will leverage with their project community. The survey asks several important questions that help elicit stakeholder satisfaction related to:

• Informativeness of the engagement
• Clarity of concepts and ideas discussed
• Appropriateness of the amount of time dedicated to questions and feedback
• Likelihood of recommending the meeting to others

The Department wants to be both efficient and effective with its stakeholder engagement and will leverage and expand existing conversations and structures. These efforts will include discussions on new funding, program, and policy opportunities that the HCBS ARPA funding affords to the state. The Department will coordinate internally, utilizing existing communication liaisons, so that we are not duplicating efforts when it comes to stakeholder and public engagement with these projects.

Methods of Communication 

The following matrix identifies the communication channels that will be used to distribute and share critical information about our ARPA-related efforts.