June 2008
CDS Introduces Two New Communications Tools: “The CDS Blog” & The CDS Podcasts
The College of Direct Support is unveiling its latest communications devices to create a lively community of individuals interested in discussions related to being a Direct Support Professional as well as more in-depth examination of topics we ran out of room to cover in CDS courses.
The new CDS Blog is free and open to one and all to keep us in conversation and connected with one another, whether you are a CDS subscriber or a non-subscriber. The new CDS Podcasts will be posted once and month and a tentative lineup of topics is listed below.
Here is the link to both the CDS Blog and the Podcasts: http://collegeofdirectsupport.blogspot.com/
There will be a link to these on the Learner’s personal page as well.
Kristin Dean of the University of Minnesota’s Research and Training Center will be our Blog Master. If you are interested in posting on the blog or have a suggestion for a podcast, please contact her at deanx032@umn.edu.
A blog is strictly opinion based. So, if you have an opinion you would like to share you can create your own posts by contacting Dean for help with this option.
Here’s what you can do on the CDS Blog:
- Make your blog postings on topics of interest to DSPs.
- You can comment on the postings of others.
- Hear what others in your field are thinking.
- Talk about your experiences in the field of direct support.
- Talk about what it is like to be a family member of a person with a disability.
- Talk about what it is like to be a person with a disability.
- You can subscribe to the blog so that you can receive a notice whenever the blog has been updated.
There are some basic do’s and don’ts – no profanity or inappropriate language – and the content should be related to disabilities.
The new CDS podcasts will be posted at least once a month and will include first-hand accounts of being a person with a disability, working as a DSP, being a family member supporting a person with a disability, as well as other relevant topics of interest. Watch for announcements about the new podcasts being posted.
Podcasts can be downloaded from iTunes and played on your iPod or iPhone as well as viewed on the web.To do this click on this link: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=280645559
The first CDS podcast is available and it is called “Patrick Jordan’s Story.” We hope you enjoy it!
Here is the tentative schedule for the monthly podcasts this year:
- A Day in the life of a DSP
- A Day in the life of a parent of a person with a disability
- A Day in the life of someone being supported
- Assistive Technology
- Top 10 list (topic to be decided later)
- Traveling with a disability
- History of disability services
- Death & Dying
- Autism vaccine
- Person 1st language
- Re-inventing quality conference re-cap
- Zambia Disability Connection
2008 Reinventing Quality Conference
Set Aug. 10-12; It’s All About Change
The 2008 Reinventing Quality Conference in Baltimore, Md., Aug. 10-12, will focus around the concept of real “change” as it is reflected in the conference’s title – Embracing Change: New Voices, Vision and Approaches.
Conference organizers say that the event will feature numerous agencies that have implemented person-centered planning and individual support structures to assist people in living the lives they desire. That could mean having real homes, real jobs, real friends and real lives. These agencies from throughout the country will share their strategies and solutions they have in place to help people with developmental disabilities live the life they choose.
The conference will begin on Sunday, Aug. 10, with registration from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. The Welcoming Reception will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m.; The conference will continue all day Monday Aug. 11 and will conclude at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 12.
Two highlights of the first day on Monday will be a keynote luncheon address by Tom Kohler, Coordinator of the Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy in Savannah, Ga., and the presentation at 5:30 of the Moving Mountains Award ceremony.
Kohler, a native of Savannah Ga., and a graduate of the University of Georgia, has worked at Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy for 30 years. In this work he has invited scores of people to step forward to become a citizen advocate and become more important in the life of another person. He attended the local public schools in Savannah and while doing volunteer work in high school through his synagogue, Mickve Israel Temple, he became interested in the role that disability plays in the lives of people.
Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy is a 30-year-old community based non-profit organization that recruits, matches and offers support to over 100 local citizens in voluntary citizen advocacy relationships. Twelve local people form the board and govern the work of two full-time program staff and one half-time office manager.
“Citizen advocacy is built on one-to-one, freely given personal relationships between two people. One is a person with a developmental disability who has often been excluded from typical community life, and the other is a person who is living a good, ordinary life here in our community,” Kohler said.
Part of his keynote will be about a book he has co-authored, “Waddie Welcome and the Beloved Community.” Former President Jimmy Carter calls the book “a modern-day parable.”
Other notable speakers include Nancy Thaler, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services; Charlie Lakin of the Research and Training Center at the University of Minnesota; Sue Swenson, former executive director of The Arc of the U.S.; and Steve Eidelman of the Center for Disabilities at the University of Delaware.
The Moving Mountains Awards are presented annually to organizations and agencies that have demonstrated best practice in direct support workforce development. They are awarded by the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the University of Minnesota in partnership with the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP). Nominations are solicited through NADSP member organizations and submissions are reviewed by a panel of NADSP members. Selection criteria are based on the mission and five goals of the NADSP.
The featured agencies are ones that have converted from congregate to individual services, those which have been specifically designed for individualized support and those that have assisted individuals to experience true community membership. Individuals who have developed their own micro-enterprises also will be highlighted.
To learn more about the conference or to register online for the conference, visit the conference website at www.reinventingquality.org. If you have questions, send them via email to reinventingquality@udel.edu. Hotel registrations will be done by contacting the hotel at 1.800.468.3571. Rooms are $169 for a single or a double and remember to mention the Reinventing Quality Conference to get the special rate.
Early-bird registration is available at $295 for professionals, $100 for self advocates, and $250 per person for groups of six or more people from the same organization registering together. If you register after July 30, add $30 to these fees.
The conference is directed at people with developmental disabilities, family members, Direct Support Professionals, administrators of community support agencies, advocates, and state and federal officials.
ACT Celebrates Its Graduates With Items From the CDS Store
Alternative Community Training (ACT) in Columbia, MO., really knows how to celebrate success and to motivate its staff.
ACT’s core values are what makes this agency unique and drives the programs that deliver quality outcomes for all people supported. At the heart of the organization’s values is the desire to celebrate successes, at all levels and at every opportunity, for each employee and person supported.
The College of Direct Support has played an important role in providing outstanding online training sessions for Direct Support Professionals and ACT’S supervisory staff. ACT has graduated around 40 DSPs since the pilot project began in 2006. ACT was among the initial agencies that committed to this training program, which has now grown to include 33 organizations across the state.
When the DSPs graduate, ACT selects various items from the CDS online store to complement a celebration kit that ACT presents to each graduate. The tote bag with the CDS logo is the main gift, and ACT fills the bag with items to assist the DSP in their job.
“ACT has grown and prospered because the agency utilizes CDS, which has given ACT a new vision and way to train employees,” said Michelle Saunders, ACT’s Director of Training. “The College of Direct Support has paid off in many ways, including enhancing the retention of DSPs and having signature items to present to our employees has added positively to the celebration and excitement that ACT brings to the conclusion of each employee’s CDS training.”
The CDS online store – which can be accessed through our website at www.collegeofdirectsupport.com – has shown one agency how it can celebrate success and reward employees with very effective results.
ANCOR Foundation Announces Recipients of the 2008 Community Builder Awards
The ANCOR Foundation recently presented its 2008 Community Builder Awards during the ANCOR Management Practices Conference and Trade Show in New Orleans.
Those honored included:
- KFI, Inc. of Maine in the Provider category.
- The Honorable State Sen. Cynthia Nava of New Mexico in the community/community member category.
- Debra Ruh, founder and president of TecAccess, received the first ever award in the new Technology category.
KFI, located in Millinocket, ME, was developed in the 1960’s as a specialized school for individuals who were not being served in the public school system. KFI has continued to evolve into a robust, community-based organization supporting 100 adults with disabilities through residential and day supports. Everyone who receives support from KFI has his or her own residence, whether as a renter or homeowner. KFI does not own any housing and works with representatives from the housing, employment, civic, volunteer, and recreation sectors to create meaningful opportunities for the people they support.
Senator Nava has dedicated her life to improving the lives of persons with disabilities.
Throughout her life, she has been involved in the field of education and this emphasis continues to drive her work today. Currently, she serves as chair of the Senate Education Committee in the New Mexico legislature and as chair of the Special Education Committee. In this position, she frequently draws upon her previous experience as an Educational Diagnostician, Special Education Instructor, school psychologist, and Home Instructor for a Family Infant Toddler program serving children with or at risk for developmental delays.
However, her field experience and advocacy efforts do not end there. Since her first day in the New Mexico legislature, she has employed two individuals with disabilities to serve as Attendants for her office and Committee. Sen. Nava remains firmly rooted in the community and is passionate about education, continuing to serve as Superintendent of the Gadsen School District, a rural and impoverished area in Southern New Mexico.
Debra Ruh was honored as the first-ever recipient of the 2008 Community Builder Technology Award. With her to accept the award was Sara Ruh, her daughter and her inspiration for founding TecAccess in 2000. Her firm today employs 35 full-time staffers with another 60 associates who are part-time or working as subcontractors. Approximately 70% of her employees have some type of a disability, she says.
Sara, 20, has Down’s syndrome and attends Reynolds Community College in Richmond. Debra and husband Edward also have a son, Kevin, who is a student at Virginia Commonwealth University.
TecAccess, in Rockville, MD., is the leading provider of comprehensive accessible technology programs, disability employment services, and marketing solutions that allow organizations to better serve the world´s largest and fastest growing minority group of people with disabilities and the mature audience.
Since 2004, the ANCOR Foundation Community Builder Award has been one way to help the foundation support and promote its vision – a world where people with disabilities live well-supported, meaningful lives in the communities of their choice.
Monarch’s Mission: ‘Helping Dreams Take Flight’
The Monarch butterfly is one of the most beautiful – and among the strongest – of all things that fly.
Our June 2008 Partner Profile is from the Monarch agency in Albemarle, N.C., which serves 3,089 people in 34 counties throughout the state. And appropriately, Monarch’s Mission Statement is strong and beautiful – “Helping Dreams Take Flight.”
Melissa Hall, a Regional Director for Monarch, wrote the Partner Profile and takes us from Monarch’s start with CDS in September 2007 to the present. She writes about the impact of CDS on Monarch, its staff and the people served. She tells us about their low turnover rate, and how CDS lowered the turnover rate even more.
Monarch has 1,200 Direct Support Professionals and Melissa tells us that once their DSPs start the CDS online training, they love it and want more.
We hope you enjoy reading about Monarch of North Carolina!
NADSP New Newsletter: ‘e-Flash!’
The National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP) has a new quarterly electronic newsletter called “NADSP e-Flash!” Its second issue recently came out in May.
NADSP e-Flash! reports news and events about the NADSP. The most recent newsletter reports on the April NADSP board meeting in New Orleans, offers a calendar of upcoming NADSP meetings through August 2008 and announces the launch of the new NADSP Blog at NADSP.org/blog
The e-Flash is sent directly to state contacts and state NADSP chapters. However, NADSP requests that this e-Flash be forwarded on to anyone--DSPs, other professionals, and organizations. It can keep everyone updated on NADSP's activities. Although the e-Flash is not yet archived on the website, it will be soon, at NADSP.org.
The NADSP is a professional association by and for DSPs that advocates across the country for direct support issues. It is dedicated to supporting professionals who choose careers in supporting people with disabilities achieve their life dreams. The NADSP is a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to strengthening the quality of human service support by strengthening the direct support workforce.
Peter Berns Selected as Executive Director of The Arc of the U.S.
Peter V. Berns, a nationally recognized nonprofit sector leader and public interest lawyer, has been named as the new executive director of The Arc of the United States, the world’s largest community-based organization of and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Currently Executive Director of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations, Berns will begin work on July 7, 2008.
In 16 years at Maryland Nonprofits, he built the Association from a start-up to a position of prominence in the nonprofit community, nationally, with more than 1,700 members of all sizes, all sectors and from all regions of the state. In addition, he served as Chief Executive Officer of the Standards for Excellence Institute since its inception in 2004.
Berns, 51, who received his law degree from Harvard University, took the Maryland Nonprofits post after working as deputy chief of consumer protection in the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and four children, and is an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University and a board member with the Public Justice Center and Business Volunteers Unlimited Maryland.
“Over the years I have been inspired by the volunteers and professionals in The Arc community that I have had the privilege to work with,” Berns said. “The Arc’s commitment to civil rights, services and supports for people with intellectual disabilities is more important then ever.”
The Arc provides an array of services and support for families and individuals and includes over 140,000 members affiliated through more than 850 state and local chapters across the nation. The Arc is devoted to promoting and improving supports and services for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Mission Statement: The College of Direct Support is a learning gateway for contemporary best practices for Direct Support Professionals. By incorporating web-based learning, backed by nationally recognized curricula, the CDS is designed to promote a profession of direct support.
111 Center Park Drive, Suite 175 | Knoxville, TN 37922
tel :: 877-353-2767 (toll-free) | fax :: 865-531-4708
www.collegeofdirectsupport.com
submit eNewsletter material here