News & Events
Upcoming events and news articles.
News
In this section you will find news about the College of Direct Support and about issues that relate to the CDS. You also will read about the states or agencies that we serve and what they are doing.
Also, we’ll share the latest news from within the CDS related to such things as new courses being offered or new features to the CDS being unveiled. We especially will be highlighting uplifting stories full of hope.
We will update this section on an as-needed basis, so please check out our “News” on a regular basis and send us your news so we can include it.
UCP South Florida Joins SPIN in Training Magazine's Top 125
Each year Training Magazine ranks and honors the Top 125 companies for their training programs and on Monday evening, Feb 4th in Atlanta, United Cerebral Palsy-South Florida joined SPIN as the only non-profit companies on the list.
This is the first time UCP-South Florida of Miami has made the list and they are ranked 94th. SPIN (Special People in the Northeast) of Philadelphia is in the Top 125 for the fifth time and are ranked 23rd in these latest rankings.
UCP-South Florida and SPIN have another thing in common as well – both use the College of Direct Support as part of their respective training programs.
Accepting the award for UCP South Florida was Marta Morin, the Executive Director of the agency’s Miami Cerebral Palsy Residential Services.
Among her reasons for getting this award, Morin talked about CDS. “Embracing and integrating the College of Direct Support and College of Frontline Supervision and Management in everything we do has been key,” Morin said. “This has played a key role in forging ahead with all of our initiatives in attempting to professionalizing staff who work in the field of developmental disabilities; to make it a meaningful job that folks can be proud of as a career. There is no doubt CDS has enhanced the lives of the people we serve, along with the lives of our own staff.”
Judy Dotzman, Corporate Officer for Professional Development at SPIN, was in Atlanta to accept the award for the agency. In 2002 SPIN was ranked 87th, and in 2004 it came in at 37th. It moved up the rankings to 28th in 2005 and last year was rated 20th.
SPIN, Inc. is a non-profit human service agency founded in 1970 by parents of children with disabilities whose first objective was the establishment of a summer camp. Since its founding 35 years ago, the agency has supported the development of a variety of innovative programs for children, adults and families throughout Philadelphia, PA. Today, SPIN, Inc. serves more than 2,000 people annually.
“SPIN is very honored and proud for the past six years to be ranked among the global elite as a top training organization internationally,” Dotzman said. “SPIN invests and believes deeply in its workforce by providing innovative and effective professional development programs to support SPIN employees to be members of a workforce whose skills and competencies are second to none in our industry.”
A complete list of the Top 125 companies will be in the February issue of Training magazine, and it will include a profile of the top five companies and news about the companies now in the Top 125 Hall of Fame. For a profile of each of the Top 5 companies in Training’s Top 125, visit www.trainingmag.com. For additional information about the training efforts of all 125 companies, see the February 2008 issue. To order a copy, call 646-654-7210, or e-mail jennifer.ginsberg@nielsen.com.
New CDS Courses
The College of Direct Support will be rolling out four new courses and two mini-courses within the next six months. One of the courses will be the fifth course in the College of Frontline Supervision and Management – “Preparing for the Supervisor’s Job in Human Services.”
The other courses are:
- Functional Assessment
- Working With Families and Other Support Networks
- Everyone Can Communicate
- Disability Intensive Mini-Courses:
- Autism
- Brain Injury
- Cerebral Palsy
What follows is a description of each course. We will be notifying all users as each course comes online.
PREPARING FOR THE SUPERVISOR’S JOB IN HUMAN SERVICES: This course is an introduction to the role of a frontline supervisor (FLS). It is for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) or others who might be considering the position. The lessons include a description of the role of frontline supervisors (FLS). It is contrasted with the role of DSPs. It includes basic information on four foundational skills critical to supervision. The course outlines both the rewards and the challenges of becoming a FLS. It asks learners to assess their readiness for a supervisory position. This course is for people who want to make a good decision about whether or not to pursue a supervisory position. However, is likely also valuable to current supervisors.
FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT: People in direct support roles need to be able to identify the reason a person uses such challenging behavior. When challenging behaviors are persistent, a formal structured process can be helpful to discovering the function of the behavior. This process is called Functional Assessment (FA). This course explains the purpose and process of FA. It reviews common behavioral terms and principles of positive behavioral supports. It prepares learners to complete tasks related to FA. These tasks include completing structured observation and documentation, participating in or conducting interviews, reviewing records for critical information, and seeking or completing additional assessments.
WORKING WITH FAMILIES AND OTHER SUPPORT NETWORKS: This course is about how Direct Support Professionals build working relationships and partnerships with the support networks of the people they support. Almost everyone has family and support networks in their lives. These are the people who surround you. These are people you develop relationships with. They add quality, meaning and enjoyment that enrich your life. People with disabilities who receive support are not any different. They have families and support networks which are intensely important to their quality of life. This course will help you understand the importance of support networks. It will help you develop working relationship with families and other support networks. It will help you develop partnerships that support dreams. You will learn the importance of family and support networks, as well as learning what skills are needed to work effectively with both.
You will learn to define different types of support networks and recognize both formal and informal networks. You will learn that family is a unique support network and how best to work with families. Finally, this course will help you understand how to develop, maintain, and expand the support networks of the people you support.
EVERYONE CAN COMMUNICATE: This course helps you achieve a better understanding and improve your skills in communicating with people who have significant communication disabilities. It focuses on your roles and responsibilities as a Direct Support Professional. The significance of this course is that communication is the essence of human life.
DISABILITY INTENSIVE MINI-COURSES
Autism:
This course is a brief overview of autism. This course is important because there are increasing numbers of persons identified with autism. Although autism was once considered a rare disability, the numbers of people receiving an autism diagnosis increases each day. As a result, it is important for professionals who work with persons with disabilities to have a good understanding of autism.
Brain Injury:
This mini-course will provide DSPs and supervisors with an overview of brain injury. The course will: define the disability, inform the learner about key statistics related to the disability, discuss the causes of brain injury, and consider issues related to how DSPs can best support individuals with a brain injury. Additionally, the course will share stories of people with brain injury, their family members and DSPs who support them.
Cerebral Palsy:
This mini course will provide an overview of cerebral palsy. This overview course will include a description of the disability, its causes, and treatments. It will also introduce the learner to people with cerebral palsy and share their stories. The direct support professional role in supporting people with cerebral palsy also will be reviewed.
Moore Center's "Superheroes" Video Celebrates Its DSP Workforce
By David Johnson
The College of Direct Support (CDS) is an astoundingly innovative approach to refining the skills of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). These are people who give of themselves on a daily basis to improve the lives of their fellow humans.
Are they heroes? You bet they are.
So we at Moore Center Services in Manchester, N.H., one of the newest acolytes of the CDS, embraced this heroism and the ingenuity and professionalism inherent in the CDS curriculum and, after much deliberation on the way to properly encapsulate such a ground-breaking, progressive initiative, made a video with action figures.
The idea for our little “Superheroes” video originated last year, when Moore Center Services sought a promotional piece to play at the annual Direct Support conference in Bartlett, N.H. Exposed to hundreds of regional DSPs, the video was crafted to generate attention to the upstart CDS groundswell in the Granite State.
The Superheroes, the stars of the video, are all DSPs at the Moore Center – Helen Bennett, Scott Trudo and Joel Ortiz.
“I’m hearing from people in other areas of the state and even vendors who’ve seen it online, and the general reaction is they think it’s funny, light-hearted and attention grabbing,” Trudo said.
Thankfully, the attendees got a kick out of the video and immediately didn’t write us off as kooks. Following the conference, we posted the video on our website, www.moorecenter.org, as well as our new off-shoot project, NHDSP.org, a clearinghouse of information, training and news for New Hampshire Direct Support Professionals.
Since the Superheroes video has been posted, we’ve received several hundred views at YouTube and received glowing feedback from friends in the industry. Sure, it’s a zero-based budget, goofy bit of filmmaking, but in this age of viral marketing and Web surfing, we feel advertising such as this -- creative, amusing and unique -- can go a long way in creating buzz for a worthy endeavor like the College of Direct Support.
Editor’s Note: The video was filmed and produced by the author of this article, who is the Moore Center’s Public Relations and Marketing Manager. He shot the video in one afternoon, edited it the next day and spent $4 on this project.
Taft College Is Off and Running With CDS as Part of Its AA Program
Taft College’s first two degree-track classes toward a degree in Direct Support Education this summer were a huge success and plans are being made to expand it beyond the borders of the Kern County campus in Taft, CA.
The course offerings for SS1 Introduction to Developmental Disabilities (3 semester units) and SS2 Documentation and Individual Rights (3 semester units) during the Summer semester were quite a success, with 25 students taking the Introduction class and 17 were in the Documentation class. Taft College effectively blended the CDS curriculum into an approved college-level degree applicable curriculum. Consequently, students who complete the entire series of courses (18-24 semester units) alongside the other degree applicable general education courses will receive an Associate of Arts Degree from Taft College.
“The program was so attractive to leaders within the direct support industry that we were contacted by the Arc of Bakersfield (BARC) and we plan to provide face to face instruction at their facility using the combined curriculum model,” said Lindsey Whitaker of the Taft faculty. During the 2007 summer semester, Taft had a wide range of students in classes who came from very diverse backgrounds; some were supported living service owners/supervisors, others were direct support staff and a few were parents of children with special needs.
Whitaker said the most challenging part of the courses was learning how to maneuver the course management system, which was foreign to a lot of students who had never taken an online course. “But within the first week, most students were fully proficient and our students overwhelmingly reported that they enjoyed the CDS lessons and were very impressed by its multimodal and comprehensive presentation of information,” Whitaker said.
In the Fall, Taft College will be offering the two 8-week courses again, which means that they are currently accepting new students into the program. The next set of courses and classes -- SS3 Introduction to Medication Support (3 semester units) and SS4 Cultural Competency (3 Semester units) – will begin in October 2007.
For more information about the Taft College program, contact Lindsey Whitaker at 661.763.7841 or via email lwhitaker@taft.org.
The Arc of Mississippi Finds Unique Use For CDS in Training Private Provider Nurses
A proposal to utilize the College of Direct Support (CDS) in Mississippi in an alternative manner was an idea that originated within the offices of The Arc of Mississippi. The Arc’s executive director, Matt Nalker, and Lisa Burck, Project Director of the CDS in Mississippi, approached the state’s Department of Mental Health. The proposal was for the department to use the CDS to train approximately 60 nurses providing services in the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Waiver Program for persons with developmental disabilities.
The targeted nurses were approved to provide only in-home respite and attendant care services as individual Medicaid providers. They may not employ others to work for them, Burck explained. On June 1, 2006, the 60 nurses began using the CDS to receive required annual and quarterly training. After six months the nurses were surveyed and the overwhelming response was positive about the CDS. Click to read the March 2007 evaluation brief.
The CDS Store Is Open
Grab a shopping cart and browse through the new College of Direct Support store.
Visit our web site at www.collegeofdirectsupport.com, and select "Store" from the main navigation across the top of the page.
You will find a variety of items available with the College of Direct Support logo emblazoned on each and every one. Whether it’s a CDS graduation ceremony, prizes for staff and Direct Support Professionals, or incentives for outstanding work, you’ll find something for everyone in the CDS store.
We have caps (visors, winter caps and baseball-type caps), various styles of shirts, coffee and travel mugs, as well as backpacks, lanyards, carabiner keys, clocks, pens and other items.
When ordering, allow about 14 days for shipping after you place the order.
A Different Kind of College
By Jacqueline Durett
July 2006 | Training Magazine
Bill Tapp had a vision: A better world for direct support professionals and those they care for. Now the national project director of an education program for individuals such as residential counselors, employment specialists and family advocates, he is on his way to making his dream a reality.
Already having worked at Sertoma Center for those with disabilities in Knoxville, Tenn., and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Tennessee Valley, Tapp was familiar with the employment challenges facing the direct support professional (DSP) field. DSPs are those who provide guidance and support to those needing help to be self-sufficient in non-medical communities (as opposed to nursing homes or assisted living facilities). Many work with those who have disabilities, but others work with the aging or those with mental illnesses. However, with a turnover rate, Tapp says, of 90 percent, it’s hard to keep people long enough to train them. "The workforce was so unstable," he says of the conditions that compelled him to seek a way to better train those in DSP roles. "I just realized that we needed to do something better."
