Best Practices – Provider

Practice
Provider affords opportunities for all individuals who choose to have a key to their group home to attend key safety training classes at the Adult Day Training program. The classes provide education on all aspects of the responsibility of having a key to your home and the importance of safety as it pertains to having a key to your home.

Who Benefits?
How? The person receiving services benefits because it supports the individual to exercise their right to have a key to their home and educates the individual on the responsibilities that come along with this right.

Practice
Provider affords opportunities for all within their group homes to receive their own mail within the home. Provider has individual mailboxes in the home for each resident. One person gets the mail and then delivers it to each box. The boxes were designed with creativity by each person with their picture on it. They also deliver mail for the group home in its own box.

Who Benefits?
How? The person receiving services benefits because it gives them a sense of independence with checking their own mail, privacy, and a sense of home as we all check our mail in this fashion.

Practice
The provider affords individuals the opportunity to participate in educational classes within the Adult Day Training program that teaches the skills necessary to apply for a paid position in the community. The people attending this class learn how to complete an application, how to dress for an interview and role play interviewing skills. After receiving training in this area an “Interview Day” is set up at the Day Program. On this day, the people dress as if they are going to apply for a job. Upon arrival at the day program they fill out an application and proceed through an interview process with the day program staff. The person is then evaluated on their strengths with completing the application, their appearance and interviewing skills as if they were applying for a paid position in the community. The provider utilizes real applications obtained from the community for practice. The areas needing improvement continue to be addressed as part of the training class. For those who want to pursue this further, referrals are made so that the person can receive the services to support their desire to pursue employment out in the community.

Who Benefits?
How? The person receiving services benefits because they have the opportunity to experience what it would be like to go through the steps of applying and interviewing for a job and enhancing their skills.

Practice
I had the opportunity to interview a young man at a Group Home more than 3 years ago. The young man was quite shy, legally blind, and spent most of the interview sitting in the corner playing with his recorder and listening to his music. He participated very little despite my attempts to get him involved in the interview.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to interview the same young man at the group home. I could not believe the transformation in this young man. He sat with us during the entire interview and answered practically all of the questions on his own. He was very friendly, polite, and hospitable during the interview. He always had a passion for music and Mrs. Thomas explored with him if he would like to learn to play an instrument. He wanted to learn to play the guitar and Mrs. Thomas searched and found a wonderful music instructor. Last week I was at a WSC meeting and he and his music instructor performed some selections for us where he played his guitar and sang. I understand that this is not his first public performance.

Who Benefits?
How? All persons benefit when the provider attempts to assist the person to build on their strengths, interests, and abilities. This particular young man is obviously more self-confident and social. He had developed new dreams of performing for a living and also one day having his own place which in our prior interview he did not identify any such dreams.

Practice
The provider has assisted individuals to develop their own personal phonebooks. Individuals were assisted to make a page with their picture, phone number, and interests. They could then choose who they wanted to give their information to. Once information was exchanged, each person was assisted to put their phone books together for their own use.

Who Benefits? Individuals
How? Individuals benefit as they have been assisted to reach out and request information about friends at their ADT.  This may then carryover so that their friendships are not dependent on them attending the same ADT; they have a resource to reach out and make contact so their lives are not so compartmentalized.

Practice
Kitty Adams has assisted two individuals with making a photo album recipe book using labels from the ingredients necessary to make the recipe.  The photo album has various recipes of the individual’s choosing (such as chop suey). Since both individuals have difficulty with reading, the provider came up with a creative way to help them know what ingredients are needed for each recipe.  The recipes in this book are ones that do not require specific measuring, and are casserole recipes or one dish recipes. The provider assists the individual with taking the labels (stewed tomatoes label, macaroni label, ground beef label, etc.) off of all the ingredients needed to make the recipe.  In the example of the chop suey recipe which requires an onion, she pressed the skin of the onion just like you would press a flower in a photo album.  The various labels and onion skin were placed on the photo album page under the plastic film that would normally cover your pictures in the album.   On the top of the plastic film, each label had a piece of Velcro.  A second label or pressed onion was then laminated with a Velcro piece on the back.  The individual was able to match the labels and the onion to its corresponding place in the album.  This has helped the individuals to take the top labels and go to the store to independently purchase all of the ingredients they need for this particular recipe and when the come home they are able to match the pictures back up with the ones in the album (the ones placed under the film) so that the ingredients for each recipe do not get mixed up.

Who Benefits? The individuals receiving services benefit .
How? Because, the practice promotes practical learning and independence.

Practice
The provider has developed a “non-consent for release of information” form which identifies who and what information the person does not want shared with anyone.

The provider reviews this information and the regular consent- to- release information form with the person quarterly to determine if there are more people or other information the person does not want shared with anyone.

Who Benefits? Individuals
How? The individual benefits from this practice because it helps to ensure that privacy is defined by the person and that their preferences for privacy are being upheld by the provider.

Practice
With the technical support of the organization’s academic instructor, individuals developed “Dance To The Stars,” a booklet designed by people with various disabilities to educate the public on the fact that they are people first, and they have preferences.

Booklet Preface
“This book was written by The Arc of Putnam County Employability Skills Summer Training Class.  These authors are young adults with various disabilities.  These young adults interviewed other young adults with disabilities.  The disabilities of these young adults include Impaired Vision, Impaired Hearing, Cerebral Palsy, Spinal Bifida, Down Syndrome, and Autism.

What happens when a group of young adults with disabilities decide to write a book on their own?  My heart begins to open.  The feelings flow, the pages begin to fill pictures and form in my mind.  This instructor has become the student feeling humble and blessed to be allowed into this “Normal Circle”, where wheelchairs, blindness, autism, C.P., and Spinal Bifida are the majority and that which is considered “Normal” becomes the minority. -Cindy Burgoyne, EST Instructor.”

Excerpt
“We asked Jeff if he liked for a person to sit or stand when they are talking to him.  Jeff requests that you please try to sit or get at eye level with him.  Jeff says his neck will hurt if he has to look up to the person talking to him.  Jeff says it makes him feel small when people stand over him.

Jeff also feels left out when someone asks staff or others things concerning him that he could answer himself.

Jeff is visually impaired but not hearing impaired.  You do not need to talk louder when you converse with him…Lots of people tend to do that. “Please identify yourself to me as I may not know who I am talking to.  Before you come up behind me and begin pushing me in my wheelchair PLEASE let me know who you are and where we are going.”  Jeff shares that it is very scary when the world starts spinning around you and you do not know who is pushing you or where you are going.”

Who Benefits? Staff, new staff, the public, and the people who developed the booklet all benefit.
How? Because, it is one thing when ‘professionals’ are the teachers, but infinitely more meaningful when the information and inspiration comes from the person.

Practice
The provider meeting held in Area 14 on Friday 1/25/07 was an incredible experience. A collaborative effort by providers, the steering committee, the AQL and APD culminated in a very moving awards ceremony honoring direct support workers. People who don’t often have contact with other providers or APD were publicly recognized for their efforts. The entire event not only went a long way in staff recognition and retention, but also fostered an atmosphere of togetherness. Providers generously donated funds for gift certificates and a photographer was on hand to capture the moment. Many kudos to the staff who were recognized, and all who made the event possible.

Who Benefits? All
How? Individuals benefit by having such dedicated staff work with them. Staff benefit by receiving public acknowledgement of their efforts. Provider organizations benefit by recognizing quality staff and thereby increasing staff retention. APD benefits by supporting great staff which could lead to an increase in individual’s outcomes and an increase in public trust.

1. Provider has established a free of charge lending library of donated communication devices for individuals to use.
2. Provider assists individuals and families to pair up to mentor and support one another naturally.
3. Provider participates in numerous community events to promote community awareness.
4. Provider has created online training on various topics for staff development.
5. Provider created a multimedia presentation for public, families and individuals to promote choice for individuals with disabilities.
6. Provider participates in IEP (Individual Education Plan), advocacy and parent/ school team building.
7. Provider collects donations of computers and computer parts and restores/ refurbishes them, then donates them to individuals with developmental disabilities that need them, at no charge; this service is provided to individuals they offer services to and individuals receiving services from other providers.
8. The provider assists all individuals they serve to develop social capital in many creative ways, and most importantly in a manner that is directed by the individual.

Who Benefits? All
How?

• The individuals receiving services benefit from all above mentioned best practices. Promoting independence, social capital and dignity.
• The community benefits by the replacement of misunderstanding with understanding, knowledge and acceptance.
• Other providers benefit by having a resource they can tap into with this provider and their vast knowledge.
• The local schools benefit from an outside assistance to promote continuity and collaboration in IEP meetings