The annual Holiday Fundraising Campaign is off to a great start by the standards of years before last. We set a high goal of $50,000 by the end of January and, as of this writing, we have received more than $23,000. Before we got too big for our britches last year and started setting arrogant goals, 23k would have been a pretty celebratory result for this point. In fact, dadgumit, I'm going to celebrate this. We're well on track for our second best ever holiday campaign and grateful for all the support.

Grants and gifts are a small part of Imagine's total funding. Pursuing them is an even smaller part of what we do. But size isn't everything and the importance of these gifts is this: if we prioritize direct care compensation from our fee-for-service funding, and we do, it is the generosity of our community that allows us to bridge unfunded needs of the people we serve. In times of crisis, whether for one individual or the whole world at once, it's the reserves provided by donors and philanthropies that help us adapt, be generous and focus our resources where they'll do the most good.

If you are looking for reasons to give, I'd like to propose a person-centered set of rationales that might appeal to various biases:

First, Imagine's culture is itself generous and you and we make great fellow travelers. While nearly every human service agency lacks resources to do all the good it aspires to, Imagine does our work in a shared climate of gratitude. Second, the people we serve are extraordinary and deserve your support along with ours. Third, our caregivers are extraordinary and deserve the security that your donations foster. Fourth, we are proud of our navigation of the COVID pandemic, but all we did cost a lot. Last year, we spent several tens of thousands of dollars on PPE, COVID pay, testing and overtime and your contributions share that burden, making it lighter and our community safer. Fifth, to paraphrase conventional wisdom, nonprofits think with their reserves. If you wish we were smarter, you can stuff our skulls full right here.

We're very grateful for the support from the community which takes many forms including friendships, kind words and wishes, voluntary assistance, partnerships and gifts to our agency. I thank you.

-Submitted by Doug

Hello Everyone, 

I would like to thank our employees for your response to our new timekeeping system. We made this change to comply with federal law coming into effect this year and we recognize the new system hasn't always worked well and that change is difficult anyway. The transition is going better than we hoped and we appreciate everyone's flexibility and proactivity. If you are having trouble with logging your hours, please know you are welcome to contact Jen, myself or your Facilitator.

I also want to let you know that as of this writing, COVID pay has expired in California and not been renewed. While we have been and will remain glad to support our caregivers to quarantine as appropriate, we will not continue the COVID pay, barring a change in law. There are several reasons that the full 80 hour COVID pay program doesn't perfectly fit the needs of the moment. For one reason, COVID now joins many other viral infections in that it is now an endemic disease best avoided through good sanitary practices and developed immunity. As time goes by, it makes less sense to treat COVID differently from many other diseases. Second, the arrangements around COVID pay created bad incentives, which some staff have responded to, leading to at least termination. Third, the cost of COVID has been significant enough to impact what we can afford as a general wage.

For all of these reasons, the COVID pay regimen in effect in 2022 is not being continued into 2023. We do welcome those who need it to use available sick pay and/or vacation pay and are happy to work with you on, for example, zero interest payroll advances to help you quarantine as needed and manage the loss of income. If you have any questions about this, please do reach out to me. If you have complaints about it, please write to Doug.

Patty Lopez /dp

Assistant Director of Human Resources 

Imagine Supported Living Services 

Office: 831-464-8355 ext. 112

Cell: (831) 325-7760

Fax: (831) 612-6384

Tally ho, 

Doug again, filling in Charlie's column until someone else takes this role.

Following up on last month's column from way back in 2022, Patty and I are working with the Imagine Facilitators on "Facilitator Support Plans." (Credit to Jessica, Facilitator, for naming them.) The goal is to insure that planning is person-centered and forward looking, that communication runs free and complete, that caregiving staff consistently receive beneficial feedback and training and that first things come first. Naturally, we'll be using Person-Centered Thinking tools to determine where each Facilitator needs support and how best that support can be delivered.

Our hope is to welcome the next Assistant Director of Services with a clear profile of how to support his facilitators for their own development for the benefit of our clients, caregivers, families and other stakeholders.

Cheers,

Doug.

Self-Determination is now available for any regional center client who chooses it but it seems to be a slow process enrolling. If I can be of any help, please feel free to contact me. I'm pleased that there are a few current and recent Imagine employees who are developing Independent Facilitation practices and I'll be glad to connect them with those looking.

This month, the Independent Facilitator Roundtable will be Wednesday, January 4 at 11AM. The Zoom link is right here.

I will be working with Susan Douglass on a Community Connections event early in 2023 to present self-determination as a concept and how it is supposed to work and how it is working in order to help family members of our clients think through whether self-determination will be beneficial to their loved ones.

For people interested in Self-determination, there is also a monthly zoom event to introduce individuals and families to Independent Facilitators.It's the third Friday of each month and the time is supposed to rotate but we seem stuck on 2:30-4. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send the link and confirmation of the time.

The Independent Facilitator Network, a confederation of professionals working self-determination (which started at Imagine!) has a Slack Channel you can join by clicking here. Individuals and family members are welcome and it's a great place to have your SDP questions answered by sad, wise experts.

-Submitted by Doug

Community Connections

Dear Imagine family, I have decided to step down from Imagine’s board after much deliberation and ambivalence. I was only with the board for one term, 3 years, starting right as the pandemic hit. I participated in one in-person meeting and since then we have mostly met by Zoom. I am BOD naïve, this was my first, but I want to give a vote of confidence for this oversight body that helps keep Imagine on track. 

I have very much appreciated the cooperative, respectful, and thoughtful tone of the group’s deliberations. Janine’s leadership effectively rides the line of challenging and encouraging. She has been very well organized, informed, and is glad to put in the extra energy to do the job well. Doug provided generous explanation of his thinking regarding the issues at hand, the potential variables, and best options, etc. always with an attitude of flexibility and an invitation for input. The office and administrative folks that joined in for relevant meetings were likewise professional and ready with the info or insight needed. So, I’m giving a big shout out of appreciation for Imagine’s BOD, many who have been on the board for many, many years. Thank you for giving your time and your smarts to keep making Imagine better. 

I will continue to participate with Community Connections in whatever ways can best serve Imagine and the Imagine families and stakeholders. We will continue to host family informational discussion groups and social events on a quarterly-ish basis. Let me know if you have special interests or activities that you would like to share with the group. Thank you for being part of the Imagine family into this new year!

Susan Douglass, Imagine parent

susancruzan50@gmail.com     831-818-2501

Our next board meeting is scheduled for February 15. If you'd like to participate, please write to Norma so we know to include you. Enhancements to direct care wages that should be possible a few months after the first of the year is a topic I would anticipate.

Our most recent form 990 is here. You can also find it on our website. Our catch-up audits are in process but not obviously on a catching-up trajectory.

We have completed our 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 independent audits. They are attached to the links in the year. We hope to finish the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 audits by mid-year.

We are still recruiting board members. We are working to diversify the board and to add a GAAP-trained treasurer. An attorney wouldn't be bad either. If you know someone with a passion for our mission who might like to volunteer, please write to me.

-Submitted by Doug

There is a rate reform that took place on January 1st. We are still waiting to receive notice of what that meant for Imagine. The State of California has projected a $27 Billion deficit due to falling revenues as a result of changes in the economy and the removal of some federal support. Both the administration and legislature have issued statements that commitments made in the current year budget can be supported for the foreseeable future due to the size of the previous budget surplus and the savings that resulted. Californians have been warned that commitments made for the next fiscal year may be delayed, deferred or reduced. All of which is to say, the rate reform mentioned in the first sentence is legally on, but the third and final reform planned may come later than previous expectations.

The Governor will release his initial budget for the next fiscal year, likely on Friday the 13th. Make of that what you will.

As always, thanks to Marty Omoto of CDCAN for amplifying the transparency and circularity of information between the community and policy-makers. If you would like to receive CDCAN's extensive reporting, write to Marty. CDCAN's work is entirely funded by the donations of those of us who benefit. Write to me or to Marty if you'd like to kick in.

-Submitted by Doug

For much of 2022, hiring was more acutely difficult than the usual substantial level of challenge. In times like most of last year (it got better beginning in November,) there is such a need for people to do our important work, that it can be especially difficult to make sure we are hiring the right people to work with the right person.

The Support Matching Tool, at left. can help, by making it easier to recognize good matches. Facilitators can fill out the tool with support from the client, their caregivers and natural circle of support and provide the information to our recruiter, Fabi. Fabi, in turn, can use the tool to recognize where a candidate is best suited to meet the needs of which person whose care team has an opening.

This tool is helpful, and also about as common sense as disciplined good practice should be. If you need explanation, I'd be happy for you to write me with your questions. But I bet you've got this.

-Submitted by Doug

Staff and Client Birthdays:

Miranda B. 

Kristin M.

Eliot

Chris

Tom

Zach

Staff Anniversaries:

Jessica B. - 6 Years!!

Julianna T. - 6 Years!!

Isabella R. - 1 Year!!

Thank you for your commitment!