To View this Email in a Web Browser Click Here

Eighty-Seventh

Community Health

Advisory Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Weekly Message from the Executive Director

By the Numbers

This week we reported only 18 positive covid-19 tests with 13 consumers, and 5 direct support professionals testing positive. In our report we noted that 65% of the consumers were vaccinated, a quarter of the consumers came from one licensed home, 54% were living at home with family, and four were underage ((3) two years olds and (1) three-year-old). In addition to these reported cases, we sadly lost another consumer who was reported positive in a previous week and died in the hospital early this week. Since the beginning of October, we have averaged one death a week due to COVID-19.

We have dedicated a lot of resources to find out the vaccination status of our consumers to help them in staying safe in the community. One of our retired annuitants, Mary Sheehan, RN, has been working diligently with our staff to help us know our consumer's vaccination status. The effort has been paying off and we have moved from being one of the highest rates of unknown status to being the third lowest unknown status in the state. Also, DDS ranks VMRC as the third highest vaccination rate in the state for all ages and the second highest vaccination rate for people 50 years and older (82%). Finally, in the central valley, VMRC has the highest vaccination rate of our staff at 87%, but with only six working days left before the state's vaccination mandate for regional center employees we are preparing for the loss an additional 19 valued employees. In our region three out of five counties have reported a decrease in their positivity rate:

· San Joaquin 4.5% positivity rate (.4% increase)

· Amador 2.7% positivity rate (.4% decrease)

· Calaveras 6.3% positivity rate (2.0% decrease)

· Stanislaus 5.3% positivity rate (1.2% decrease)

· Tuolumne 8.2% positivity rate (1.1% increase)

Vaccinations Update

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced the recommendation that everyone 5 and older get vaccinated. The CDC says, "widespread vaccination for COVID-19 is a critical tool to best protect everyone, especially those at highest risk, from severe illness and death (link)." According to the New York Times (link), the White House has reported that about 10% of younger children have received their first shot. Valley Mountain Regional Center has established an excellent and important working relationship with the Safeway (Albertson's) Pharmacy, and they have offered to work with us again to get the vaccinations for our young children as well as get the boosters again for others (they gave covid-19 boosters during our flu shot clinics). While we have heard that some people are hesitant to get the vaccination, we have also heard anecdotally that many people would like to have their young children protected from COVID-19 and feel most comfortable doing this at their local VMRC office. If you feel this would be something you'd like for your child, or you know someone who would be interested please let us know by filling out this quick survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7RHYP5R

Thanksgiving Message

Like we do every year many VMRC staff and community partners will be delivering thanksgiving meals to our consumers who would otherwise have no holiday celebration meal. The project is funded by the James R. Popplewell fund every year. The fund also supports a December holiday event and an ongoing emergency fund that consumers apply to secure their housing if they find themselves in urgent acute need. The board of directors and case management leadership staff review requests and the board also oversees the donation activity to ensure compliance with our state contract. To learn more and donate click here.

On behalf of all of us at VMRC we wish our entire community a joyous Thanksgiving holiday as all of us across this country stop to give thanks for all we have. I hope we all appreciate the abundance the world gives us, we find ways to show grace to each other every day, and that the good feelings of the Thanksgiving holiday are sustained throughout the year. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Tony Anderson

Executive Director

Case Management Update - Children

Early Start

The Department of Developmental Services and the California Department of Education are pleased to announce the launch of a NEW professional development resource: Transition from Early Start is a free, self-paced online course focused on the process for children with disabilities who are transitioning out of Early Start to school services at age three. This course features 10 modules that focus on state and federal regulations governing the transition process, strategies for supporting families throughout their child’s transition, and the roles and responsibilities of Early Start regional center (RC) service coordinators, local educational agency (LEA) staff, family support personnel, and parents.

Topics covered in this course include:

the family experience
options after Early Start
timelines and referrals
the transition conference
transition planning
eligibility and planning for services provided under Part B of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act
eligibility and planning for services provided under the Lanterman Act
information on community resources, and roles and responsibilities

We encourage all Early Start RC and LEA service coordinators, managers, and other interested staff to participate. No pre-registration is required. Simply log in or sign up on CPEI Online (cpeionline.net) and visit https://www.cpeionline.net/course/view.php?id=121.

Emergent Literacy, It's Never Too Early To Start: Meaningful Ideas for Children with Multi-se

Thursday Evening December 16, 2021

7:00pm - 8:30pm

Virtual Event

with

Julie Maier, Educational Specialist

California Deafblind Services &

Tracey Tasker, M.A., CCC-SLP

Can't attend the event live?

Did you know that emergent literacy starts right after birth? Join us to learn all about emergent literacy and add some tools to your therapy toolbox. We will share research about how emergent literacy develops and provide ideas and resources that you can implement tomorrow with your families. Find out specifically how to introduce emergent literacy to children with mulit-sensory impairments.

Participants will:

· Understand the development of the building blocks of emergent literacy (print awareness, phonological awareness, comprehension, vocabulary).

· Understand the connection between communication and literacy and be able to identify multiple avenues to promote emergent literacy skills in daily activities at school and home.

· Learn why it is never too early to start working on emergent literacy with respect to early brain development and reading outcomes for children with learning disabilities.

· Identify and discuss additional modifications and instructional methodologies needed by children with multi-sensory impairments.

· Learn about several meaningful, engaging literacy activities and available resources to support assessment, curricular planning, and literacy instruction for children with multi-sensory impairments and pre-symbolic communication skills.

· Learn about strategies to engage children who aren’t interested in engaging with books.

· Review research on whether you should use ebooks and audiobooks with young children.

Julie Maier has worked as an Educational Specialist for California Deafblind Services for 10 years and has been involved in the field of special education since 1987, including as a faculty member in the Special Education Department at San Francisco State University since 1999.

Julie has presented on a variety of topics at many state, national, and international conferences. She has presented national webinars on the topics of literacy for students who are deafblind, the role of an educational intervener, and similarities between deafblindness and autism spectrum disorders. She has written or co-authored numerous published articles on assessment, self-determination, literacy for students who are deafblind, autism and deafblindness, social supports for students with disabilities, and collaborative teaming.

Tracey Tasker holds a B.A. in English and Economics and an MBA (Rutgers University) and an MA in Speech-Language Pathology (Montclair State University). Tracey originally worked in the business world but made a mid-life career switch to speech-language pathology after her two sets of twins all received early intervention. Tracey has been providing early intervention speech-language services to families for over ten years. Tracey has published an article in the Hanen Centre newsletter on eBooks and is certified in the I’m Ready Early Literacy training program by Hanen. Tracey is co-chair of the IDA Membership Outreach, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Non-Member: $50

IDA Agency/Individual Member: $35

IDA Parent/Student/New Clinician Member: $25

IDA CE Hours: Nursing, PT, Speech and Language $15

CDI CE Hours: LCSW, LMFT, LEP, LPCC

(you will be invoiced) you must attend LIVE in order to receive CDI CE hours

ADA Requests: Contact IDA @ mail@idaofcal.org

with ADA request by December 2^nd

Limited number of scholarships available

Self-Determination

Generic Resources- This is a resource that is not part of the Regional Center. It is a service or support that is available to anyone in the community. This is a service or support that is paid for by another agency. A few examples of a generic resources but not a complete list are In Home Support Services, Medi-Cal, Public School System and Food Banks

Unmet Needs- Are a need that is recognized as part of a person’s IPP but for some reason were not able to be provided (no one available to provide the service or all the service that was offered) or there is not a resource to provide a service.

Person Centered Plan (PCP)- Is a plan that is developed focusing on a person’s interest and what an individual does well rather than what a person cannot do or needs alone. This plan focuses on what is important to a person and what is important for them in their life while the individual figure out what they want for their life.

Individual Program Plan (IPP)-Is the document that is created using the information gathered in the Person-Centered Plan to describe Services and Supports that are put in place to help a person reach the visions, goals and dreams in their life. This document is based on the services and supports that the Regional Center can offer to an individual. This records the decisions made by the individual and planning team.

Tara Sisemore-Hester

Director of Consumer Services - Children

National Core Indicators (NCI)

Each year, NCI asks people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families about services they get and how they feel about them. NCI uses surveys so that the same questions can be asked to a large group. The NCI Child Family Surveys are mailed to families in many states.

The Child Family Survey is a survey that is mailed to families with children ages 3-18 old living with them or who receive at least one service from a regional center, in addition to case management. The survey is mailed to all available and valid family addresses who meet the criteria. Participation is voluntary and confidential. The survey asks families about information and planning/ access and community connection; choice and control; and family involvement.

The questions on the Child Family Survey are answered by someone who loves with a child who gets services from the state (like a parent or other family member). In California, all families who have a child with IDD in the home who gets regional center supports, are asked to do this survey.

Valley Mountain Regional Center will be presenting the results of this survey from the 2018-1019 fiscal year at our December 22nd Board Meeting, at 6:00 PM, via Zoom Video Conference. Public attendance is encouraged, and public comment related to the survey results will be hear.

VMRC Board of Directors Meeting

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

6:00 PM - Via Zoom Video Confer

Click Here to Join

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82056138937?pwd=VmhTMHRoeEh4L1dTSDdpVktvZ2dQZz09

Webinar ID: 820 5613 8937

Passcode: 009232

Case Management Update - Adults

SPOTLIGHT ON Yesenia Pulido!

Friends, this is Yesenia. She attends UCP of Stanislaus County, in the Turlock program. Yesenia has epilepsy and shares with us that her life is good! Her Mom takes care of her. We are thankful for all of the family caregivers out there!!

It is scary when she has seizures, but she’s learned it’s ok. She still lives her life and plays video games, her favorite pastime. She isn’t worried about having seizures, she’s had them her whole life.

November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month, see the whole picture, get the whole story. Remove the filter, see the journey. Living with epilepsy can have its challenges. Epilepsy can affect a person’s emotional health in many ways. Emotional health is important for people with epilepsy, family members, caregivers and friends. With the power of our community, we can bring hope to those experiencing the challenges of epilepsy.

Learn more about epilepsy:

1 in 10 people will have a seizure and 1 in 26 will develop epilepsy during their lifetime. We need more people to learn seizure first aid to help save a life.
There are 470,000 children in the U.S. living with epilepsy. Kids can change the world by educating those around them.

Living with epilepsy can have its challenges. Epilepsy can affect a person’s emotional health in many ways. Emotional health is important for people with epilepsy, family members, caregivers and friends. With the power of our community, we can bring hope to those experiencing the challenges of epilepsy.

Learn more about epilepsy:

1 in 10 people will have a seizure and 1 in 26 will develop epilepsy during their lifetime. We need more people to learn seizure first aid to help save a life.

There are 470,000 children in the U.S. living with epilepsy. Kids can change the world by educating those around them.

Clothing Drive Success

A note from Dave Vodden: Just wanted to thank everyone who donated to our St. Mary’s clothing drive as part of homeless awareness month. Your donations were greatly needed and appreciated. This was our 4th year of being able to help our community through your generosity. Hopefully next year we will be able to do an in-person delivery at the dining hall again 😊. Please see our pictures below with your donations, Mack and St. Mary’s Teo Navarette. Big thanks to Mack for coordinating!

If anyone is interested in volunteering at St. Mary's or donating other items, please contact Teo Navarette at 209-817-1768.

Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving!

The Central West Ballet is having their low sensory/special needs Nutcracker! It will be held on December 8 at 12noon at the Gallo Center. The 45-minute performance includes wheelchair attendants, brighter lights and lighter sound volume, no special effects such as cannon shot, fog, etc.. They will have a brief synopsis of The Nutcracker read and signed at the beginning as well as during the Q&A at the end. This is a judgement-free zone. Gallo COVID protocols will be followed. General admission tickets are $7.00 for children, adults, their families and caregivers and are purchased on-line at the Gallo Center at https://www.galloarts.org/.

PDF Version of Flyer Here

Christine Couch (she, her, hers)

Director of Consumer Services - Adults

Clinical Update

COVID-19 Booster FREE to ALL!

The COVID-19 Booster is now FREE to all 18 y/o and above in California. It is FREE regardless of immigration or insurance status. Go to this link: https://myturn.ca.gov/ to find a place and register. At the same time, COVID-19 vaccines continue to be available and free to all ages 5 and up.

Informational Videos

Below are informational videos from the American Academy of Pediatrics to help parents and kids understand what the COVID-19 vaccine is, how they work and how they were developed.

COVID-19 and kids: How mRNA vaccines work: https://youtu.be/YOlrNlvEiMw

How mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were developed: https://youtu.be/cqrM1bqQ7AE

RECALL on COVID-19 HOME Test Kits

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test Kits because of a higher-than-acceptable risk of false-positive test results for SARS-CoV-2.[1] “The FDA has identified this as a Class I recall, the most serious type of recall. Use of these tests may cause serious adverse health consequences or death.”¹

Ellume is advising test users and caregivers to:¹

Check if their product is from an affected lot. If their product is affected, visit www.ellumecovidtest.com/return External Link Disclaimer for more instructions or call 1-888-807-1501 or email productsupport@ellume.com.

Contact their health care provider, urgent care facility, or other COVID-19 testing site and request a COVID-19 molecular diagnostic test to confirm the positive test result if they used a test from one of the affected lots in the last two weeks and have not already had a follow-up molecular diagnostic test to confirm the positive test result.

[1] FDA. November 16, 2021. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/medical-device-recalls/ellume-recalls-covid-19-home-test-potential-false-positive-sars-cov-2-test-results

Claire B. Lazaro, MSN, RN, NP, PHN, NP-C

Director of Clinical Services

Please continue to stay safe and healthy.

Community Services Training Opportunities and Service Provider Information

Training Opportunities

Weekly Community Services Department Provider Informational Session

Please join VMRC staff and other partner agencies via ZOOM every Friday morning at 9:00 AM! Question and Answer session and opportunities to hear about important vendor changes!

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 961 6884 2952

https://zoom.us/j/96168842952

Request for Proposal (RFP) Center for START Services

VMRC is seeking a qualified service provider to implement the START Services model to consumers 6 yrs. of age and older. This is a crisis support service model, for all five counties (Amador, Tuolumne, Calaveras, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus)

VMRC and the Center for Start Services will host an informational session for interested providers via zoom on Friday December 3^rd from 1-2 (see link for RFP and zoom session information)

https://secureservercdn.net/45.40.145.151/znc.7f6.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/RFP-VMRC-Start-CDRP-2021-22.pdf

Training Opportunities: Special Incident Reporting

VMRC’s Quality Assurance Department is offering Vendor SIR Training on Tuesday, December 7^th from 9:30-12 p.m. via Zoom. Registration through Constant Contact with valid e-mail address. CEUs available upon successful completion of test. Hope to see you there!