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"The VMRC Newsletter"
Friday, August 18, 2023
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Message from the Executive Director
Tony Anderson
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Office Closed Friday August 25, 2023 for All Staff Training Day
As readers are aware Valley Mountain Regional Center (VMRC) has gone through historic hiring and unprecedented growth. Last year VMRC expanded our service coordinators ranks by 75 new employees plus at least another 25 backfills and our growth rates requires us to hire 5 new service coordinators a month. The year before that we added about 30 new positions to meet new policy priorities of the state which resulted in more experienced service coordinators moving into the new roles and being replaced with newly hired service coordinators. All this recent change is very exciting and it’s wonderful to meet so many people eager to learn the complexities of our service system and the profession of service coordination for people with developmental disabilities.
As we continue to lower our caseload ratios ongoing training is essential. The training we are providing is focused on the day-to-day competencies in case management provided by our amazing senior service coordinators, organizational overview and various specialty topics coordinated by our training manager, Diversity Equity and Inclusion training by our DEI manager, and ongoing leadership and management training for our managers. Next week we will be providing our managers with an exciting training to:
- Learn strategies that will help them discover what each team member needs to feel supported and how to give it to them.
- Gain strategies for balancing offering support while maintaining professional boundaries.
- Acquire strategies and tools to build and maintain a culture of psychological safety, well-being, and high performance.
- Leave with an abundance of tried and tested, no-cost or low-cost, ideas and resources to implement immediately at every stage of the employee experience.
Then on Friday we are looking forward to getting our staff together for the first time since the pandemic to hear from Nancy Bargmann, the DDS Director, inspirational speaker Miguel Lugo, Self-advocate, and breakout sessions focused on serving people with complex needs, the current state of early childhood services, a panel talking about the impact case management, and an update on our DEI efforts by our committee and DEI manager. We’ll also feature an interactive session with staff to learn:
- How a common everyday misconception in perception inadvertently drives us to burnout, and how to change that on the spot.
- Four proven strategies that trigger the parasympathetic nervous system into rest and recovery, helping to better take care of themselves and others.
- How to better understand their personal stress and recovery process and how to identify early warning signs and improve how they manage stress.
While our offices will be closed for the day on Friday, our after hours team will be available for any emergencies, just call the regular number and choose the after hours option.
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Caseload Ratios at VMRC
We need your comments and responses to our caseload ratio report so we can incorporate your thoughts and ideas for addressing this longstanding problem in our system.
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Announcing Our Provider Community's Third Professional Conference, Moving Forward
We are so excited to announce that our local provider coalition, the Coalition of Local Agency Service Providers (CLASP), has been hard at work to put together their third provider conference. This one will be called “Moving Forward” 2023 and will be their first major provider conference in three years. This is an opportunity for our provider community to come together to learn about policy issues and innovations in providing person-centered services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families.
The event includes one of the national thought leaders on Person-Centered Thinking, Carol Blessing of Cornell University and John Raffaele and Joe Macbeth from the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, talking about the important role of Direct Support Professionals in connecting people with disabilities to their communities. We were also very excited to learn that one of our most popular speakers on creative approaches to person-center supports for people with complex needs, Lynn Seagle, will be one of the featured morning keynotes and our DDS Director Nancy Bargmann will cap off our morning with a lunch keynote.
CLASP does so much to support the provider community and it’s an honor to work with these leaders who have dedicated their careers to serving people with IDD and their families in our region. This conference is an excellent example of how our providers focus on continuous improvements in service delivery in our community. Special thanks to Candice Bright and Liz Herrera Knapp for their leadership in making this happen.
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Clinical Update
Dr. Claire Lazaro
Clinical Director
COVID-19 Cases
There has been an increase in COVID-19 cases nationwide.[1] It climbed up from 4.1% on June, to 10.6% at the beginning of August. We had a few of our consumers, and vendor provider community who got sick of COVID-19 in the past couple of weeks. Let us remember that COVID-19, similar to other respiratory viruses and other communicable diseases, is still here. We need to continue practicing health care precautions most importantly if you work with high risk individuals and in high risk settings.
[1] CDC COVID Data Tracker. Aug. 16, 2023. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklyhospitaladmissions_testpositivity_00
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San Joaquin County Public Health Services
The San Joaquin County Public Health Services and community partners, including VMRC, are working together to assist Children and Youth with Special health Care Needs and their families. This is through the program called Cal-InSPIRE. Please fill out the survey to help us learn how we can help families and to better serve them.
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Case Management Update - Adults
Christine Couch
Director of Consumer Services - Adults
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All About Your Rights When Living in a Board and Care Facility
Join us for a Live Webinar
This webinar will detail the rights people have while living in a licensed board and care facility. Topics will include rights regarding living conditions, privacy and landlord-tenant rights.
*This training is presented from a peer perspective by people who have lived experience with mental disabilities.*
Live Caption and ASL Interpreter Available
When:
August 21, 2023
11:00 AM
Pacific Time
Register Today
About the webinar:
Many people living in community care facilities do not know their rights. This webinar will explain those rights, including the right to privacy, safe and comfortable living conditions, the right to practice their religion, to have visitors and be free from harm. We will also inform participants about different types of evictions, how to fight an eviction and how landlord-tenant laws apply to board and care facilities.
Speaker:
Debi Davis, MSW, is a person with lived experience and a long-time mental health advocate. She founded WE C.A.N. (Client Advocacy Now), a client advocacy group and volunteer for 10 years with Riverside County Patient Rights Office. For the past 15 years, Ms. Davis has worked in the Peer and Self-Advocacy unit of Disability Rights California, facilitating self-advocacy groups at a state hospital and facilities in the community.
| Our First Fridays Night Festival Is Underway! | |
On July 7th we launched our First Friday Night Festival event! We had a great time with our South Stockton community. There was live music, local merchants, a kids zone, community organizing, and prize opportunities. We would like to thank all of the vendors, and organizations who came out and supported this event.
Be sure to join one of our upcoming First Fridays Night event on 2222 Airport Way Lot #8 happening every first Friday of the month from 5 PM - 9 PM where we will have food vendors, art, live music, local resources, and much more! And as always everything is FREE!
- Friday, August 4, 2023
- Friday, September 1, 2023
- Friday, August 4, 2023
- Friday, October 6, 2023
For vending opportunities please contact us at info@rsscoalition.org or visit the link here
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Case Management Update - Children
Tara Sisemore-Hester
Director of Consumer Services - Children
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FREE CEU Webinar from ABA Therapy Provider "The Perfect Child"
Topic:
ACT Based Strategies in Parent Training
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
10:00 AM
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BITES (A Behavioral Integrated with Speech Approach to Feeding Therapy) is back this Fall!
Friday, September 29th and Saturday, September 30th, 2023
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM EST both days
Pediatric feeding problems are complex and often require a multi-disciplinary approach to assessment and treatment. The Behavioral InTEgrated with Speech approach, known as BITES®, focuses specifically on how cross-disciplinary collaboration among speech-language pathologists (SLPS) and Psychologists and/or Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) can look when assessing pediatric feeding problems and developing interventions for them. Each discipline has a distinct and valuable role in the assessment and treatment process.
With over 30 years of combined experience in the field of pediatric feeding disorders, Dr. Laura Seiverling, Psychologist and BCBA-D, and Elise Jusko, CCC-SLP, draw from their own experiences working on a multidisciplinary feeding team together. In each BITES® presentation, they discuss the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration, provide an overview of typical feeding development, the mechanics of eating, factors that contribute to feeding problems, discuss when and when not to use the BITES® approach, and detail the SLP and Psychologist/BCBA role in the assessment and treatment process. Case examples are provided for each of the feeding problems discussed.
This course is appropriate for the following clinicians working with children with feeding disorders: Psychologist, BCBA, SLP, OT, COTA, RD, RN and CSW.
For additional details and registration information, please visit www.bitesfeedingtherapy.com
Contact email: Bitesfeedingtherapy@gmail.com
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Community Services Update
Brian Bennett, Director of Community Services
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Social Recreation Opportunity | |
Made possible by a Grant from the Department of Developmental Services | |
Made possible by a Grant from the Department of Developmental Services | |
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The DEI Corner
Mark Crear, DEI Manger
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Condolences for Victims of Hawaii Wildfires | |
As you may or may not have known, the State of Hawaii has declared a state of emergency in Maui because of major wildfires, and evacuation and recovery efforts are under way on Maui and the island of Hawaii.
It’s the deadliest U.S. wildfire in the past century, with a death toll of at least 93 and growing. Hundreds of acreage burned, historic buildings gone, homes destroyed, thousands displaced, though nothing is as heartbreaking as the loved ones whose lives were lost in the Lahaina fires.
On behalf of Tony Anderson & Valley Mountain Regional Center, we offer our heartfelt condolences to those who have lost family and friends and wish those who were affected (directly or indirectly) a quick recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Hawaii in this distressing time.
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North Valley Hills Update
Dena Hernandez, Regional Manager (209) 473-6930
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The California State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD) is pleased to present its Employment First Committee’s 2022 Annual Report.
The Employment First Committee (EFC) is tasked with advancing competitive integrated employment (CIE) for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
You may find the entire report here: https://scdd.ca.gov/employment_first_committee/
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CHOICES Institute
Save the Date!
CHOICES Institute will be holding its 36th ANNUAL Conference on FRIDAY, April 12, 2024
Our planning team met on August 16 and is working on all the details for the conference. CHOICES wants to hear from YOU!
Theme:
We need your help!!!! Share your idea(s) for a theme!!
Email or call Dena Hernandez before 9/20/23
Dena.hernandez@scdd.ca.gov
209-473-6944
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