To View this Email in a Web Browser Click Here

124th

Community Health

Advisory

Weekly Message from the Executive Director

Tony Anderson

By the Numbers

This week we reported a 28% decrease in the COVID positive cases (30 people with disabilities and 6 direct support professionals).The state positivity rate also dropped again this week to 10% (a reduction of 1.4%). As you'll see below, for the fourth week in a row, each of our offices saw some level of decrease in the county positivity rates (Amador county reported the only increased rate). As mentioned last week, the 5% threshold policy will likely be ending in September.

Office Building Site Status (August 25th):

San Joaquin 10.7% (down 2.1%) – Exceeds 5% - Remote Quarterly Visit Recommended, Masks in the Office required.
Stanislaus 13.4% (down 2.1%) - Exceeds 5% - Remote Quarterly Visit Recommended, Masks in the Office required.
Calaveras 9.8% (down .1%) – Exceeds 5% - Remote Quarterly Visit Recommended, Masks in the Office required.

Amador is at 8% (up 2.5%) and Tuolumne is at 13.4% (down 1.6%).

Frontline Initiative, The Diverse Voices of DSPs.

The Direct Support Professionals, DSPs, are the foundation of our community developmental services system and this edition features articles by DSPs and advocates with disabilities. DSPs must be competent in so many areas of support and work with a full variety people with disabilities, in complex system of varied approaches and service models. The DSPs work with children and adults and the elderly in their homes and family homes, in workplaces and schools, and in every place you find people engaged with one another.

For many years the struggle was for people with disabilities to be included in society and not segregated in institutional settings. In large part, thanks to the work of DSPs, only an extremely small percentage of people with disabilities remain in institutional settings yet as a system we are still striving to ensure people with disabilities can fully participate in all parts of society. Our community system is only as strong as our network of quality DSPs.

Our Valley Mountain region is currently stuck and unable to fully reset ourselves from the damage caused by the pandemic. As we reported several times during the pandemic, our DSPs were essential workers, and many of them entered unknown and risky situations to support a vulnerable population and many suffered from the effects of COVID. Our community will recover and bounce back but this recovery is linked to the return of this workforce as drivers, residential DSPs, day program DSPs, community integration DSPs, job coaches, school aids and so many others.

Please share this publication with anyone you know who supports people with developmental disabilities - and if they left the field, ask them to come back, we really need them.

Subscribe for Free

Link to the Publication

Three More Weeks to the Deadline to...

Above Flyer in PDF Here

You can also sign up to be an event sponsor or register for your resource table through our Disability Resource Fair page of our website.

https://www.vmrc.net/disability-resource-fair/

Thank You to Our Platinum Sponsors

Thank You to Our Gold Sponsors

Thank You to our Silver Sponsors

Thank You to our Bronze Sponsors

Malonzo Eldercare

Clinical Update

Claire Lazaro

Clinical Director

Vaccination Clinic

VMRC Vaccination Clinic Flyer in PDF

Consent Form English Consent Form Spanish

Monkeypox Information in Plain Language

Above Flyers in PDF Here

Oral Health Information from Smile California

Local Fund Raiser in San Joaquin County Benefits Those Affected by Breast Cancer

Check out this community charity event coming up on Sunday September 18th at the Escalon Sportsman Club in Escalon from 9 am to 3 pm. Our very own Marlene is helping to put on this important event for our community. The American Cancer Society says 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. This event will "benefit those in our community affected by breast cancer" learn more about he event: click here.

Case Management Update - Children

Tara Sisemore-Hester

Director of Consumer Services - Children

Meet Tim!

Self Determination allows me to speak for myself." So Tim has spoken: he wants to be a famous actor. Self determination has allowed him to pick people in the community that we did not previous know to help him with his goals. He loves his acting coaches and has been in a couple of plays and will be in a film in September. He hopes to get a job in commercials or a part in a TV show or movie. Tim is dreaming big as he follows his dreams. Tim has also found that he is out in the community more and interacting with many new people. Self determination really does foster social integration in the community and makes inclusion more real.

Tim’s mom

Above Flyers in PDF Here

Community Services Update

Brian Bennett

Director of Community Services

Norcal Services for Deaf & Hard of Hearing will be hosting a Pizza Social in Stockton on the 1^st Thursday of each month from 6-9 pm at Mountain Mike’s Pizza 1000 W. Robinhood 95209.

VMRC START Program Launch - Monday October 3, 2022

CA START is a crisis prevention and response program for individuals with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities and behavioral health needs. This program launch will provide an overview of the START Model, information regarding implementation, and specifics about the program’s current progress and plans. It will also include a START model-specific training called a Clinical Education Team conducted by leaders in the field of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The Center for START Services provides two free UNH CEUs for attending this training.

PDF Version of Above Flyer Here

VMRC Community Resource Development Plan Request for Proposal

Service Provider needed to implement supports and services in a licensed Enhanced Behavior Supports Home for Children, to be located in Stanislaus County.

Children’s Enhanced Behavior Supports Home – Service Provider RFP – Stanislaus County – August 18, 2022

Continuing Education Opportunities for Residential Providers of Valley Mountain presented by Training Academy Inc. https://trainingacademyinc.com/

You must register in advance for these training opportunities

Courses offered:

September 27, 2022, 11-1:00 Grief, Loss, and Bereavement in COVID-19

Date to be announced Client’s Rights

Date to be announced Behavior as Communication

Date to be announced Sexuality and the Resident

Date to be announced Psychosocial Needs of the Resident

Date to be announced Cultural Diversity & Inclusion

Above Flyer in PDF Here

Emergency Services Update

Aaron McDonald

Emergency Response Coordinator

National Preparedness Month: September 2022

National Preparedness Month is an observance each September to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time. In 2021 the theme was “Prepare to Protect”: Making a plan to prepare for disaster is the best way to protect you & your family. This year’s theme is “A Lasting Legacy”: The life you’ve built is worth protecting. Prepare for disasters to create a lasting legacy for you and your family.

We will be focusing on a different topic each Friday in September to help prepare you and your loved ones for disasters. When you start preparing for disasters and make yourself aware of hazards that exist it helps lessen the fear and anxiety that will come when an actual event occurs. The best way to help & support other during disasters is to prepare ourselves. Now is the time for people with disabilities to think about personal disaster preparedness. The Federal Emergency Management Agency – FEMA (https://www.fema.gov) suggests four steps you can take: Stay Informed (9/2/22 topic), Make a Plan (9/9/22 topic), Build a Kit (9/16/22 topic), Get Involved (9/23/22 topic) & Bringing it all Together (9/30/22 topic).

Disability intersects every demographic group—there are people with disabilities of all ages, races, genders, or national origin. And disabilities can impact a person in a variety of ways—both visible and invisible. For people with disabilities and their families, it is important to consider individual circumstances and needs to effectively prepare for emergencies and disasters.

North Valley Hills Update

Dena Hernandez, Regional Manager (209) 473-6930

Above Flyer in PDF Here

How to connect to SCDD through Social Media

Family Resource Network (FRN) Update

Lisa Culley, Executive Director

NEVER leave your child alone in a car, even for a few minutes to run into a store or because you've forgotten something in the house. It takes only a minute to be interrupted by someone or something and forget your child is still in the car.

The summer heat is still with us, please make sure your child does not become a statistic:

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of children who have died in a hot car are age 3 and younger.
Fifty-four percent (54%) of heatstroke deaths in vehicles involve children age one and younger.
Rear-facing child safety seats do not look any different to the driver if they are occupied or empty, which can cause a parent to think the child is no longer in the car with them.
Sixty-eight (68%) of children who get into vehicles on their own are male and most are age 1-4.

~from Kids and Car Safety