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Imagine That...March 2023

In Loving Memory of Dean Wilson and Dana Hackett
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Help support Imagine!

Damien & Stephanie!

Jake, Jessica, and staff at Jake's birthday party!

Briana & friend on a hike!

Harry Potter Party!

Eliot enjoying the sunny day!

Alan and Jake!

Alan!

Jake making Valentine's cards!

Jake, Kiana & Myrrisa at Valentine's card-making day! 

Ashlee & Hayley!

Lisa making creative cards!

Red velvet & blueberry pancakes for the card-making party!

Tom blowing his birthday cake candles!

Tom & Dan!

Friends of Tom enjoying some quality time at his party!

Eliot!

Caregiver Get-Togethers and Other News

Dear Imagine friends and family,


Imagine's Year of The Caregiver continues. SLS staff working awake shifts will be receiving wage increases as of right now.


We also scheduled the first Caregiver Get Togethers. Based on the feedback I received when I asked last month, of which I there was none, I chose Thursday, March 23 at 1 and at 6pm. There will be food and drink and we want to share Imagine caregivers we appreciate them. But the main agenda is an opportunity for our colleagues to ask questions or share concerns (while eating and getting glowed at.) If you work at Imagine, you will be very welcome.


Left over from last month, here is the new pay system:


SLS Caregivers who have spent less than three years with Imagine will be considered Home Support Specialist Level 1 (HSS I) and receive $17/hour for awake shifts and $15.50 for sleep shifts. Those who have been with Imagine for three full years as of March 1 will be considered HSS II and receive $18.15/hour for awake shifts and $17 for sleep. Those with eight years with Imagine or more will be considered HSS III and receive $20/hour for awake shifts and $18.15 for sleep. Lead staff will receive $2/hour on top of their tenure level and awake overnight shifts will also receive an additional $2/hour on top of their awake rate. For the person who asked at the holiday party and anyone else interested, for those who have worked at Imagine, left and come back, we will consider the total time working at Imagine rather than just the most recent tour.


Note, staff working in self-determination and FHA have a different pay system and although wage increases are planned, these happen on a different schedule.


With regard to the future Assistant Director of Services, The plan to do the second round of interviews in February did not occur due to so many things. We are still moving forward, and now I am hoping to introduce someone in that position Aprilish.


March Madness a Month preMature.

Just for transparency and to help everyone be aware, February was one of those months. You may find your favorite Facilitator and/or admin team member panting or looking doubtful. That was true for a lot of direct care staff as well. Let's have mercy on one another and support each other. Since the pandemic got a little less scary, the pattern seems to be a couple kind of rough months followed by one of "you have to be kidding." We're hopeful March gets us back to the cozier pace.


Further down, this month's newsletter includes the following:.


Patty Lopez, Imagine's Assistant Director of Human Resources talks about the importance of house meetings and trainings.


In The Service Sector,this month's topic is reforming the on-call system.


In Community Connections, parent and board member Susan Douglass assesses my expertise in self-determination and promises a plan next month.


Our usual stuff in the columns around advocacy, self-determination, the Imagine Endowment and Transparency.


The Person-Centered Evolution this month describes the "Decision Making Profile" tool.


This month we have spotlights on Alan and Melanie.


Also, we have a new calendarer. Alina Parra is a caregiver who deigned to temporarily hang out with the office Riff-raff. She made this month's calendar and is helping a bunch of us catch up with our hopeless task heaps. Plus, she's a real balm to our spirits. Aline worked diligently until she'd found an event for every day in March.


As ever, if you have any questions, feedback or concerns, please don't hesitate to get in touch. You can write me here. I look forward to hearing from you.



Gratefully yours,


Doug



The Imagine Endowment

We have an endowment to support Imagine's future. Imagine will receive regular payments of the returns from these funds. Initially, we expect the impact to be small but as the endowment grows, it holds the promise of helping Imagine help others through hard times to come.


If you are considering a gift to the endowment, either right now or as part of a giving plan or bequest, we have information available here. And thank you.


To make direct contributions please make checks payable to; The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.  Designate the "Imagine Supported Living Services Fund". Mail to;   Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, 7807 Soquel Dr., Aptos, Ca.  95003. 



-Submitted by Doug


Valentine's Day Card Making!

Human Resources Corner

Hello,


This month I want to discuss the monthly house meetings. We know that during the pandemic, it was hard to maintain them and fallen habits can be hard to lift back up. But opportunities for direct care staff to share input together and see other perspectives can make a huge improvement in the quality of the care we provide.


Furthermore, the short trainings we expect to be included in house meetings can be very important reminders and refreshers of existing training. I am attaching the curriculum for these trainings here. These are generally topics that our caregivers should be trained in before starting and many are also included in our orientation, but they are important enough that we don't want a year to go by without refreshing and assessing these skills.


Recognizing that scheduling can be difficult and that things come up in our client's lives that throw plans off, we ask Facilitators to make sure there are at least 10 house meetings per year, although monthly is preferred. During the pandemic, these were hard to hold and most of our current Facilitators took over teams when the monthly meetings were not happening according to our standards. That is understandable, but in this, our Year of The Caregiver, we want to commit to making that investment in our direct care staff.


If you feel like your team isn't having enough house meetings or that the training is lacking or not relevant enough, please reach out to your Facilitator. You are also welcome to contact me or Doug.


In Good Health, 


Patty 


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


The Service Sector

A crack team of Facilitators, led by Daisy, has been developing a proposal to reform our on-call and emergency system. The goal is to improve the quality of on-call care, the work-life balance of responders and maintain critical support at all times.


This work is proceeding without my input, at least for now, but some great insights have already been shared. One point was that while Lead Staff (the current point of entry) are experts in one client, and Facilitators (the second level) have strong knowledge of six clients, Client Care Responders (CCRs) get trained on all of our clients and tend to have better familiarity on the clients who most frequently need support.


Another point that has become apparent is that the uniformity of training and the currency of the informational resources on-call staff have access to needs to be improved.


On that basis (and on the basis of conversations they haven't shared yet,) the team is developing a proposal to use a more team-based approach, possibly with a CCR as the first point of contact.


If you have input you would like to share with the team, please write to Daisy.


Facilitator Support Plans continue.

Regards,


Doug.



Self-Determination

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 this very day, February 1 at 11AM. The Zoom link is right here.


See below for the family zoom that Susan Douglass planned and please join us if you are interested. Community Connections focuses on the family members of our clients but all are welcome. Email Norma or Me if you would like to attend.


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 receiving services 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

Imagine families had a very informative Zoom meeting in February with Doug about all things Self-Determination. The takeaway, from Doug’s very experienced point of view (almost an expert?), is that there are essential elements of the program that are not yet up to speed and he does not give a blanket recommendation for SDP at this time. If you were unable to attend the meeting and want to discuss the topic with Doug, he is available (as always!). 


Look for our next parent get-together to be announced in the April newsletter. There have been requests to have a weekday meetup as some parents are unable to participate on weekends, so we will probably give that a try next time. Thanks for noticing the notice…


Susan Douglass, Imagine parent

susancruzan50@gmail.com     831-818-2501


Transparency At Imagine

Our next board meeting is scheduled for April 5 (this is a new date.) If you'd like to participate, please write to Norma so we know to include you. 


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

Advocacy Corner

Legislative hearings have started on the Governor's budget. There will no doubt be efforts to add funding and those are pretty unlikely to get very far given the state's projected deficits. We encourage everyone to participate and advocate. We do anticipate that next year's budget discussions will be more critical and/or productive.


An exciting development in the current year budget is a pilot program in "Coordinated Family Support" (CFS.). This pilot program heralds the possibility of SLS-type services to individuals living in their family's home and may go a long way to address long-standing cultural disparities in the provision of support. I have been advocating for something like this for more than a decade and it is exciting to see work starting. Alas, timing is everything and it is hard to feel in this moment like Imagine should be developing a new line of services. But we'll be watching and more than happy to mentor anyone interested in providing this support to San Andreas Regional Center clients.


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

Person-Centered Evolution

The "Decision making profile" is a tool that helps caregivers support good choices by those they serve. It is not meant to be a traditional decision tree with the content of available choices and the trade-offs.


Instead, it helps caregivers understand how someone they support receives information best, how and when they have the best ability to make their own decision and how they can communicate their choice.


It's a good tool for people who are in that middle zone of self-direction where they expect control but where a lot depends on how they make their decisions in attaining what is important to and for themselves. It can also be useful in older clients who are adapting to changing capacity to choose well. The goal is informed consent and active self-direction with effective support.




-Submitted by Doug

Client Spotlight on Alan

Spotlight on Alan

 


Imagine's newest SLS client, Alan can most often be found bringing joy and laughter to the people he plays tricks on, which is pretty well everyone. You don't have to know Alan long to become his friend. You don't have to be his friend long to be glad you made the club.


Alan moved to the Coastal Havens Families community in Santa Cruz from over the hill. He was one of the people who would have gotten here sooner, had the world not turned upside in 2020.


Alan enjoys art and music. He is looking for his new activities in our community. Here are some he already found. Throwing hugs, making jokes and tapping you on the other shoulder and pretending someone else did it. He also (as seen here) has found an interest in horses and his neighbors.


When you meet Alan or his parents, John and Soyoung, make sure they know how welcome they are. Although, to be honest, Alan will probably get the drop on you, making you feel welcome first.


-Submitted by Doug


Staff Spotlight on Melanie

 

Melanie Solorio is very outgoing, caring, dependable, trustworthy, and has a heart of gold. I’m spotlighting Melanie because she represents the core values of this agency. She has been with Imagine for a short period but has brought a wealth of knowledge and positivity to the team. She is the perfect role model for direct support professionals. She is flexible and willing to help in any of the teams she oversees while working she’s always willing to go beyond expectations to assure that all of our girl’s needs are being acknowledged, I’m sure that all Kennedy gals will agree, Melanie thank you so much from all of the team at Imagine. Your dedication and care allow our clients to continue living fulfilling lives.


                                                 


-Submitted by Brenda Lopez

Birthdays & Anniversaries


Staff and Client Birthdays:


Jessica B.

Elena D.

Janet E.

Alexa G.

Janett L.

Rosa R.

Haley T.

Crystal Z.



Staff Anniversaries:


Dafne C. - 6 Years!!

Janet P. - 6 Years!!

Erik R. - 4 Years!!

Brenda L. - 3 Years!!

Jessica O. - 3 Years!!

Daisy G. - 3 Years!!

Janett L. - 2 Years!!

Crystal G. - 2 Years!!

Jessica G. - 1 Year!!

Maria V. - 1 Year!!

Yvette G. - 1 Year!!




Thank you for your commitment!




Imagine Supported Living Services
9065 Soquel Drive
Aptos, Ca 95003
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