Kansans Mobilizing for Direct Support Workforce Change

Quarterly Meeting Minutes

Thursday, February 28, 2008
10 am to 3 pm
Individual Support Systems, Inc.
3615 SW 29th St, Suite 201
Topeka, KS 66614

Participants: Deena Baker--CCL, Marcia Dechand--TARC, Matt Fletcher--InterHab, Julie Gusman -- Arrowhead West, Pattie Knauff- KETCH, Craig Knutson-SACK, Judy Leiker- Starkey, Gwen McClenton-DSGP, Gary Merklein -- DSNWK, Kathy Olson -- KUCDD, Tracy Price -- LakeMary Center, Gay Quinn- Cottonwood, Kelly Smith -- SACK, Kathy Stiffler -- ISS, Roxanne Wenger-DSGP

Members representing service providers gave CDS updates as they introduced themselves
Cottonwood has greatly increased use within the last 6 months. Raises are paired with completion of identified lessons. After completing their initial training, all staff are eligible to participate. 20 staff have completed and 50 are enrolled.

• Lakemary Center DSPs are exited about the career ladder.
• Starkey continues to use training for DSPs and is one of our leading users.
• KETCH has a new way of recognizing learners for completing lessons. Streamers with the persons name are in decorating the training area. Learner summaries of what has been learned are published in the newsletter &ndash stimulating interest, providing recognition, and possibly keeping DSPs honest.
• TARC has three people in the NADSP certification program &ndash they are completing lessons ahead of schedule and enthusiasm is building.
• DSNWK has targeted case managers using CDS. KIPBS staff are using some of the Positive Behavior Support lessons. DSPs in western Kansas are using CDS more than at the central site.
• Arrowhead continues to have large numbers of staff complete modules, earning bonuses and pay raises. Staff are looking forward to the mini-modules.
• DSGP is now using CDS is their primary training. New hires have to go through lessons prior to working with clients. Administrators have completed modules for DSPs, supervisors, and mangers as well as using the medication lessons and a safety lesson for bus drivers.
• CCL is considering incentives to increase participation.
  ISS uses CDS extensively for core and supplemental training.
• SACK continues its advocacy efforts.

Farewell

Dolores Engel has retired. See her note.

Happy New Year! That was such a neat retirement card from the KMFC group. It's amazing how far the Direct Support Worker training has progressed. During the time with KMFC, I, too, have been educated, especiallyabout the needs of that special segment of our society---those with disabilities. Have a great year and a great future as you move forward in making a difference in the lives of individuals!

Thank you for your kindness.
Dolores

DSP of the Year - ANCOR

ANCOR applications for DSP of the year are due March 3rd. KETCH had the national DSP of the year last year and submitted a great nominee for this year. ANCOR recognizes state and national winners. Next year KMFC should remind ANCOR members of this opportunity to recognized DSPs in advance.

Upcoming events

The College of Direct Support Administrator&rsquos forum will be held in New Orleans on April 13th preceding the- ANCOR Conference. Everyone is encouraged to attend this free event.

Judy Leiker will be attending. Judy agreed to bring questions that Kansas administrators want answered. Please forward questions to Judy or Kathy Olson. We will incorporate what has been learned into the spring/summer workshops for Kansas' administrators.

Kathy Stiffler and ISS staff will present at a National Symposium on Strengthening the HCBS Direct Service Workforce sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Labor. It will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore, Maryland May 8-9, 2008. This symposium is free and available to a limited number of people see for more information:

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/newfreedominitiative/emailupdates/ItemDetail.asp?ItemID=CMS1208460

InterHab Workforce Development Summit June 25-26

InterHab has requested a presentation addressing Marketing Your Organization. This will use information from the Marketing Toolkit. Kathy Olson will facilitate this presentation with the assistance of other KMFC members who are currently using the toolkit. Pattie and Marcia volunteered.

Publications, Reports, and Summaries

An article &ldquoKansans Mobilizing for Change: Award-Winning Systems Change&rdquo was published in the Fall/Winter Issue of the University of Minnesota&rsquos Impact Feature Issue on Direct Support Workforce Development (http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/202)

The second Kansas Partner Profile has been completed by Individual Support Systems and added to the national college of direct support website. This ISS Partner Profile can be downloaded from the national CDS website:
http://info.collegeofdirectsupport.com/go/publications/partner_profiles/

CDS Use in Kansas

Number of Learners and Lessons Completed
As of the First of Each Month 2007-2008

* ISS removed learners who had completed all lessons and their reports from their database. Thus the totals appear to have decreased. Use across Kansas has increased.

Use of the College of Direct Support continues to expand. Ninety-nine providers have some involvement with CDS.

The use of CDS is highly variable. The largest users are using CDS as a major component of training and/or have linked salary to completion. Several other providers are using lessons to provide training in medication administration, safety, documentation, and maltreatment. Foster parents and persons who self-direct are using maltreatment, rights, and medication courses.

Number of Lessons Completed by Top 10 Users

Survey of 21 CDS users

A survey of 21 users completing the most lessons was conducted to determine how CDS is used. CDS is used for core training, targeted training, and career development. A copy was distributed and is available from kolson@ku.edu.

During the survey respondents indicated that they preferred to keep the pretest. It provides a time frame for when individuals start and stop a lesson. Administrators who did not use the pretest have developed their own modules. Most providers had informed families of the availability of CDS. None had families enrolled at this time.

Continued Promotion of CDS

CDS continues to grow. The planning process is often long. Some agencies that have spent much time planning have come up with the most extensive implementation strategies.

A DSP registered prior to agency implementing agency-wide training. The word is out there. Let&rsquos keep reporting our successes.

Certificate for Completion of Multiple CDS Lessons

Some CDS users requested a certificate to award that would recognize completion of several lessons. Certificates have been presented at annual recognition events. Currently CDS provides certificates for each lesson but this does not provide a document representing the cumulative learning.

The certificate indicates number of lessons (or modules) completed. Due to the wide variation in use, administrators are encouraged to get the complete records from the CDS site to verify what training has been completed if a certificate of completion is presented by an employee/job applicant. Text

Kansas College of Direct Support
Recognizes
Direct Support Professional
(Insert Name)
for completing xx lessons
from the College of Direct Support
exemplifying personal achievement in learning and promoting
the highest quality services to individuals with disabilities.

Certificate for CDS lesson completion was reviewed and suggestions made to add a logo and border. Administrators will be able to request the template from Kathy Olson (kolson@ku.edu) to customize it for local use. It will not be placed on the website to limit access.

Supervisor Workshops &ndash Removing the Revolving Door

Kathy Stiffler and the Alliance have identified a need for workshops for supervisors addressing issues identified in Removing the Revolving Door. The Alliance for Kansans with Developmental Disabilities is interested in supporting these workshops. KMFC members also support this activity. Much of the information from Removing the Revolving Door is in the supervisor modules in the College of Frontline Supervision and Management. The benefit of workshops is the individual interaction that can take place from a face-to-face meeting. We would like to do this in a one-day workshop. Kathy Stiffler will identify some of the most important/fun/useful topics and work with Kathy Olson to set-up a training agenda, Encourage participants to enroll in and use the College of Frontline Supervision for more information.

Marcia, Kathy O, Kathy S, Gwen, and Pattie all expressed an interest in assisting with this training. We will also contact past KMFC presenters. We will contact KMFC members via email regarding possible topics and sites.

Small fees (maybe $20 per person) should be charged to cover costs of the workshop. We discussed holding a workshop before of after the InterHab workforce summit but were concerned about cost of hotel space and the possibility that affiliation would limit participation of non-InterHab members. If not held in conjunction with the summit we could promote the upcoming workshops at our session at the summit.

HB 2761 -- Update by Matt Fletcher and Call to Action

HB 2761 proposes a three-year plan to increase reimbursement rates to disability providers dramatically, with the goal of reaching wage parity for community DSP&rsquos with institutional DSP wages. The bill also aims to eliminate the DD waiting list within three years.

Support for the Bill is strong and growing. Hearings are scheduled for the Week of March 10th. Write letters to legislators encouraging them to support the bill and discuss it with your representatives.

Matt Fletcher provided and overview and several tools for encouraging contact with legislators. Buttons, talking points, and a message card were shared along with strategies to encourage DSPs to participate. Several members shared strategies for letter writing including designating times and places for DSPs to write letters in support of the bill.

Matt will share InterHab materials with KMFC and others. The following five resources have been forwarded to KMFC members. They are also available from kolson@ku.edu.

• Talking Points for 2761
• Letter Writing Campaign
• How to Write a Letter to a Legislator
• How to Write a Letter to an Editor
• Legislative Budget Committee &ndash Conclusions and Recommendations

Evaluation of CDS using the Turnover Calculator

As a tool to measure turnover, the turnover calculator built into the CDS should provide us with the data we were needing regarding turnover. However, the calculator has not been working. It should be operating within the next week. More info later.&rsquo&rsquo

Additions to Introduction to Developmental Disabilities Module

The committee is working on including information on the DD Reform act and an article on Kansas history in the Kansas module for Introduction to Developmental Disabilities.

Frederick D. Seaton revisited much of this history in a newspaper article written as Winfield State Hospital was closing its doors. To see this history see "The Long Road Toward 'The Right Thing to Do': The Troubled History of Winfield State Hospital." www.kshs.org/publicat/history/2004winter_seaton.pdf

Shareshops for CDS Administrators

Workshops should be held in Wichita, Topeka, SE Kansas and Western Kansas provided there is sufficient enrollment. These should be held after the April administrator forum in New Orleans. We need to address the needs of experienced administrators and touch on issues for new administrators.

Topics may include:

Customization of modules
How to encourage use by families and affiliates
Content linking
Other creative uses and features of CDS (turnover calculator, etc.)

Picture on the Kansas CDS Website

The first pictures of a DSP on the website will be of one of the Ad Astra graduates. In the future we will randomly select from nominated DSPs. (draw from hat)

Ad Astra and Credentialing Update

Portfolios for ISS Ad Astra apprenticeship candidates will be reviewed immediately following this KMFC meeting. TARC has three individuals enrolled in the NADSP credentialing program.

Career Ladders and Lattices for DSPs -

The Ad Astra Committee met in February to discuss career ladders and lattices for DSPs. Kathy Stiffler led a discussion.

Building a career ladder and lattice for DSPs is challenging. The benefits of such a document would be to be able to market to potential/new employees the range of career options available to a direct support professional and to provide a document to career counselors. The challenge is that employers of DSPs have varying requirements for education and job titles are not consistent. Education may not be a key factor in identifying a quality employee.

InterHab has attempted to identify positions for a career ladder/lattice in the past, and was not successful. Lateral moves beyond the entry level may be difficult to identify since employers vary greatly on their standards. The bulk of positions are at an entry level. The promise of upward mobility for some may be limited since there are few positions at the higher level of the pay scale, and those positions experience low turnover.

At a given level lateral moves may not be comparable in pay. We will revisit this issue when Bonnie is available to facilitate the discussion. Two documents outlining the career lattice and ladder in the field of Early Childhood Education are:

Core Competencies for Early Childhood Care and Education in Kansas and Missouri - http://www.kaccrra.org/story_files/514/514_ss_file1.pdf

Kansas Early Childhood Career Lattice -- Available from kolson@ku.edu.

Kansas Disability Rights Center Event -- WillowBrook

Craig announced that the Kansas Disability Rights Center is hosting a free event on evening of March 12th in Topeka featuring speakers who facilitated and experienced the closure of the Willowbrook institution, as well as an update on current legislation related to the workforce, and 30th anniversary celebration of the DRC. For complete information see: downtowntopekainc.com/...& events/press-releases/2008-02_drc_invite.pdf

Next Meeting:

Wednesday, May 21st 10 am to 3 pm

Red Cross Building
1900 E Douglas
Wichita, Kansas

A suggestion for catering featuring Italian food was made.

The Ad Astra Committee met to review portfolios for Certificate of Advanced Proficiency Candidates.