A Tale of Three Blesher's

Shown L to R: Val Stafford, Terri Beers, Blesher, and Justine Kelly

Val Stafford received a Blesher Award For exemplifying the Unifying Principles for leading by example by being willing to “step up and step in”, providing assistance whenever and wherever needed, being a positive, supportive mentor to both staff and those we support.

 The CLS- Walton team nominated her and wrote: “Val always has not only an open door but an open heart and mind. She’s always willing to step up and step in.” Some examples were given such as when they were short staffed she jumped right into a classroom to teach for the day, she is always quick to find the right answers to their questions, she makes staff and those we support feel valuable, she always has an upbeat and positive attitude, she knows her audience and gives praise and constructive criticism in a way that is well received, and last but not least, she is really great at coming up with new ways to help individuals work on coping skills and ways to communicate their wants and needs.

Justine Kelly and Terri Beers received a Blesher Award for exemplifying the Unifying Principles through exceptional teamwork that resulted in an individual achieving personal fulfillment with a highly successful college presentation. They helped Bruce Besdansky as he prepared a model of a brain, helping him study it and prepare for a presentation in front of a class.  “Bruce was smiling ear to ear with his final project. He was very proud”





Justine Kelly and Bruce Besdansky with Bruce's Brain Project.

            Congratulations to Val, Terri and Justine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet Molly Little, Our CEO

 

Molly Little has been enjoying her position as CEO of The Arc of Delaware County since the retirement of former CEO George Suess in  January 2016. She shared that inclusive experiences and positive supports for people with disabilities was instilled in her from early childhood.  Molly’s journey of growing up with children with disabilities began at age 4 when she was enrolled in an integrated preschool program and continued throughout her school years. “My framework for life has been we all have abilities and disabilities. Some of my friends from preschool had speech therapy, leg braces and I just thought, this is life.”

Throughout high school and college Molly worked in residential departments, day camps, and day programs for people with disabilities. Once she completed her undergraduate degree a family member encouraged her to apply for a position at The Arc of Delaware County because they thought that its positive, no restraint policy would be a great philosophical fit.

In February 1995 Molly accepted a position as Social Worker Assistant at The Arc of Delaware County.  She thought that this position would be rewarding but temporary.   However, she never left because “I fell in love with the agency”.  She accepted increasingly responsible positions including Program Coordinator, Assistant Director, and Director of Day Services. Her experiences provided a broad perspective and knowledge of the functioning of the agency from many levels. And she shared that she always loved every position that she was in.

She made the decision to throw her hat in the ring for the CEO position mainly because of the timing. She wanted to have the opportunity to learn from key long term employees whose retirement is on the horizon.

She is fully aware that she became CEO at a very challenging time in the field. Allowable services, funding, and regulations are all changing. “There are a lot of unknowns but we will figure it all out together.” She feels she can be a good influence at a crucial time. “This is an awesome team, this has been a smooth transition and the former CEO George Suess and the board have been very supportive. And because people are so talented at this agency I don’t lie awake worrying about things.” She shared that believing in what she does, making a difference in people’s lives and working in a positive, proactive atmosphere with talented and dedicated people makes it all easy.

If she had a dream “bucket list” Molly would love to see smaller group homes and people being able to have their own bedrooms.  And as workshops change she would like to make sure that the people we support continue to have the highest quality of supports and services that are very person centered. “We can help the others in this field understand that people with disabilities can and do learn and grow.”  She also would like to explore a variety of mental health services for people with disabilities.

During the first months of her tenure she spent time in all of the departments, gaining a different level of understanding of the agency and more importantly getting to know all of the people in the departments.” I knew I was going to see a lot of talent. It is really fun to see everything going on.” 

Molly has come to love and appreciate all of the benefits of living in Delaware County.  “I am grateful that this agency is located in Delaware County, small town America at its best. One of the things that I love about Delaware County is that people embrace everyone; we don’t have to fight a lot of discrimination or segregation. People with disabilities are not tucked away somewhere. I know that can be a big issue elsewhere.”

More Signs of Spring!

Despite the chill and drizzle in the air, a reunion of sorts transpired at Launt Pond on Friday. For a number of years members of The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and The Arc of Delaware County have enjoyed meeting together in the Spring and releasing fish into local rivers and waterways. Pictured here on May 13th are folks from both DEC and The Arc preparing to receive and release the trout into Launt Pond near Walton, NY.

And turning up some dirt to prepare the way for butterflies… Community Partner, Dave DeForest , Assistant Professor at SUNY Delhi and Harry Dorsey , a 2nd year Adventure Recreation student, partnered with The Arc of Delaware County to “spring clean” EDU’s Butterfly Garden. It wasn’t all work and no play. Everyone enjoyed a cookout and picnic after the work was done. Afterwards, Heidi Friedman sent Dave a message: “I would just like to say THANK YOU for the great day yesterday. Both Garett and I appreciated all the time and effort you put into the planning-- Garett smiled all the way back.” See more photos on our Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/phot…/delarc/albums/72157665894796034
View a video of the (EDU) Outdoor Education Center here: https://youtu.be/JVGqHfjid54

 

Earth Day 2016

The Arc of Delaware County, the Catskill Forest Association, and students from Delaware Academy joined together to celebrate Earth Day today.  They planted apple trees around the Delaware Academy school garden located near Smith Pond.

Jim Waters, Catskill Forest Association Director plants the first tree.

Standing 2nd from left is Michael Cipperly, instructor at Delaware Academy and to his right are Mark German and Robert Dircks.

Smiling at a job well done is Jamie Menhinick with Robert Dircks providing a drink of water for the newly planted tree.
 

 

The Entire Staff Community Living Skills- Walton Recieves Blesher Award

On February 16th, the frigid temperatures wreaked havoc with The Arc of Delaware County’s Community Living Skills facility located in Walton, NY when water pipes froze and broke causing extensive water damage to the building. However the professionalism and dedication of the staff shined during this moment of adversity as they worked together to provide the high level of program services to people they support , maintaining their focus on quality, safety and helping program participants overcome any concerns. The ingenuity and teamwork of staff was recognized on April 13th when Blesher Lil’ Heart, The Arc of Delaware County’s mascot, visited the staff and presented them all with a Blesher award.

Congratulations to everyone at Community Living Skills-Walton!

Catherine Tweedie, Director of Community Relations introduces Blesher to Staff

Staff listens as their accomplishments are praised in the Blesher Award nomination

The employees of Community Living Skills- Walton surround Blesher for group photo.

THE ARC'S CAROUSEL CHILDREN'S SERVICES TO BECOME FIRST POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS PRESCHOOL IN NEW YORK STATE

When NYS Education Department (NYSED) regulations were updated last July they placed more emphasis on requiring schools to move away from aversive behavior interventions often utilized for people with disabilities, towards implementing positive behavior interventions and supports.  Being positive and proactive has been the philosophy and approach of The Arc of Delaware County’s programs and services for over 40 years, and staff and leadership at The Arc are pleased to hear that NYSED is offering schools the necessary tools and support to move in this direction. 

Since the beginning of the school year, The Arc’s Carousel Children’s Services program, serving children ages 3-5 in an integrated preschool setting, has been fine tuning its positive, proactive practices by implementing a new system made available to all preschool and public school systems through NYSED, known as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS).  Through PBIS, Carousel Children’s Services staff is creating a positive school climate where students are learning at unprecedented rates, mastering social and emotional outcomes, and fostering positive relationships. 

What attracted Carousel Children’s Services to PBIS is that it offers a formalized systematic approach to implementing a positive behavior approach in a school setting, is easy to follow, and free.  PBIS provides evidence-based practices and a clearly defined data informed decision making process for improving behavior outcomes for all students, regardless of ability level.   Beverly Tuthill, Carousel Children’s Services Director shares “The beauty of the program is with the coaching and support of a PBIS Behavior Specialist from BOCES, the Carousel team was able to decide the best way to implement PBIS; it isn’t a cookie cutter program.  What works best for one school might not necessarily work for another.  We’ve found it is very adaptable to our unique structure and needs.”

The Carousel team is making great strides having just begun the process in September.  They have regular implementation meetings with the PBIS Behavior Specialist to talk about progress and discuss goals and objectives.  One area of current focus is on teaching positive behaviors in the classroom, with the support of various teaching tools provided by PBIS.   They expect to kick off the new school year in September with the full PBIS system in place.

Parents, parent groups, teachers, school administrators, and boards who would like to see Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in action locally can contact Beverly Tuthill, Carousel Children’s Services Director, at (607)746-4240 to schedule a visit to the Carousel Program.  You may also contact Stacey Smith, PBIS Behavior Specialist at the State Education Department’s Regional Special Education Technical Assistance Support Center, at (607)766-3777 to learn more about PBIS, or visit www.nyspbis.org

PBIS Specialist Stacey Smith guides the Carousel Children’s Services team and leadership of Delhi Campus Child Care Center through each step of the PBIS process.  Pictured left to right: Lisa Nunley, Sibel Finn, and Beverly Tuthill of all CCS, PBIS Specialist Stacey Smith of BOCES, Kristina Anderson of CCS, and Karen Wallace, Director of the Delhi Campus Child Care Center.

The Arc of Delaware County Recieves Grant for Electronic Records System

As New York State continues to transition to Medicaid Managed Care, additional documentation and reporting requirements will require more capacity in IT systems of disability service providers.  The Arc of Delaware County was recently awarded a New York State grant in the amount of $50,000 to upgrade their Health/Service Electronic records system.

Being one of four local service providers receiving grants Teresa Skinner, CFO from The Arc of Delaware County was pleased to share, “This Health Information Technology Investment Program grant will provide new servers and switches which will allow us to add a medication module and increase the speed and response of all our health/services electronic records.” Other local agencies receiving grant funds included Springbrook, Catholic Charities of Chenango County and Pathfinder Village.

According to Kerry Delaney, Acting Commissioner of Office of People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) “The Health Information Technology funds provide much needed assistance for the awarded providers as they prepare to deliver person-centered services in a specialized managed care system.”  A full listing of grant recipients can be seen:

http://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/IT%20awards.pdf