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DSP Minutes from 1997
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"Let's Talk... A Conference For Direct Support Staff" Feb. 13, 1997 - St. Joseph Missouri
Direct Support Professionals Conference August 22, 1997 - Maryville, Missouri
Direct Support Professionals Conference November 14, 1997 - Albany, Missouri
Direct Support Professionals Conference February 18, 1998 - St. Joseph, Missouri
"Let's Talk... A Conference For Direct Support Staff"
Feb. 13, 1997 - St. Joseph, Missouri
Summary of Two Discussion Groups:
Main Theme: Communication
Albany Regional Center Issues-
1. "No Flow" between ARC and direct support staff, information
doesn't get passed around.
2.More "hands-on" approach from Service Coordinators.
Spending more time with people may help better decisions to be made.
3.Varying quality of Service Coordinators. While some manage time well
and understand the people they work for, the same quality is not present in others.
4.Want to have more direct input on personal plans. Direct staff know
the everyday life of the person and understand their personal goals and objectives.
Sometimes input is requested, but is changed significantly when it hits the page,
frequently to the point where it no longer works for the person being supported.
5.Paperwork. Some seems frivolous and rarely read. Can some of it be
done away with or better used?
Agency Issues-
1.Direct Staff would like more opportunities to go to training. While
management goes to a majority of the training, information is rarely shared with direct
staff. If the information doesn't filter down to the people being supported, then it
doesn't help them.
2.Little opportunity for direct support staff to communicate with each
other. Need time set aside to discuss what is going on in persons life, what works and
what doesn't and how to help them make changes.
3.More information about specific disabilities, how it will
deteriorate, what to watch for and how to recognize changes. This could include a resource
library accessible to staff.
4.Sometimes direct staff is unable to give quality work because of the
amount of people they work with at one time. Having more staff would give the opportunity
for better quality work to be done.
5.Could direct staff and the person being supported be more a part of
the hiring process? This would enable staff and the person being supported to meet new
staff before the first day of working together.
6.Added incentive for good work. Like everybody, direct support staff
like to know when they have done a good job. Could a system be worked out for physical
evidence of a good job? (increased pay, time off, reward, etc.)
Direct Support Professionals
Conference
August 22, 1997 - Maryville, Missouri
The second conference for Direct Support Professionals was held in
Maryville, Missouri on August 22, 1997. Five area agencies were represented at this
meeting. The agenda was as follows:
9:00 a.m. - Welcome and housekeeping.
9:10 a.m. - Present a draft of the Mission Statement and handout of the
February 22, 1997 conference summary.
9:15 a.m. - "Feel It" training - presented by DyEllen
Wallace, Jay Mackey, Don Carrick and Tracy Lowrey.
11:00 a.m. - Lunch
12:15 p.m. - Discussion of morning activities
1:45 p.m. - Announcements - upcoming opportunities, (People First, next
two conferences, etc.)
2:00 p.m. - Dismiss
What was gained from this conference:
1. Awareness was heightened regarding how we as a staff and friends of
persons with developmental and/or physical disabilities sometimes do not realize what
message we are sending. Some examples are:
A. We may stand while
having a conversation with a person who happens to use a wheelchair, when the right thing
to do would be to sit down.
B. In the community,
quite often merchants will talk to the direct support person instead of to the person who
is actually making the purchase. Reminders to direct the focus back to the person and to
maintain our role of support only when needed, was discussed.
2. Direct support staff who were able to attend this meeting felt that
it was great to know that everyone was sharing a lot of the same struggles, no matter
where they happen to be working. It was expressed the having the opportunity to
communicate and share ideas with other direct support staff was a great experience. Many
people said that they felt they had gained insight that will help them do a better job.
Point of Concern:
The concern that we focused on was: "What are some of the biggest
barriers to having good Personal Plans/ doing our job well?" The answers seemed to
fall into two major categories. The answers were:
1. Communication:
- There is not enough notice before a personal plan meeting to stop what is going on today and to prepare by looking at goals for the coming year.
- Need more information about personal plans/Essential Lifestyle Plans in order to be able to contribute during the process.
- Sometimes when direct support staff are not brought into the planning process, unrealistic goals are set.
- It is hard for staff to share information among each other, they are seldom at the same place at the same time or are just passing by each other as shifts change.
- Generalizations are made. A person may say they like baseball and are given season tickets to Royals games. If some questions had been asked, we may find out this person prefers watching baseball on television and doesn't like crowded places.
- We do not ask "Why?" or "Why not?" often enough. Without asking the question, a plan which doesn't make sense for the person may be developed.
2. Relationships:
- The common theme that service coordinators, possibly due to their extremely large case loads, do not have time to visit the people they support more than once a month, maybe less.
- Parents and other family members
-Want to have their finger in the plan, but do not attend the meeting
-they fear risk
-difficult when a parent/family member tells staff one thing, service coordinators another, and supervisors tell you something different yet - Other staff impose their values on the people being supported
What our actions need to be:
- Become more educated about planning with people by asking to be part of the plans, gathering information, showing an interest in going to training, etc.
- Keep offering ideas even though it may seem they are often shot down. This will help reinforce that we are interested in doing more than just showing up for our shift.
- Look at people's plans to see when the implementation date is and, from this, see about when the next meeting may be. By doing this, we can have time to talk and think about the upcoming plan with the people we support.
- Do some brainstorming on ways to better communicate among staff who collectively provide support to an individual.
- Remember to ask, "Does this make sense for _________?" and then ask, "Why?" or "Why not?" Get a clear sense for what is truly trying to be achieved by the person.
- Try and build good relationships with parents and family if we have the opportunity.
Direct Support Professionals
Conference
November 14, 1997 - Albany, Missouri
Meeting Minutes
The third conference for Direct Support Professionals was held in Albany,
Missouri on November 14, 1997. Nine area agencies were represented at this meeting. The
agenda was as follows:
9:30 a.m. - Welcome and housekeeping
9:40 a.m. - Person Centered Planning - This included the video,
"Common Threads," which provided a brief overview of several different types of
plans. A demonstration of an Essential Lifestyle Plan was given by Reva Slusher of
Association of Group Homes in Maryville, Missouri.
11:00 a.m. - Lunch
12:00 p.m. - A question and answer session with several administrators
from the Albany Regional Center. The panel was comprised of Ray Griffel; Director, Jeff
Conkle; and Steve Bartlett, Deputy.
1:30 p.m. - Discussion of future meetings, including the February
meeting with Dave Hingsburger.
What was gained from this conference
1. Awareness was heightened as to the amount of work that goes into a
Person Centered Plan, specifically Essential Lifestyle Planning. Some discussion items
were.
- These are living plans: For a plan to be person centered it must be a living plan. The plan must change as the person's life changes.
- The plan must be respectful to the person. It should reflect their personal values and beliefs. Our own values and beliefs should never be part of someone's plan.
- A plan must be through, yet concise. It should include all important information, but not be so long that it is never read.
- A good plan includes a persons wants, wishes and dreams. This personalizes the plan.
- To produce a plan, a person must be credentialed. An uncredentialed person producing a plan is in serious danger of creating more problems than they solve. An example of this is "fixing," making promises in a plan that will not be met, thereby causing distrust between the person being supported and the system.
- Plans must exclude jargon and baggage. Jargon are words that are used specifically by members of the human services field.
2. The Albany Regional Center has some of the same problems and issues as direct support staff. These issues include:
- Being bound by federal rules and standards.
- Complex funding issues
- Paper compliance
- A sincere dedication to the people being supported.
3. Many problems direct support face are within their own agencies. Albany Regional Center cannot control problems within a privately-owned provider agency.
4. A better knowledge of finances. This includes personal spending
budgets and the NAFS system.
What our actions need to be
1. Be more involved in the planning process for person centered
planning. Talking to service coordinators and learning more about person centered planning
is a good first step.
2. Keep lines of communication open with the Albany Regional Center. We
have many common problems and can do more to solve them together than apart.
3. Remember that we all have the common goal of giving the best support
we possibly can to the people we work for.
Direct Support Professionals
Conference
February 18, 1998 - St. Joseph, Missouri
Dave Hingsburger spoke to Direct Support Professionals February 18, 1998 in St. Joseph Missouri. Mr. Hingsburger spoke on the "Ethics of Touch" and Self Esteem. There are no minutes to this presentation.