See photos from the holiday parties around the agency on our Facebook page. |
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2016 Annual Plan
The Board of Hamilton County DD Services has reviewed a draft of the agency's 2016 annual plan, which you can
read by clicking here.
If you have questions or comments, please email Dawn Freudenberg, Director of the Office of Planning, Innovation and Quality. She can also be reached by phone at 513-559-6814.
Public feedback will be accepted until Jan. 11.
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Snow and winter weather reminders
While it's been an unseasonably warm end to 2015, we want to remind everyone that if programs are closed or delayed due to weather, notice will be posted on our agency website, Facebook and Twitter.
If you are part of the Community Safe system, you also will receive a phone call about any closures or delays.
If it snows, please remember to
clear the sidewalks so your elderly neighbors and neighbors with disabilities can safely navigate throughout the city.
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Cincinnati Bengals' players visit Beckman
Beckman was full of football spirit earlier this month for a special visit from Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Peerman and linebacker Vincent Rey. Everyone was all smiles as they got autographs and pictures with the players.
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The Ohio Developmental Disability Awareness and Advocacy Day is March 8.
Self-advocates, family members and friends are encouraged to attend. Meet with your legislators to tell them your story, and educate them on the issues most important to you and the developmental disabilities community.
This year's theme is "What's Your Story?" and more details will be posted online at a later date.
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In November, the
IRS issued new rules to make it easier for states to offer and administer ABLE programs. Click here to read about the changes.
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Recently, the federal government extended rules for overtime pay to include jobs like direct care workers, personal care aides, certified nursing assistants, home health aides and other caregivers. T
hese rules ensure that people working more than 40 hours in a work week receive overtime pay.
Starting January 1, 2016, the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) will make overtime payments to eligible independent providers billing more than 40 hours, or 160 fifteen-minute units of service, provided in a work week.
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From the Superintendent
December 2015
As 2015 draws to a close, we have also drawn to a close the stakeholder workgroup that started in October providing input for future changes in traditional services.
The first part of the stakeholder group's charge was to develop recommendations for building confidence among families and people served who have historically relied on HCDDS-operated adult centers. The second part of the charge was to develop recommendations to build provider capacity by 2024 so that these same people served and their families would feel confident and experience quality in provider-operated day programs. We plan to post those recommendations soon.
This group formed just after we made the difficult decision to consolidate the adult centers which resulted in the Jackson Adult Center closing by March 1, 2016. The consolidation began a long process of decisions about our future driven by a combination of state and federal forces that we have been communicating with you about for several years. We are grateful to the members of the stakeholder group for their honesty and time.
If you haven't already, please learn more about the work of the stakeholder group and our current environment of change by visiting our agency website.
While there is still much uncertainty, we know that our future will look vastly different than our past. Some transitions will go smoothly and some may not. We will be there to help everyone get the services they need. Our longstanding support of and caring about people with disabilities and their families is not going away.
We will continue planning for and monitoring the services your sons and daughters receive. We will walk through and plan for the transitions that will likely be necessary along with you to make them as smooth as possible.
Happy holidays!
Alice C. Pavey
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Pairing Passion with Entrepreneurship
Michele Vaught's face lights up when she talks about art. Her passion and talent are obvious as she sits in the
Visionaries & Voices Northside studios.
"I've always been interested in art and music, and have been making art daily for the last five years," she said. "What inspires me is finding different textures and colors and using that in my pieces. I always try to do something different that will be unique."
Vaught, 44, has been attending Visionaries & Voices since last spring and her focus is on clay. Recently she's been selling her artwork at
Under the Stars, an art consignment shop in Batavia, and at
JuJu Beans, a coffee shop in St. Bernard.
Every few weeks, Vaught takes a handful of her clay creations to each place, where they almost always sell out. She's even had customers and friends commission original art pieces.
"One of my sisters knew the owner of the coffee shop, and that's how I began selling my art," Vaught said. "I'm very happy with the success of these endeavors. It's something I've always wanted to do."
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HCDDS Board President Nestor Melnyk was recently elected as a trustee for the Ohio Association of County Boards of Developmental Disabilities.
Nestor is a Principal at MSA Architects, and has also voluntarily served on the Medicaid and Early Intervention workgroup through the Ohio Early Childhood Cabinet; completed two terms on the Ohio Development Disabilities Council, chairing its Children's Issues Committee; has helped advance patient and family-centered care initiatives at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center; and regularly volunteers with Cincinnati Public Schools.
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Working with providers on integration
Our Innovation & Quality Team has been working with a group of providers on a new integration initiative. The providers who participated in this first group - AMT Group, Catholic Residential Services, Community Supports Inc., Millennium Nursing Agency, Ohio Valley Residential Services, St. Joseph Home of Cincinnati, and Total Home Solutions - each picked four individuals to participate.
The goal was to enhance their lives with an integrated experience and figure out the best way to provide inclusive, real community experiences, and these providers are really demonstrating a commitment to integration.
In mid-December the group reconvened to share stories about their efforts, both successes and challenges. In the next phase, HCDDS Integration Coordinator Mark Buttelwerth will consult with each provider's CEO or Operational Director on a comprehensive integration model, lead that model with direct care staff in the field, and then report on progress and recommendations.
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Stay connected on social media!
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