Your January 2020 ACLD employee newsletter

WELCOME From the Executive Office ‌

Dear ACLD Colleagues,   Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We want to begin this new decade by thanking all of our employees for their dedication and commitment to pursuing our mission. This week, we have visitors from the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) who are here to assess our three year accreditation. We know they will see how ACLD has fully embraced the CQL philosophy and woven it into every level of our organization. We ended last year on some very high notes; from being named 2019’s Best Places to Work by Long Island Business News, to a bonus for our employees. We had reason to celebrate at our annual holiday party! With over 550 people in attendance, the holiday party was another fun-filled event with over 100 gifts distributed to lucky raffle winners, including 50, 50-inch televisions! Congratulations to the winner of the Gail White-Rison Memorial Scholarship, Rose Valdes-Romero and the recipient of the ACLD Board of Trustees’ Exemplary Service Award, Marjorie Bach. In addition, each party guest received an ACLD fleece to keep you warm through the winter months. All part-time and full-time employees who did not attend the party, will receive fleeces, if you have not received it already. To see all the fun from the party, please be sure to check out the photos on Microsoft Teams. Thank you to all our staff who work diligently each day to provide an enviable life for the people we support. We look forward to 2020 being another banner year for ACLD.     Sincerely, Bob, Rob and Kim   Robert C. Goldsmith , Executive Director Robert Ciatto , Chief Operating Officer Kim Leonard , Chief Financial Officer 

We are very pleased to announce that ACLD was voted one of the "Best Places to Work" on Long Island by  Long Island Business News  this year and you can check out some of our staff at the awards breakfast here. Thank you to all of the amazing men and women who work here at ACLD and we are fortunate to have each and every one of you on our team.

2019 Employee Holiday Party The employees here at ACLD do incredible work everyday to further our mission and as a thank you, we once again had our annual Employee Holiday Party last month at the Mansion at Oyster Bay. Click on the video below.

ACLD's staff spreads holiday cheer!

Santa and some helpers from our Program Without Walls delivered gifts and spread cheer to the children in ACLD’s preschools. The Giving Tree gift requests included students, their family members and adults in the Residential Program. The Giving Tree has been located in the main building on our Bethpage campus for the past 4 years. Thank you to everyone who took a tag and purchased a gift. Please know that your generosity made the holidays that much happier for the people we support.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ROCKS the limelight !

DECEMBER EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT DAY: GETTING INTO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT WITH UGLY SWEATER DAY

In addition to the agency wide Ugly Sweater Day, the Kramer Learning Center hosted a Holiday Luncheon on December 18th to thank our exemplary staff for their hard work throughout the year! To add a little fun, they held the First Annual Ugly Centerpiece contest in which everyone formed teams to make an “Ugly” centerpiece to be used for the festivities. Our first-place winner “The Nightmare Before Christmas” was submitted by the talented co-workers of Rooms 15, 16, 17 and 18!  Congratulations!

JANUARY EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT DAY: SHOWING OFF THEIR ACLD SWAG ON ACLD PRIDE DAY

Upcoming Employee Engagement Days February 7, 2020: Wear Red for Valentines and Heart Disease awareness month  March 12, 2020: March Madness - Wear your favorite college gear

New CFO at ACLD At the end of the year, ACLD's Chief Financial Officer, Tony Perfetti retired. We wish him lots of luck and thank him for his nearly 5 years of service to the agency. Please join us in welcoming Kim Leonard, our new Chief Financial Officer for ACLD. Kim has been with us 4 years.

ACLD received its visit from the Council on Quality and Leadership to have its certification renewed. Sharon Geiselmann , Administrator of Quality Enhancement, along with various staff across the agency, hosted a team from The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) this week. The meetings are to renew ACLD's CQL certification, a goal exemplified in our work everyday as we pursue our mission. ACLD's person-centered-approach includes listening and finding out what matters most to each person. From how they feel about where they live and their living conditions, to what food they eat, to the particular doctors that they see, to volunteering or becoming employed and to how they get to spend their free time is a philosophy instilled throughout each program. The Council on Quality and Leadership awards 3 year certifications. Thank you to all our staff across the agency who are committed to the person-centered-approach.

Coupons for Troupons

Our Broadway Bridges Day Habilitation Program has an awesome activity to benefit the men and women in our armed forces. The people we support collect, cut and calculate coupons of all kinds. Then our friends from the VFW in Farmingdale pick up the coupons and mail them overseas to our military to be used as supplemental funds. We encourage all ACLD employees to collect coupons and bring them to Joann Leavy , Assistant Director of Bridges, in the 857 building on our Bethpage campus to assist with this effort. Coupons must be within six months of their expiration date.

Vacation Time!

Our Rainbow Commons 923 residence took a fun and relaxing vacation to  The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark  in upstate New York. When ACLD began oversight of these SRUs two years ago, the residents said they had never been on a vacation since being in this program. Thanks to our Residential Managers and direct support professionals, the residents had an opportunity to vacation for the first time in years.

Implementing eMAR Medication System

ACLD's new computerized medication management system, known as eMAR , is beginning to be used in the agency's Residential Program. The system eliminates documentation errors, tells staff the medication and exact quantity to administer to each person supported at specific times of the day and allows staff to order medication directly from the pharmacy. This will make the administering and stocking of medication more accurate and efficient.

Currently eMAR has been implemented in the Syosset , Alice Court , Oceanside and Lynbrook houses, with plans to roll it out to all programs by the end of this year.

George Singfield honored at Woodward Children's Center

Long time ACLD Education Consultant, George Singfield , who has also been a board member of Woodward Children's Center in Freeport since the 1970s, was surprised with the honor of having their Vocational Center wing named after him. George was an educator at the school in the 1960s and then became Principal of the Younger Program, followed by sitting on the board of trustees in which he has served two terms as President and then President Emeritus; a position he currently holds. The video presentation shown at the awards ceremony is on the right and the plaque he received to commemorate this honor is pictured below.

Independent Practitioner Services

This past June ACLD initiated a new program called Independent Practitioner Services for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (IPSIDD) . This program allows the people who live in our residences to have counseling services in the comfort of their own homes from IPSIDD clinicians; whom in large part are our own ACLD Behavior Intervention Specialists. The program is overseen by Stephanie Murphy , Clinical Administrator, and Dr. Abra Walter , Assistant Director. Counseling services cover a wide range of topics, from the kind of issues we all encounter in our daily lives at work and home to anxiety, depression, and bereavement issues. Many people have been learning a great deal about coping skills and positive social interactions. Already six months into the program, it has been a great success due to the hard work of the clinicians involved. We’d like to recognize the IPSIDD clinicians Tara Pace , Joy Moore , Lori Osborne , Giuseppina Spinelli , Christine Taboada , Pooja Mani , Doug Cook and our newest clinician Maria Joseph . The people we support really look forward to seeing them for their sessions every week.

Engagements & Weddings

Please congratulate: - Bonnie Montemurro from Children's Services on her recent engagement to Michael. - Jonathan Dolan from Development and Community Relations for his engagement to Angela. - Magda Copeland from Children's Services on her marriage to Matthew on August 23rd. - Chelsea Sweeny from Children's Services on her marriage to Ryan on September 28th. - Nicole Gallagher from Children's Services on her marriage to Justin on October 3rd.

WELCOME ACLD NEW HIRES FOR DECEMBER 2019 Stacey T. Arthur - Direct Support Professional - Bethpage 857 Aclema A. Babwah - Lead Day Habilitation Specialist - Choices Hauppauge Henny M. Calle - Direct Support Professional - Bethpage 857 Erik A. Castro - Program Aide - After School Program Lauramae T. Cocchi - Registered Nurse - Bethpage 857 Precious M. Ellerbe - Direct Support Professional - Baldwin Donna Gedeon - Direct Support Professional - Bethpage 857 Michael Geraci - Maintenance Worker - Bethpage 857 Danielle N. Hankerson - Direct Support Professional - East Hills Youselie Henri - Direct Support Professional - Yorktown Colleen A. Hinck - Registered Nurse - Bethpage 857 Nathalie Janvier - Direct Support Professional - St. James Rupinder Kaur - Direct Support Professional - Nesconset Jenny H. Kellerman - Job Coach - Bethpage 857 Karen R. Lopez - Day Habilitation Specialist - Bethpage 837 Wayne F. Lowitt - Building Services Supervisor - Bethpage 857 Marie V. Marette - Direct Support Professional - Sejon Rebecca E. Meyer - Day Habilitation Specialist - Choices Hauppauge Chynna N. Morris - Teacher Aide - Spiegel Center Sarah Perrino - Licensed Practical Nurse - Yorktown Tiffany G. Pisani - Direct Support Professional - Bethpage 857 Rose-Kayla Sainvilier - Day Habilitation Specialist - Bridges Glen Cove Jarol Samayoa - Maintenance Worker - Bethpage 857 Melanie Sterling - Respite Counselor - Bethpage 807 Kimberly A. Strull - Clerk - Bethpage 807 Bryel Wells - Direct Support Professional - Bethpage 857 Genine Wightman - Accounts Receivable - Bethpage 807 Corey A. Wiley - Day Habilitation - Bethpage 837

2020 Sexual Harassment Training

All ACLD employees have just been assigned a new online course for 2020. The assigned course is titled: Prohibition of Sexual and Other Unlawful Harassment and Discrimination policy - 2020 NOTE: This course may seem familiar as it was assigned to all employees last year, but note that this training is required annually.  This mandatory learning should be completed by all staff within 90 days of assignment . Log into Litmos and click on the link for “Course Library” while in the Learner view. The Prohibition of Sexual and Other Unlawful Harassment and Discrimination course should be one of the first items listed. If there are any questions about the course please contact the Center for Learning .

" the limelight " is an initiative of the Communications Committee and is produced by the Development and Community Relations Department. Thank you to all who have submitted information and photos. Keep them coming! We welcome your comments and suggestions.