Welcome to the Fello 

Self-Directed Services Newsletter!  

Welcome to our Self-Directed Services monthly newsletter, where we share updates, reminders, and helpful information to support you in self-directing your services.  

Say Hello to Fello 

On May 21, we shared exciting news about our transformation to Fello. The most important thing to know is that NOTHING is changing about the services we provide related to Self-Directed Services. This is just a name change. The only difference is that our name is now Fello instead of The Arc Central Chesapeake Region. For more information, please visit our website under News. 

Monthly Webinar Series 

Our webinar series covering important topics related to self-direction continues on Thursday, June 26. This month's webinar, 'Important Employee Forms,' will cover a review of employee forms, including tips for their completion. 

We hope you'll join us for the next webinar in the series: 

Important Employee Forms 

Thursday, June 26, 2025 

11:00am-12:00pm via Zoom 

The Zoom link will be sent to everyone on the morning of Thursday, June 26, 2025 

The webinar is open to Participants, CCSs, Support Brokers, and other team members and advocates. 

Need to catch up on previous webinars? Find links to our previous webinars on our Forms and Resources page under "Webinars and Presentations." 

Your Services, Your Story 

Periodically, we highlight someone self-directing their services with Fello, and this time, we are highlighting Christi! Christi has been self-directing her services for almost four years and credits the service model with creating opportunities to enjoy her favorite activities. Additionally, the ability to hire family members means she has employees that she is comfortable with and who can anticipate her needs. The flexible schedule allows Christi to engage in water activities at the YMCA and volunteer at her church on a weekly basis. Christi also enjoys traveling to various theme parks and riding roller coasters.  

As the employer, Christi provides her employees with a reference manual that includes emergency contact information, likes and dislikes, mealtimes, and details of her daily schedule to ensure that anyone working for her can ensure a consistent routine. For new employees, Christi also finds that having them shadow current staff has been beneficial to the training process. 

When interacting with Fello's team, Christi and her family find their inquiries through the ticketing system to be answered quickly and thoroughly. They have found the staff at Fello to be extremely professional and personable.  

Christi's family feels it is key to hire a support broker at the onset of self-directed services, as the support broker can be instrumental in navigating the service model. They have found that Christi's support broker has provided continuity and is supportive in answering questions. For new families coming into self-directed services, they advise to be inquisitive and utilize Facebook groups for guidance and the ability to connect with other self-directed participants. 

Fello is currently seeking Participants to be featured in our July 2025 newsletter! If you would like to participate, please email sdsparticipants@fello.org. 

Self-Direction Team Spotlight 

This month, we're proud to spotlight Justin Lasher, Assistant Resources Manager.

Justin joined the team in April 2024 as the Employer Resources Administrator and, as of February 2025, currently serves as Assistant Manager of Employer Resources, leading the Senior Onboarding Processors. Under his leadership, the teams are consistently viewing existing processes in new ways to maximize their efficiency. Justin ensures that all employees are onboarded in a timely and efficient manner while also maintaining compliance with state and federal requirements. 

"I am amazed daily to be working alongside such dedicated and passionate people," states Justin. "Fello as an organization is consistently providing such great resources to the people we support. Being a member of the Employer Resources team for Self-Directed Services, I'm able to really make a difference by helping to ensure the success of our participant employers with the hiring of their staff and to help them with navigating the success of their business from beginning to end."

Reasonable and Customary Rates

The Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) updated the Reasonable and Customary rates, which can be found within the Self-Directed Service Manual on DDA’s Self-Directed Services Guidance and Forms web page. The changes affect the wage exception maximums allowed for each service. All participants who self-direct their services must comply with the new Reasonable and Customary rates by July 1, 2025. To review employee pay rates, log onto your participant dashboard and click "View budget rate records." To decrease the rate for employees, please inform employees of their new rate and submit an Employee Change Form to sdsemployeeupdates@fello.org. If we do not receive the employee change form by June 8, we will reduce the employee's rate to the wage exception maximum for each waiver service effective July 1, 2025.