People Helping People
Please join our Quality Assurance Services Webinar on September 18th at 11am! This will be held on zoom (please see link below). To RSVP, please visit supportinc.com/calendar
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83649485605?pwd=x4AIWQzr0bP134GdLAQx3A1nmUij3A.1
One of our individuals in services, Chris, was recently featured in the Pueblo Chieftain!! Check out the article and all of Chris’s accomplishments below!
Chris Manley’s journey to independence with Pueblo Community Resources (chieftain.com)
The 2024 International Paralympic Games begin on August 28th!!! Check out the link below for more information.
We want to congratulate Rae Jean Lunn-Nix for being nominated as our July Family Caregiver of the month!!!
To meet Rae and her sister Diana and see the love they have for each other as sisters is an undeniable bond. Rae became her sister’s legal guardian after their mother passed. Rae was just 25 years old at the time and did not have any children of her own. It was a promise she made to her mother and has kept to this day. When you go into their home there are so many beautiful arts and crafts projects that Rae has done. She is so creative and talented. She is a strong voice and advocate for Diana as she is unable to verbally communicate for herself. She is constantly looking at new ways to provide adequate support for Diana. Rae was looking into ways to monitor Diana’s health and safety while she is at day program and taught everyone about an Oura ring that monitors vitals through an app. Rae also published a book herself, and even painted the front cover. She has lived through so much pain and tragedy and through it all is a warm compassionate person. This book is one that you just can’t put down! Thank You so much Rae for loving your sister and providing the care you do; you truly are inspiring!!
If you’re interested in Rae’s book, which is a memoir about her life and caring for her sister Diana, please follow the link below.
This summer, our Clinical Department has welcomed four new interns to our team. Lindsay and Gillian are our occupational therapy interns, who are working toward their doctoral degrees from Colorado State University. They were able to work with many of our clients this summer. They brought fresh ideas and perspectives to their person-centered interventions while also utilizing their OT training. Gillian and Lindsay will be moving on to continue their degrees in the fall back at CSU. We also have two counseling interns, Anne and Madison, who are earning their Master’s degrees at the University of Denver and they will be with us throughout the year. They have been able to jump right into applying the counseling skills they have learned in school. They both bring in their own personal counseling styles, infusing empirically backed interventions with new ideas and enthusiasm.
Our interns have helped us to expand our clinical services and offer fun and unique groups at places such as the aquarium, restaurants, and more! We are also planning to increase our clinical services with our interns taking the lead to facilitate even more opportunities for our clients. We are so excited that they have joined and helped our team. We can’t thank them enough!
In May, one of our individuals in services, Rachael, and her parents went on a month-long road trip. During the road trip they visited 12 states and traveled roughly 5,000 miles! They visited family, went exploring downtown Chicago, went to aquariums, museums, and even an amusement park. Check out photos from their awesome trip!!
Protecting yourself & other from heat-related illness
Colorado temperatures are heating up fast and it’s important to protect yourself and the person you support from heat-related illness.
Heat related illnesses are preventable, knowing the signs to look for and responding quickly can prevent a minor illness from becoming a medical emergency. Common heat related illnesses include; heat rash (a skin condition caused by blocked sweat ducts and trapped sweat beneath the skin), sunburn, heat exhaustion (a condition that happens when your body overheats) and the most serious of heat related illnesses heat stroke (occurs when the body can no longer control it’s temperature causing the body’s temperature to rise rapidly and become unable to cool down-requires immediate medical care). To learn more about these types of heat related illnesses, how to identify signs and symptoms and what to do. Follow the link to learn more- Symptoms of Heat-Related Illnesses | Extreme Heat | CDC
Tips to prevent heat related illness:
Extreme Heat Infographic:
Extreme heat infographic 2023 interactive.pdf – Google Drive
Happy National Developmental Disability Professionals Day! Observed on July 15 every year, this day is all about recognizing the work done by developmental disability professionals, who often go unnoticed despite providing an amazing public service. Big shoutout to all our staff, providers and families for the amazing services they provide. Read more about this day below.
DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY PROFESSIONALS DAY – July 15, 2024 – National Today
We want to give a big shout out and congratulations to two of our individuals in services who recently graduated from High School. Congratulations Alea and George on this amazing accomplishment!!!
Updates on Case Management Redesign
The final phase of Case Management Redesign and the transition to Case Management Agencies (CMA) will take place July 1st, 2024. For the catchment areas we work with, this phase includes DDRC transitioning to Jeferson County as the CMA serving Clear Creek & Jefferson County and, Adult Care Management, Inc. (doing business as A&I Avenues) as the CMA serving Boulder, Broomfield & Gilpin Couties. We know the transition has not been easy, especially with compounding issues for people accessing long-term care services. The Department of Health Carre Policy and Finance (HCPF) implemented a multi-step plan to stabilize long-term services and supports. This plan includes establishing a case management stabilization fund, addressing IT issues with the new Care and Case Management software and protecting coverage for people accessing services. You can read more about HCPF’s stabilizing LTSS using this link.
As the final CMA’s transition, HCPF continues to work on revising outdated regulations to align with the change to CMA’s. HCPF has postponed the next Medical Service Board review of the revised regulations until August to allow them time to review recommendations they received including recommendations submitted by Alliance (our trade organization). The final piece of case management redesign will be the implementation of a single Colorado assessment which will replace the 100.2. The transition to the new assessment is TBD while HCPF focuses on their stabilization efforts.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your team or the Quality Assurance Department.