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Quality Assurance News & Updates

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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:

  1. Stay indoors, in a cool place during extreme heat.
  2. Drink plenty of water. Dehydration is the primary cause of heat exhaustion! High temperatures increase the risk of dehydration.
  3. Apply sunscreen every day. Reapply sunscreen every 2 hours throughout the day especially if you’ve been swimming or sweating
  4. Wear lightweight, light-colored and loose-fitting clothing.

Extreme Heat Infographic:

Extreme heat infographic 2023 interactive.pdf – Google Drive

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Residential Team News & Updates

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Happy Summer to all from the Residential Team! We hope everyone is enjoying the longer days and warmer weather. If you’ve attended a Provider Town Hall this year you may have heard us talk about “pie funds”. What’s that, you ask? Let us explain.

Towards the end of the calendar year and the beginning of the new year we release surveys: for our providers, for our employees, and for the people receiving services. No matter who you are, we take your feedback seriously. When it came time to compile the data – a theme emerged. Employees, specifically Residential Program Coordinators (RPCs), wanted more autonomy to make connections with the people on their caseloads. Providers and those they care for wanted to be seen, heard, and supported.

Last fall, Senior RPC Raymond Delgado, was faced with the daunting task of the dreaded Unannounced Visit. Without asking, he famously purchased pie to bring along to soften the blow of the never timely and often disruptive Unannounced Visit. The story spread, and when it came time for us to put together an action plan to respond to the surveys – we knew just what to do. More pie!

The Residential Team implemented “pie funds” earlier this spring. Each RPC is allotted a small budget every couple of months. There aren’t a lot of rules, but the idea is to build deeper connections and recognize others. That might be in the form of a card, a coffee, lunch, flowers, or??? The possibilities are endless. It’s still early, but I’ve already heard touching stories. Stay tuned- you may be the next recipient of “pie”.

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Host Home Provider of the Month!

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Please join us in congratulating the June Host Home Provider of the Month- Fanny Hutabarat!!!

It’s hard to know where to begin when describing Fanny. To know Fanny is to know grace and strength. Fanny is a woman of many talents, one being the unwavering ability to take care of her Person Receiving Services (PRS). She advocates at doctors’ appointments, maintains consistent communication, and keeps track of the many moving pieces. She has created a comfortable home, allowing her PRS to know he has a stable support system and is safe to be himself.

There was an instance where Support Inc. Residential Coordinator and Fanny had to have a difficult conversation with her PRS. Fanny fearlessly approached this situation with openness and respect. She has a superpower of putting people at ease and making difficult things not feel so daunting at all. Because of her, a sensitive conversation ended up having a positive impact.

Every day, Fanny brings out the best in the people around her. Thank you so much Fanny for all the lessons you teach and for being a phenomenal Host Home Provider 😊! Congratulations on being named the June Host Home Provider of the Month!

QA COrner

Quality Assurance News & Updates

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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.

Recent News

Amazing Support Inc. Athletes – Aldo and Anthony

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This is a tale of two amazing athletes receiving Support Inc. services – Aldo and Anthony – and how the Special Olympics brought together an entire community. Aldo is kind, caring and willing to try new experiences. Aldo tries his absolute best at every task he takes on, as does his Family Caregiver (FCG). In only a few months she mastered a role that was totally new to her in February. We were happy to learn that Aldo joined basketball with his brother at the Special Olympics since he enjoys being active and being outdoors. Both Aldo and his FCG were excited to try this opportunity, but what they didn’t expect was to find a community.

Aldo and his family heard about Support, Inc. through another Support, Inc. FCG and basketball coach, who also has a gifted athlete – Anthony! Anthony is someone who has worked extremely hard for what he’s achieved throughout his time with the Special Olympics. He has participated in many sports such as basketball and swimming but where Anthony really shined was in weightlifting. During his recent weightlifting season, he received many medals with his team The Rude Dogs. With his hard work and determination, he made it to the championship! This event took place in Grand Junction where his amazing family made an entire weekend of it. Anthony placed 4th in Dead Lift and Bench Press, then ultimately took home the bronze medal! His FCG couldn’t have been prouder of her son than seeing him walk up to receive a medal as the entire crowd cheered him on. Both Family Care Giver’s started Anthony and Aldo in Special Olympics to provide exercise and community engagement. At the same time, they created meaningful bonds for themselves.

Completely by accident and for the first time in the Denver Metro Area Special Olympics, their basketball team formed a Special Olympics group made entirely of Latino families. They realized this was something unique and became a tight-knit group, who decided to stay together through their future Special Olympics seasons.  They call themselves Grupo Familiar Latino. The hard work and dedication that these families pour into their team is inspirational, especially Anthony’s Mom. She has been an amazing coach, making time every week to hold practices and attend every competition as her team’s biggest fan! Her commitment to supporting Anthony really showed in this past championship tournament. The companionship and mentorship that Aldo’s Mom has found through this group has been invaluable to her as a family caregiver new to the DD-waiver. She says for the first time, she doesn’t feel alone in the blessings and struggles that have come with raising Aldo and caring for a child with autism. We are extremely excited to see what the next season brings for these two Olympians!

¡Vamos Grupo Familiar Latino!

 

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Caregiver Burnout Resources

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At Support, Inc., we understand how challenging it can be to find resources when dealing with burnout. We offer a variety of community-based services and care options for families and caregivers who have adult children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These options are also ideal for children with disabilities who are 18 and have previously been receiving services through the Children’s Extensive Support (CES) waiver. Just as no two people are the same, neither are their specific needs for in home care. Whether that’s as a full time resident in a host home, in a family home, or their own home or apartment, Support, Inc.’s spectrum of options and opportunities is designed to offer stability, progress and, of course, safety. Because each situation is unique, and we approach it in this way. Our staff will adapt their approach to each individual and family’s specific needs as our guide, while building a strong partnership for many years to come.

Taking into careful consideration each person’s individual needs, we work with each family and individual we serve to provide the best residential environment for everyone involved. Our residential services include the following three programs. The adults with disabilities programs we provide remain unmatched in the service industry. Colorado disability services are important to us, and we do everything we can to meet each family’s unique and specialized needs.

Host Home:

Our host home providers are committed to providing a nurturing, supportive and safe home atmosphere that allows for growth and discovery. Residents will have an opportunity to thrive in a secure, caring environment and be more engaged in the world around them.

Providers are pre-screened through background and reference checks, as well as home safety inspections. They also receive extensive, ongoing training in the intellectual and developmental disabilities field and have access to additional support and oversight from a residential program coordinator, nurse, clinician and public benefits specialist.

Reach out to us directly to learn more about caretaker pay.

Family Caregiver Program:

Through the Family Caregiver Act, family caregivers may be eligible for both financial and non-financial support. We are often asked “Can a family member get paid to be a caregiver” and the answer is YES. Colorado Family Caregivers have the option to choose between the employee and independent contractor route. The Support, Inc. team gives families maximum flexibility to create an individualized plan tailored to their needs. Families can:

  • Pay a family caregiver to provide care for a loved one
  • Hire a non-family caregiver to provide care
  • Cover or reimburse costs related to life events and needs outside of traditional staffing

We also provide:

  • Screening for non-family caregivers
  • Residential support and respite care options matched to the family’s level of need
  • Training for family and non-family care givers
  • Competitive pay rate, flexible budgets and access to our employee benefits plan and 24-hour support line
  • Support group for family caregivers

Please reach out to learn more about our care taker pay. We’re also happy to relay caretaker documentation samples.

Independent Apartment Living Program:

We help individuals find apartments that meets their unique needs. We also assist with general care and skills development, such as grocery shopping, medical appointments, transportation and provide a 24-hour support line. The assisted living for disabled young adults is something we pride ourselves on providing- it is truly a pleasure to work with individuals living independently in the community.

For more information on our residential services and the DD waiver in Colorado, please contact Brian Slusarz at info@supportinc.com or click here to complete our contact form. The disability caregiver in Colorado is not a position that we take lightly; great disability service providers in Colorado can be hard to come by. But our disability program for adults is absolutely excellent and we hope to hear from you soon! We’re very familiar with home and community based services. It would be an honor to provide disability services to you and your family.

For Caregiver Resources related to burnout, please follow the links below-

Calmerry

Mayo Clinic

Kaiser Permanente

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BACPAC Trip Next Week!

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Don’t forget- we have our Annual BACPAC Camping Trip coming up next week! We have a group site reserved June 25th-27th.

We’re still searching for additional volunteers to help! Even if you can’t attend, donating supplies would be greatly appreciated please. IE veggie trays, fruit trays, desserts, etc. Rich will keep a food list to help prevent duplicate items. Please reach out to Rich at Richard.Shaw@supportinc.com before you purchase anything, so he can chat with you about what’s needed 😊

We have a Campers List below!!

Thanks again to everyone that’s making this trip possible for those we serve. We couldn’t do it without you and looking forward to having so much fun soon!!

Campers List

Recommended: If you don’t have any of the items listed, please let us know 😊 We will have some extra supplies on hand.

Meals, Drinks (water, Gatorade), and Snacks provided

A Day

  1. Mediation (if needed)
  2. Sun Screen
  3. Bug Spray
  4. Light Loose clothing (Hat-if wanted)
  5. Sunglasses
  6. Extra Clothing (sandals) if going swimming: towel
  7. Light Jacket/Hoodie
  8. Individual refillable Water bottle (labeled with name)
  9. Lawn/camp chair
  10. Fishing gear (if needed)
  11. Personal supplies (if needed)

B Overnight: same as above +

  1. Tent
  2. Sleeping bag/Air mattress (if needed)
  3. Extra Blanket
  4. Flashlight/Lantern
  5. Extra clothing
  1. in case we get cooler weather at night
  2. Shoes
  3. Personal supplies (hygiene)

We warmly invite our individuals in services, their caregivers and providers. Please join us if you can!!

Food, drinks and snacks provided!!

The camping area will include

  • Large, covered area with tables and lighting at night
  • Rest room on site
  • Campground has showers available at main office
  • Running water on site
  • Electrical outlets on site

Activities will include:

  • Outdoor yard games
  • Board Games
  • Table games
  • Fishing
  • Music
  • Scavenger hunt
  • Tye Dye your own shirt
  • Camp Fire at night (weather dependent)
  • + much more!!!

Wednesday 26th is the boat day (this will also be the swim day)

  • Two pontoon boats have been reserved for the day
  • Groups will meet on at the marina to go out on the water for an hour ride
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Open House and BBQ in Sterling

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Check out the fun we had hosting the Open House last week! We are so grateful to the Family Resource Center for hosting us downstairs in the courtyard while families and consumers toured the offices upstairs. We also appreciated Leticia Arguello from the ARC joining us for the Resource Fair! Jeff Rice from the Journal Advocate joined us on site to gather more information. We are grateful to him and the paper for reporting and sharing the news of our new location. And last but not least, a big thanks to Jimmy L’s for catering the event and to the Logan County Chamber of Commerce for facilitating the ribbon cutting ceremony out front.

 

Thanks again to everyone that helped make this event a success. We couldn’t do it without you and look forward to this next step of People Helping People on the Eastern Plains and beyond!