Delovely Podcast

Liz is Senior Advocacy Specialist with the Association of University Centers on Disability (AUCD) and host of the series "Tuesdays with Liz" where she interviews people involved in policy making and advocacy to educate grassroots leaders about policy issues. She worked with the office of Senator Casey of Pennsylvania on his Aging Committee staff and was appointed by President Obama to serve on the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. A nationally respected disability leader, Liz lives and works in Maryland.

We talk with Jen Cook of Workforce Solutions about her success in helping people get jobs or, as she says, "changing communities one workplace at a time". She uses a number of Person Centered Thinking skills including a One Page Description, Communication Chart and Sorting Important TO and Important FOR to create balance. In a recent publication of the National Core Indicators we discover that only 40% of people served by community agencies that want paid employment even have the goal documented in their service plan. Workforce Solutions contact information is email: [email protected] , phone: 603-660-2655

We speak with Nicole LeBlanc about her work with the National Center on Advancing Person Centered Practices and the State of Maryland. She is also a former SARTAC Fellow. Nicole has created a Toolkit for Employment which is available as a document as well as a comprehensive training that she offers in person. Here focus as a consultant is on research, policy analysis, keynoting, creating booklets and tool kits and making material plain English. She also informs us of current opportunities to advocate with the National Quality Forum. She can be reached at 802-505-0253 or [email protected] (her rates are $35 - $50 per hour)

Josh believes that an agency's values should be reflected in how it treats employees. We consider a different approach to vacation time, recruitment and training. Direct Support Professionals are clearly near the top of his list in respect and caring.

In this conversation we explore thoughts on what has been the major developments in the effort to advance inclusion of people with all abilities that have served to shape the world that we live in today. Bill shares how having a family member with disabilities changed his views and added to his knowledge of what is important. We also consider trends in the system that are both troubling and promising.

We continue our conversation with Peter Leidy and explore what it means to be a "rule breaker" or an artist when in the role of direct support professional.

We caught up recently with Peter Leidy while he was visiting Vermont and connecting with staff from Senior Solutions and Green Mountain Support Services. Peter shared his experiences in the early years of his career and the important lessons that he's learned about how to provide the best support to others. He has an interest in the power of the direct support role and thinks deeply about ways to help good staff stay.

We continue our conversation with Joe and find out how Upper Valley Services considered ways to support someone through the use of risk profiles and community conversations to foster connection rather than opting for simply staffing for protection purposes.

Joe explores the various ways that we can help others with a disability to be present and participate in community, and most importantly, find connection. In this conversation we discover the dilemma when others view human service agencies as protectors.