Shift Happenings with George Suess

5 agency project

2011-04-01T15:06:00.002-04:00

On Monday we will be presenting our People Power Leadership seminar to Executive Teams from 5 nearby agencies looking to become more positive and proactive. These organizations have sent many of their employees here over the last 6 months to learn more and generate support for change. The great majority (actually I think it has been unanimous) have commented on the enthusiasm and competence of our staff. They also mention how well people communicate and relate to each other. They are very interested in our philosophy and approach and we always get excited about helping people do a better job of helping others. We're bringing a great team of four people and are looking forward to giving them new information, sharing our innovations with them but mostly about having the opportunity to inspire and support improvements. I'm looking forward to it.

You never know.

2011-03-21T10:02:00.003-04:00

Hi, Last Friday we had two visitors from another county experience Vantage Point. At 5:15 or so a couple of our staff and I had a conversation. They were interested in my take on the visitors since they seemed distant at times and communication was not as free flowing as is usual.

At the debrief I found the same to be true and was ready to say good-bye at 3:30 but, of course I didn't. I kept the conversation going even though they were short on questions.

One of the folks had about 11 years of experience in the filed and one, a fellow I will call Brian, only about a year. He was a truck driver who got laid off and need a job. Looked to me like he was in his early 40's.

I kept the conversation going until we struck on a matter Brian could relate to. How to address serious behavior problems, assaults, though positive action. I explained our approach and gave a couple of examples and I saw the lights went on a bit, wasn't sure how bright they were, for him.

Overall my feedback was that while they were more quiet and not as enthusiastic as visitors usually are, I thought they did get something out of the visit. That it wasn't a complete disappointment to them . Then on Saturday I received the following.

My conclusion is twofold. First, you never really know how people will react, what will sink in and what will hit home. Secondly, our stuff is so good that everyone can get something out of a visit. As always the challenge to us is finding the piece that makes sense to each person.
Enjoy.

From: Brian
to: georges
03/19/2011 10:56 AM

Dear George
Thank you for the magnificent and life changing experience the folks you serve, you and your staff shared with me yesterday! There are to many wonderful thoughts
and ideas running around my mind to express in this email. I've started reading Shift Happens. There is no doubt it will change the way I deal with all the people in my life.
I too, wish I had learned this info much earlier in my life. Looking forward to visiting with you and hopefully working with you in the future.
May this spark in our hearts be fanned into a raging fire of compassion that consumes the whole world !!!
Thanks Again !
GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
Brian / DSP

The U. S. Constitution and Shift Happens

2011-03-18T12:51:00.002-04:00

Recently I watched "Thurgood" a one man performance with Larry Fishburn as Thurgood Marshall. If you don't know who he is you owe it to yourself to learn about him. Former Supreme Court Justice and the person, earlier in his career, who presented and won the Supreme Court case now known as "Brown vs. the board of Education" which is the basis of racial integration which was also used to force the education system to educate all children with or without disabilities.

At one point Fishburn stated the following and it made me think of our field, our agency and Shift Happens. I wonder if it strikes the same cord with you? Take a look, give it some thought and let me know.

“The basic thrust of the U.S. Constitution is people to people.

Strike them and they will cry.
Cut them and they will bleed.
Starve them and they will wither away and die.
But treat them with respect and decency,
give them equal access to levels of power,
attend to their aspirations and to their grievances
and they will flourish and grow
and they will join together to form a perfect union.
We recognize how far we have come and how far we have to go.”

Thurgood Marshall

The Arc US rebranding 3 emails

2010-05-14T16:10:00.002-04:00

Three emails follow.

The first arrived from The Arc US on May 7. Delarc, Director of Community Relations and I participated in the webinar referred ot in the first paragraph which was held on April 28.

I responded to the very simple survey but also decided to weigh in with a more substantial response which I did on May 11 (email # 2).

She then responded to that (email #3).

I hope you will find them interesting, thought provoking and enjoyable. I have the changed names that appear in various places.

Email # 1:

Dear Chapter Leader,
The Arc’s rebranding initiative is continuing to move ahead and right on schedule. CoreBrand, the agency we hired to assist us with our rebranding; has completed its interviews with key stakeholders. Last week, we hosted two conference calls/webinars that allowed many of you to participate as a “group interview”. Along with sharing your comments, CoreBrand has been looking to define the real “essence” of The Arc.
These conversations yielded a number of key words, terms and phrase. CoreBrand is analyzing them to identify the heart of our “Brand Platform”, which will become the building block for our new Brand Identity.
Just as the collection of our chapter logos was informative, CoreBrand recommended that gathering the taglines that many of you use to give meaning to your chapter’s identity in your communities could be similarly helpful. Therefore, we are asking you to provide us with any current taglines that you already use to help us define The Arc at the State and local level.
Simply click on the link below, which will take you to a two question survey. We want to know, 1) if you regularly use a tag line (i.e. Nike, “Just Do It”; UNCF, “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste”); 2) the name of your chapter, and 3) The tag line. This survey will be open between now, and Wednesday, May 18th.
Thank You.

Email # 2

Hi Jan, I wanted to follow up with you regarding the issue of rebranding and tag lines. First off to say thank you for the webinar on April 28th. A great way to keep people involved and learning from each other. The second is to share a little more detail about our perspective on the matter. I understand how difficult this process is and will be. Highly charged for some, of little or no interest to others (until you ask them to do something differently) and lots of people in between.

Here in Delaware County, NY we went with ARC for most of our existence but changed to The Arc of Delaware County and Delarc over the last few years. But most people outside the organization and some within it, including Board and staff still refer to us as ARC. A little frustrating but understandable. In some ways the thought of another name change is difficult to imagine, at the same time though, thinking in the long term, I think our board would be OK with another name change, if others agreed. So, overall I guess that might put us in the position of supporting a new name.

But I think many others will not be as willing. I can think of two or three other chapters in NY who have invested a lot of time and money into completely different names over the last few years, and after witnessing their campaigns I find it hard to believe they would be as willing to go for another name change. So I think the idea of a common tag line and a common logo may be the best way to move us forward.

I think I mentioned in the webinar that within the last few weeks one of our newest staff members and I were talking about this dilemma and she said, "When I see a puzzle piece, I think autism and when I see a pink ribbon, I think breast cancer awareness. So maybe a good logo is all we need." I told her she might really have something there. Promote a common, well designed logo (spare no expense, it will have to be good, to generate support) with a powerful tag line would move us to a place where a common name might be more acceptable down the road (if we are willing to wait that long?).

As I have been thinking more and more about the tag line and the common thread that weaves through all Chapters I keep coming back to "Caring about People with Disabilities." It truly is what we all do. Large or small, service providers or solely advocates, we all care.

I ask myself, when I am out in public and people ask what do you do? Or where do you work? I say Delarc or The Arc of Dealware County and they say, "What's that?" And I say we used to be ARC. Some know us but many say, "What's that?" and then I say, We use to be the Association For Retarded Children, but we aren't any more and then after three or four exchanges, they finally say "Oh. OK" Like so many others in this field I'm tired of talking about what we used to be, but aren't any more, but kind of still are.

I also think we need to make sure it would be about caring "about" and not caring "for". Caring "for" can stir up thoughts of custodial care and that certainly would be terrible. But caring "about" is the common thread. We care, simple, clear and yet open to a multitude of local definition (we advocate, we provide x, y, or z services, we serve adults, we serve children, we serve only people with ID, we serve people with any DD.)

A little more about caring. If you check our website, or talk to Jinny Doe you will find out Delarc is pretty special. In New York we are the only Chapter, indeed the only one of over 700 approved service providers with a written Board of Directors' policy prohibiting the use of physical intervention or restraint of any type. And the policy has been in place for over 30 years. And we serve people with exceptionally challenging behaviors. We don't turn anyone down.

This commitment has resulted in our developing a proactive philosophy and positive approach that has gained a national reputation for effectiveness. The heart of that success has been our ability to systematize caring. We know that everyone says they care and to a large extent, they do. But we have developed systems that take caring beyond the realm of individuals and has woven into our recruitment, orientation, supervisory, coaching, performance review and even our time management practices too generate a culture that is distinctive, and again, highly effective.

We have learned that deep and genuine caring is not only the key to behavior change, it is also the key to effective teaching / skill development. It is not the only element but it is the most important. Without genuine caring, learning and behavior change is incredibly slow to achieve. With it, results are amazing.

I sent Jack a copy of one of our books, Shift Happens ... Making the Shift to Proactive Behavior Management. Borrow it and read the first couple of sections and you will see what I mean. In fact, we are in discussions to determine if Delarc and The Arc can partner to bring our positive message and accomplishments to The Arc family. I will forward the email I sent Jack and Jinny a couple of weeks ago, to give you a little more background.

Last point, not from a rehab perspective but from a marketing one is look around and you will see how the word "caring" is working its way into the marketing world. Watch a professional basketball game on TV and you will see their new tag line, "The NBA Cares". Not only is caring important, marketing people are starting to capture the power it conveys. Thinking in even bigger terms, there is far too little caring in the world and it seems like less so all the time. The Arc, through a common tag line in hundreds of communities across the country has the opportunity to refocus America, and help it start caring again.

"What do you do?"

" I work for The Arc."

" Oh, you're the folks who care about people with disabilities. I like what you do."

Cool, huh?

Please don't hesitate to call if you would like to discuss any of this further.

Thanks for the opportunity to share our perspective.

Regards, George Suess,

Email # 3:

George

What a thoughtful, comprehensive and enlightened response. If this is the kind of effort you put into serving our community – I can absolutely believe you have a particularly special chapter.

Jinny Doe came over quite enthused a couple weeks ago to tell me about your book and the consideration you and Peter may put into including it as part of our best practices strategy – I am sure if they want my involvement – they will ask – and I will be happy to help make this happen. To say the least, I hope I get to meet you soon (NCE?) so we can chat further. I did receive the partnership email. Thank you for keeping me in the loop

I am also copying Jack, Jane from our Board, as well as our friends from CoreBrand on this response so they too will understand your position. I am glad you are so receptive to the change we are looking to make. I can tell you that should we make the determination that a name change is not in our respective best interests, it will be done with a great deal of thought to give us the full tool kit we need to get past concerns about the prior acronym, about the “R” word and will most certainly include a tag line.

Thanks again.

Webinar update and questions from Kansas

2010-05-14T15:47:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we concluded the series of Webinars we conducted for members of InterHab of Kansas. 14 member agencies and over 200 employees participated in the series. The series consisted of four different topics over four consecutive Thursdays.

From all accounts they were successful. During them we invited attendees to email us with questions, etc. What follows are three such emails. They will give you an idea of the things that are on people’s minds.

I have removed or changed names. (It was simpler than contacting everyone and asking them for permission to use their names.)

The first one starts out Dr. Suess. For the record I do not possess that degree and I subsequently and gently clarified that with the sender.

Email # 1

Dr. Suess, I work for ABC Organization in Kansas and have participated in the last three Thursdays. My name is John Doe and I have enjoyed the sessions. The discussions have reinforced concepts we have been practicing as well as providing different strategies for working with unique individuals. Your basic assessment and development tool has many of the same indicators we use in staff evaluations and I can see the training from last week enhancing that process.

My questions for you have to do with something you and your staff touched on during last week's discussion. It was stated that staff's personal values need to be set aside and the personal values of the person served should be the focus. I agree with this statement, however, I also know this is an area that we have struggled with for years - how did your organization get staff to set aside their personal values when planning with persons served? How did you make the shift to keep the personal values of staff, family, friends, guardians etc. from infringing on the choices of persons served? How did you convince colleagues to make this change and accept choices of persons served that they may not agree with or disapprove of?

I do not know if this is something you could touch on tomorrow or not - I would appreciate hearing from you regardless.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

We were able to spend a few moments discussing this during yesterday’s webinar. We made the point that we see this as an important, and regrettably common, problem. The initial key point for us lies not in the staff person’s values, nor even the consumer’s but rather in the organization’s values. If these are not clear and affirmed we won’t get very far. Most organizations have a value statement that goes something like “the people we support come first.” That’s good but the questions become: Do we mean it? Do staff know we mean it? How do we know? How much time do we spend defining and explaining what this means to each of us in our daily actions.

Truly believing the other person comes first is the first step in dealing with such values conflicts. That’s why we spend so much time in the interview process trying to determine if people truly do share our values of if they are just looking for a pay check. Our interviews are extensive, 3 interviews, 3 hours each, in 3 settings with at least 3 different people involved at each interval.

This extensive process results in hiring people who start the job with similar values. That makes all the difference in the world. We firmly believe in the adage: hire for values, train for skills. We also invited the person to contact us if (s)he wanted more information on this topic.

Email # 2

Hi George,

You may not remember me. We shared a very nice conversation over a beer (just 1?) at the InterHab Conference in Wichita last October. Although I was unable personally to attend the follow up sessions last November, I was pleased that our trusted colleague, Jane Doe, was able to participate. Of course, as you know, she was thrilled with the experience and has been sharing with the rest of us. I arranged to have about 22 folks (including myself) to participate in the Webinar series. I certainly understand your reaction to the lack of direct feedback to your presentations. While I can speculate that much of that is due to the great job you and your colleagues have done (thus, limited questions), it also feels a bit awkward at our end in the Webinar format. That’s not a good excuse for remaining silent, but perhaps a realistic explanation. I was pleased with the positive comment at the end of yesterday’s session from the person at XYZ Organization, and regretted that I did not do the same. For that, I apologize.

After our experiences with you at the InterHab Conference and the follow up in Wichita, we at QRX Organization (Executive Leadership Team) decided that we wanted to follow up with you regarding our own initiative to positively impact our support culture in our day and residential service settings, as well as with our service coordination and clinical support staff. My “plan” was to participate in the Webinar series first in order to help us better define what we might want to discuss with you. While budgets are tight (no surprise, huh), we do have a small donation fund allocated to support our Direct Support Professionals. We thought what better support than to make “Shift Happen” for them and their support recipients! That said, you can anticipate hearing back from us within a month or so to explore how we might best benefit from a collaboration. Since I want to be a personal participant, the delay is due in part to our scheduled contract discussions with the state of Kansas.

All of us at QRX are looking forward to the final session of the Webinar Series, and certainly the next steps of our shift. We will be back in touch with you soon.

Regards, Joe Doe

I responded that I was very pleased to hear from them and will be ready when they are.

Email # 3

George,

I have been a participant in your Shift Happens through LMNOP County the past three weeks. I have thoroughly enjoyed the different topics, I wish I had service providers in my area that share your beliefs and values. As you can see I am a social worker, but more importantly I am the mother of a special needs adult son. He is autistic, non-verbal, and has seizures, and I have a question. I am in the unique position of helping an agency that is also taking part in Shift Happens, HIJ Organization (hopefully learning as they go), in building a day program that would best serve my sons needs as well as the other residents participating in the day program.

My question, as we are moving through this process, is it possible to secure a conference call with your staff to brain storm ideas and starting points for the program and revisit as we progress through the process, drawing on you and your staff for resources through e-mail contacts. I would love to have a chance to talk with you and your staff and learn how to best develop a new program.

Thank you for your time, look forward to hearing from you soon,

I responded that we would be glad to participate in such a conference call and to assist in any way we can.

These exchanges are wonderful. It’s so good to be involved with people who take their responsibilities so seriously. Please join them and send us your questions or requests.

Webinar Update

2010-04-30T16:06:00.000-04:00

Hey there, I need to correct the record. I last wrote that 20 agencies and nearly 250 people participated in our first webinar last week. We learned there 14 agencies and just over 200 people who participated. Still solid numbers. The folks at Interhab tell us they are the best attended webinars they have sponsored. Very promising indeed.

We also learned that while agencies could have registered for any of the four webinars individually all 14 organizations registered for the full series of four.

The sponsoring organization, Interhab of Kansas, is conducting a brief survey we hope people will respond to. We and the folks at Interhab think they are going well. But it would be good to hear directly from those who participated.

It sure is different speaking into a webcam and not being able to see, read or get feedback from the audience, but I shuck it off and think I adjusted well. Hopefully, the survey will tell us they agree.

In webinar #2 eight spectacular Delarc staff joined in with live examples of how they have used the Caring Chain with real people to make a real difference in those people’s lives. All eight did us proud with very thoughtful and effective examples. Again, we hope the surveys confirm this.

Our focus now becomes next week’s webinar Assessing Caring Relationships on May 6. We think this will be a winner. We have developed a form and process for people to use to assess caring in individual staff members. The form is user friendly and people usually like that. And the process is good too. Based on direct observation; not hear say, in several situations; not about a one time mistake. Supervisors will be asked to provide feedback on a number of indicators in 5 key areas including: Language, Interactions / Attentiveness, Promotes Independence, Projects the Attitude and Body Language of Caring, Uses Time Well.

We tested this form with one of our departments and it went very well. We based it on a number of other tools we have developed over the years.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Moving Mountains

2010-04-23T16:33:00.002-04:00

In addtion to moving into the world of webinars (see prior entry) another exciting development is we have been notified Delarc’s Life and Career Model has been selected as a winner of the Moving Mountains Best Practice Award. This prestigious award is presented by National Association for Direct Support Professionals (www.nadsp.org) for Delarc’s significant achievement in workforce development.

Award winners are expected to participate in a case study process. On June 14 and 15 a team from the University of Minnesota’s Research and Training Center on Community Living will be visiting Delarc to begin the case study process.

The award will be presented at NADSP’s 2010 Reinventing Quality Conference in August.

Aiyiyiyiyi!

Venturing into the Webinar world

2010-04-23T16:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday The Arc of Delaware County conducted it's first ever webinar. We believe approximately 250 people spread throughout 20 or so agencies across the state of Kansas participated. This was the first of four webinars Interhab of Kansas sponsored. Interhab is a trade association of rehabilitation agencies in Kansas (www.interhab.org). They have approximately 38 member agencies located throughout Kansas. So over half of their members participated. Some had five people in the audience some had over 50.

The Webinar, titled, Introduction to a Positive Approach, was scheduled to last 90 minutes, it ended up going an extra 10 minutes. From our end it seemed to go well. We expect to be talking to the folks at Interhab within the next day or two to hear what they thought.

We have three more webinars scheduled for the next three Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:30. The titles of the next three are:

Webinar #2 Exploring the Caring Chain

Webinar #3 Assessing Caring Relationships

Webinar #4 Effective use of Praise and Reinforcement

If these go well, and we are confident they will, our plan is twofold. First we will continue to offer these and additional webinars through Interhab. Secondly we will begin to market them outside Kansas directly.

The Energy of Caring

2010-03-28T11:22:00.002-04:00

Seems like every few months I dwell on a particular aspect of organizational development or personal performance. Lately I have been having discussions and thinking a lot about what I call the Energy of Caring.

On the positive side I watch our Direct Service Professionals in action and that’s what they are, in action. They are on their feet, they move from person to person, they are giving the attention of proximity, they are pulling out material or putting it away, they are ready to provide hand on hand assistance if needed because they are at the person’s side. They’re also ready to catch someone who slips or give a reassuring hand because they’re physically close by.

When I visit other organizations of hear from folks who do, I see and hear about people sitting at desks or tables and spewing directions “long distance”. I heard one of our great team members say “couch potato parenting doesn’t work”. I think the same is true about providing services. It can’t be done from a chair, desk or table. People need to be on their feet and moving to provide good supports.

Think about seminars you have attended or speeches you have heard and I think the ones that inspired you, the ones you learned from, the ones you remember were form people who demonstrated energy.

Pay attention to this over the next few days and let me know what you think. Is your energy and that of those around you more like a couch potato or is it reflective of the caring our folks need. What can you do about it? What are you doing about it? I would love to hear from you.

Leadership style continued

2010-02-14T11:59:00.001-05:00

My February 12, 2010 entry explained I have been asked to write down my thoughts regarding my leadership style. What follows is the second of several elements I think about. As I pointed out in that posting, the more I write the more I realize the idea of giving any of them priority over the rest is futile. The numbers only serve to keep me organized and to enable me to write about other things and then come back to continue the list. Each number is preceded by LE which stands for Leadership Element.

LE#2: Listen and Respect Minority Opinions.

Sorting through the continual barrage of information and misinformation leaders face every day is a huge challenge. The key is acute listening. Listening to the emotions; to the behavior and the body language to find the real message behind the words which are spoken requires hard work (dedication), practice (further dedication) and the ability to put aside issues of power and control. It also means admitting when we are wrong ( a huge power issue) and seeking win – win solutions; at once, humbling and gratifying.
One of the things I take particular pleasure in is when one person with a minority position convinces the group to go a different way; to continue searching or flat out convinces them their opinion was wrong. These occurrences please me because they demonstrate people respect each other; that the minority person is comfortable and not afraid they will be ridiculed, ostracized or placated. It means the team has been properly recruited, trained and supported. I believe a track record of listening to minority opinions (and all that goes with that) may be the single best measure of a Leader’s accomplishments.

My Leadership Style

2010-02-12T20:39:00.004-05:00

It’s been way too long since my last posting but I’m back now and glad it is so.

A couple of months ago one of our key team members asked a few of us to write about our leadership styles. Of course I was flattered she thought to ask, but more than that I was impressed. I’m not sure what her plan is for these thoughts but I know it will be fascinating. I’m excited to be part of her brainchild. Thanks Molly.

Over these many weeks I’ve been jotting down a list of random thoughts with the idea of eventually putting some words in front of them. As I look at my list I find it very hard to prioritize the various facets of this thing called style. So I stopped trying and started writing. The more I write the more I realize the idea of giving any of them priority over the rest is futile. You see at any given time, in any given circumstance any one of them will always take precedence. And maybe that’s what leadership is all about. An accumulation of elements that compliment each other and are used to solve problems, define a path and inspire others.

There’s a danger in giving things numbers because numbers imply priority. In this case the numbers only serve to keep me organized and to enable me to write about other things and then come back to continue the list. Each number is preceded by LE which stands for Leadership Element.

So my list starts here. Who knows when or where it will end?

LE #1: The Twist of Creating a Learning Organization.

You hear a lot about the need to be a learning organization but little about how to become one. Does it mean everyone being enrolled in some form of higher or adult education? Does it mean spending huge sums on new technologies? Hiring the most expensive consultants? I guess it could mean any or all of those.
But for me it means creating an atmosphere; an atmosphere that encourages questions from anyone to anyone at any time. An atmosphere that seeks the right answers; no matter how difficult or where that search takes you. An atmosphere passionately obsessed with mission and vision and values and empowerment.
The result is learning by everyone, all the time. And here’s the twist. When everyone is learning, everyone becomes the teacher. When someone asks me a question, as I am giving them the answer, I’m learning a little about them. When they get the answer they’re prepared to answer that question the next time someone else asks it.
Each year I view myself more as a teacher of teachers and I mean that in the broadest sense possible. And I see the same thing in our most talented staff. We don’t hire a lot of certified teachers and yet everyone we hire has teaching responsibilities. We expect supervisors to be teachers of their subordinates and staff to share what they know with each other. Everyone searching and learning from each other. Seems like a learning organization to me.

Web-based training

2009-12-11T19:47:00.000-05:00

I met with a couple of extremely well qualified people yesterday to learn more about web-based training. I think it may be in our future and am anxious to discuss it with our Administrative Leadership Team. Will keep you posted.

Unusual reunion; unexpected benefit.

2009-11-30T11:48:00.001-05:00

In my prior posting I wrote about the success of the Sedgwick County Developmental Disabilities Conference, Nov. 16 & 17 in Wichita, and what it taught me about unexpected benefits. It also provided me, personally, an unexpected benefit; a reunion with a cousin I hadn’t seen in at least 44 years.

During the lunch break on the first day of training a woman asked me a question specific to her work. We had a lovely conversation. Before we separated I wanted to remember her name. The first name on her name tag held no surprise but her last name certainly caught my attention. “Colucci” my mother’s full blooded, immigrant Italian, maiden name was displayed on the lapel of a person whose physical appearance would lead you to believe she was anything but Italian. First there was the surprise about the name and then there was surprise at the person with the name.

I explained my surprise and she quickly told me her husband’s family is from Niagara Falls, my home town. He also works in the field and was present. I excitedly said, “Go get him”. She did and I learned his father James is my age but a year behind me in school. His Dad, Jimmy and my Mom, Big Chris (Jimmy’s sister was Little Chris) were cousins. Both have past away. James remembered my Dad but had a hard time remembering Chris. But when I said, Big Chris, he remembered instantly. Way fun.

I asked James if his Dad was “Jimmy the Mailman”. He was and he was the Jimmy Colucci I worked with for a year or so in a part time job we both had during my freshman year in college. Jimmy and I would deliver the weekend edition of the Niagara Falls Gazette. On Friday evenings we delivered the preprinted section of the paper. Comics, advertising inserts, etc. At midnight on Saturday we would show up to deliver the Sunday news sections. Jimmy drove the truck and I delivered, dropped, tossed and tumbled bundles of papers. We were a team. We worked well. We had fun. We enjoyed each other. We did good work. I learned to respect and like Jimmy. He was a fine teammate and friend.

We all had dinner, told family stories and talked about the Falls.

While I thoroughly enjoyed having some time with this family branch, the most fulfilling benefit was the feelings deep inside that talking about Jimmy brought back. There are people, the briefest mention of whom, makes you smile. I have been blessed to know a few, my wife is one. Jimmy is one. His memory makes me smile and inside I feel a whole lot better. This reunion rekindled a little spirit, makes life a little bit more pleasant and gave me a valued unexpected benefit. How great is that?

Great Training; Unexpected Benefits.

2009-11-30T10:05:00.001-05:00

InterHab is a not for profit organization in Kansas which supports the rehabilitation community. I was asked to give the keynote address and a series of breakout sessions on one day of their annual conference in October.

That Shappening proved to be a high impact day, the October day served as a natural promotion for a November Shappening at the Sedgwick County DD Service s Annual Conference in Wichita.

Topic: Shift Happens … Creating a Proactive Organization.
November 16/17, 2009

This was an amazing conference. Following an introduction to the topic at the October InterHab Conference there was a buzz in the Kansas Rehab Community about the November conference. One week beforen the traiing 80 people, about what was projected, were registered. At two days prior 100 people were registered. By the day of the training approximately 180 people showed up. The space would have been comfortable and appropriate for 80.

The Conference was a big success. On a scale of 1 (low) and 10 (high) 83 % of the attendees rated the two days a nine or better and an outstanding 53 % rated it a ten.

The audience was absolutely great. Resistance and defensiveness was absent. People were excited to be there and ready to bear an open mind. They were also gracious.
The space was not at all appropriate for the number of people. It was very nice; just too small for this size group. It looked like a packed church supper. Long rows of tables and chairs back to back so tightly one struggled to walk through their isle.

On Monday morning the first thing we tried to do was to find another space for the second day. Unfortunately none of the leads worked out and by 10:00 it was determined we would be in those tight quarters for the duration. It was then, our team of Hope Townsend, Brian Espada and myself decided we would have to make sure to stay on top of our game; keep things moving and fun. Early on we praised the group for dealing with the tight quarters so well. We continued to do so at intervals throughout the two days. At a point during the afternoon of the second day an observation lead to a thought.

I noticed that regardless of the cramped space and in spite of the normal difficulty finding a temperature that satisfies everyone people were focused. They were listening and thinking. They challenged themselves and our team. It was great. Just the kind of people we enjoy working with.

We trusted the impact of fast moving, insightful, creative material and it proved us correct. Those two days taught me that if the material is interesting and the presenters knowledgeable, passionate and fun it can make up for various inadequacies.

In this case, I was amazed at how well people tolerated the cramped conditions. No complaining, no bailing, no irritability. Just focus and learning. After a while I couldn’t help but think about the Shift Happens material and the audience’s hunger for new and better ideas.

I have always known this material is powerful, but those two days in Wichita were striking evidence of just how impressively powerful it was on those two days. If it weren’t for that, those two days would have been something people endured and perhaps resented. Instead the worries we had the first morning never materialized, the time flew, there were lots of aha moments, laughter and learning.

An unexpected and appreciated benefit of great training!

Style

2009-10-16T15:23:00.001-04:00

There are schools of management, theories of management, leadership institutes and good old best practices which often come from the school of hard knocks. But we have recently been discussing leadership styles and more specifically what are the styles we most appreciate.

We are a learning organization and one of the things we want to learn about is how to bring newer recruits up to speed as quickly as possible and, correspondingly, how to we help them avoid the mistakes we all made along the way.

One way we have decided upon is to probe deeply into this thing we call style. Style can be like opinions where everyone thinks theirs is the right one. But that’s not where we want to go. We’re going in two directions.

First, we are asking ourselves 2 questions:
1 Who are the leaders we learn from?
2 What are their styles? And we are trying to be very specific, concrete here.

We are not inexperienced nor are we unaccomplished. But we all know there is more to do and more to learn. So from what leaders do we not only get direction but education or learning? How do they teach us? Some of this is their willingness to share information; some the way they do it. For some it’s the perspective they bring; for others the respect they show.

Secondly, we are approaching those people we each admire (and they may very well be different for each of us) to ask them to describe their style. What do they think makes them so effective? What is it they think makes others effectively learn from them?

So, what do you think? Please respond to this entry with the specific characteristics of the styles from which you best learn. Think about your personal guru and what is it about her/him that works for you …. And let us know.

We don’t expect this will be a fast exercise. It will take time, concentration and discussion. We will report back from time on our progress. So stay tuned.

What a squad!

2009-09-30T17:05:00.000-04:00

I’m like a lot of other folks. I don’t watch golf on TV unless Tiger’s playing. The last couple of times I’ve watched it struck me how the officials insist on absolute quiet when golfers are hitting their shots. Yet, if you turn the channel and watch a basketball championship game you see something quite different.

With one second to go all eyes are on the person taking the last free throw attempt. If he/she makes it, the game is tied and if they make the second shot, they’re the champions. If not they lose. And while on the other channel there is absolute silence, during the whole time the round ball player is getting ready and shooting the fans are screaming, waving anything they can get their hands on and doing their absolute best to distract the shooter.

Just as much riding on either sport; yet, one insists on silence while at the other disruption and commotion rule. Big money and huge prestige riding on both.

These are the kinds of things that capture my attention and make me think about our work. Some times it’s nice and quiet. Moments later it’s distraction and diversion. Yet it doesn’t prevent the Delarc Team from scoring one victory after another for the children and adults we serve and support.

What a squad!

Uncluttered Minds

2009-09-25T12:27:00.006-04:00

Yesterday afternoon the Leadership Team met to review the first draft of our proposal to introduce the Shift Happens proactive philosophy and positive approach into the NYS OMRDD system (see last post).

What an incredible group of people! After a brief introduction I distributed the draft, broke them into small groups and asked them to do their thing. And what a thing they did. Their observations, comments, criticisms, inputs, changes and questions were all on the money. At the end of the meeting we had a whole new, and needless to say, better document.

Almost 20 years ago, the late Fred McDonald, a consultant, was hired by our Board of Directors to lead a strategic planning process. He worked with us 3 to 5 days a month for over a year and in the process came to know our staff very well. At one point he commented to me about the awe he felt when working with them. He said that no matter how busy they were or what the topic, when he spoke to them individually or as a group he marvelled at their "uncluttered minds".

Quite a few of the members have changed since then; some have remained but to this day when you get these folks together their minds remain uncluttered. This does not mean they are not busy. Nor does it mean they don't live full and abundant lives. Quite the contrary. The abundance of their lives and the importance and busy ness of their jobs is what makes their ability to put everything else aside, listen to the question or examine the issue and focus clearly, thoughtfully and thoroughly on the matter at hand continues to excite and inspire me.

They never fail to impress me and they never, ever fail to accomplish the job. And, in this case, the proposal we are developing has benefited greatly.

What an talented, amazing and fun group of people. How lucky The Arc of Delaware County is to have so many fine people.

2009-09-25T12:27:00.001-04:00

Shifting New York

2009-09-21T14:13:00.001-04:00

Over the spring and summer the Executive Directors Association of NYSARC (EDA) sponsored three regional training sessions for Executive Teams. The results were strong and a conference call is scheduled for later this week to discuss possible next steps. While timing may not be right for some and others may have other priorities, it seems very likely several organizations will be interested in more training or consultations.

At the third session, three high level officials from the NYS Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) attended. They felt the material offered serious implications for their organization and today our CFO, Teresa Skinner and I met with them and several other officials along with the EDA Chair. The meeting couldn’t have gone better. All agree the Shift Happens model is worth bringing forward to District offices for further review. A Nov. 4 date was set to introduce them to the model.

At the same time we will be developing a state wide plan/proposal. One of the foundation pieces will be to develop a pilot the model within the Broome District.

While all this is going on we continue to work with Orange County AHRC.

New York may not be Shifting yet, but it looks like it is about to.

Outcomes for People

2009-07-13T11:35:00.002-04:00

I recentlly asked our Leadership Team what they thought Delarc's major accomplishments over the last year have been. In no priority order, here is what they said:

--- Delarc's Person Centered Planning process has significantly evolved and is producing amazing results for people. The additions this year have made it easier for people to understand, particpate and take the lead in the process. More people are running their meetings, asserting themselves and setting ambitious goals.

--- This then has lead to a dramtic increase in meaningful community inclusive activity / participation.

--- The number of adult education classes offered to our folks by community members has increased. The variety of such classes has been very well received and has motivated all involved.

--- The openness of the community and its willingness to include our folks in their activities, businesses and events has increased in numbers and in spirit. The community is beginning to see our folks in a whole new light.

--- The progress we are making in working with local schools and BOCES to improve the transition process has been exciting and offers much promise for the future.

--- More individuals who have never earned any income are now doing so for the first time in their lives.

--- The number and diversity of organizations interested in our proactive philosophy and positive approach has exploded ... all by word of mouth.

I'm sure if I gave them more time this list would be a lot longer. None the less, it is still something of which our entire organization is proud. The cool thing about this group is that this success motivates them to continue learning, try harder and do more for the people they support.

Very exciting!

Communications from Staff

2009-06-30T13:21:00.002-04:00

Following are copies of emails I received this week from two of our team members. They show the impact we are having on people; the people we support, our families and the rehab community.

Received June 23, 2009

Hi George,

I just wanted to take a moment to tell you about a revelation I had recently. When I started working for the agency and learned about Shift Happens I thought it was wonderful. It made such good sense and seemed so easy. Over the years I've seen how it has worked so well with those we serve. I guess I never thought how it would carry over into my personal life until I became a mom. Now that Natalie is two I often find myself using the techniques that I was taught as part of the shift happens approach, whether it is with potty training, teaching her how to get dressed, dealing with her tantrums, or preparing her to be a big sister.

Then last night she started reinforcing me when I was folding laundry. It made me stop and smile and think maybe she's a future Delarc employee?

Amy Anderson
Medicaid Service Coordinator
The Arc of Delaware County

Received June 25, 2009

I was at an ISP meeting today in another county at a different agency, and was shocked to hear how unhappy people were with their jobs, administration etc at their respective agency. I felt bad for them that they are not as happy in their jobs as I am, and without making it sound like I am bragging to them, I said well we do this and we do that at the Delarc and how many of these folks were wowed and wished they could have that and things were run like the Delarc.

Along the same lines, I attend many trainings for Start up Brokerage and MSC training and I seem to get more attention than the trainer because I say at the Delarc we already do..... whatever the topic may be. I have had other trainees come to me for more about what we do and completely bypass the person facilitating the training!

I just am sending this email I guess to say that I am so glad to be where I am and that from what I see out there we are head and shoulders above the rest!

Aza Hoyt

I want to thank Amy and Aza for giving me permission to share their thoughts with you. Most of all, though, I want to thank them for being part of the Delarc Team.

Unanticpated Benefits

2009-06-18T14:04:00.001-04:00

Hi there. In our books and when speaking to groups about our proactive philosophy and positive approach we always emphasize that, while our primary concern is and always will be with the children and adults we support, the Shift Happens model also offers many important benefits to us in our private lives.

Today I received the following from one our organizations brightest stars. With her permission I have placed it on the blog as a prime example of that point.

Thanks Arlene.

Good Morning George,

I felt I had to share this with you to show you how my life has changed since working with the Arc.

My daughter called yesterday in tears that her Grandfather had passed away. She told me how terrible she felt that she had not visited him for quite a while and now it was too late. Prior to working for the Arc, I would have gone to her, consoled her and probably enabled her feelings of guilt. A light bulb seemed to come on over my head and since learning of our philosophy and principles I thought to myself, "what a teachable moment"!! I, of course, extended my condolences over her loss and then told her how very important it is to "stop and smell the roses" and that all of us should take the time out of our busy lives to visit or call our loved ones, our friends, the elderly and the sick as we never know what the next day will bring. It is a hard lesson for my daughter to learn, but it certainly is a life lesson that we all should learn that when we have caring relationships, we need to keep them flourishing not only for those we care about but for ourselves.

I truly live the Arc way, not only at work but in my personal life and I am truly grateful that I have found this agency. I wanted to share this with you as little moments such as these should be shared!! Thank you for allowing me to be part of an organization that truly makes a difference in people's lives, no matter how small the difference--it matters!!
Arlene J Goedel
Administrative Assistant
RFI
190 Prospect Avenue
Walton, NY

THOSE WE SERVE COME FIRST
COMMIT TO EXCELLENCE
BE DEDICATED
EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION
COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY
BE INNOVATIVE

News update.

2009-06-14T15:29:00.003-04:00

Update:

1 Delarc celebrated its annual meeting / dinner / award ceremony on Friday June 12. It was a huge success. Over 225 people in attendance, an all time high, and, to over whelming delight, all of them lit a figurative “fire cracker” at the conclusion of the meeting.

2 On June 30 we will conduct our last conference call with the Action Tems in Georgia. Our contract expires that day. It has been an extraordinary success. All six participating agencies report making significant improvements in their culture and performance. They all are very grateful to the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) for providing this service. All wish to continue making the Shift and for the contract to be renewed in the next fiscal year.
DHR has informed us their budget is very uncertain. Based on the results they have expressed high interest in developing a year 3 contract. The very poor fiscal climate is a significant obstacle. The reorganization which the State legislature very recently approved presents a different issue. How long will it take to create the new structure; for the new Director to set his vision; and to determine if this project fits within the any possible new priorities are all important questions.

3 In mid August the EDA (Executive Directors, Association) will sponsor its third 2 day Shift Happens Executive Team conference. The purpose will be to present a detailed overview of the Shift Happens Model. So far 12 different teams have participated in sessions conducted in NYC and Geneva.
The EDA has taken a bold step with this training and is in a position to take a national leadership role in reducing and eliminating the use of physical intervention and restraint with people with developmental disabilities.

4 The rate of growth the children and adults Delarc supports has always been high but it seems to me the rate has significantly increased over the last two years.
Why?
I think there are a few answers:
- Our leadership team is more focused on learning and growth than it has ever been. It has worked diligently to standardize operations and to make those standards extraordinary.
- Our recruitment, orientation and training practices are continually fine tuned.
- A large number of new curricula have been created. Methods are also improving.
- Respectful, empowering, supportive monitoring at all levels assures accountability.
- The fire for continual improvement shines bright in both our newest and most veteran team members. People in this organization, like no other, embrace change.
Lots of people would add many other things to this list, but these are the things that grab me, at the moment.

5 We have learned President Obama has created a Social Innovation Fund the purpose of which, as we understand it, is to find pockets of excellence in the not for profit sector and to study and bring their success to scale.
This is new and information is sketchy. However we are tracking it and have had a preliminary conversation with one of NYS Sen. Gillenbrand’s representatives. We asked for the Senators assistance and advocacy in accessing this fund. We firmly believe the Shift Happens Model is exactly the type of success they are looking for.
Wish us luck.

Off to Georgia ... one more time.

2009-03-28T19:43:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow morning Hope, Heidi and I head off to Georgia for a week. Our first stop will be in Bremen where we will work again with an organization we first worked with last year. This will be our fourth visit there and our last this year. This time we will be doing a variety of things from working hand in hand with many of their front line staff, to providing training on how to use the Stages of Development process to measure performance to helping them develop their corporate values to meeting with a group of families. It will be a busy two days.

Bremen is west of Atlanta, about ten miles from the Alabama line. When we finish Tuesday we will drive to Covington, 40 or 50 miles east of Atlanta. Wednesday and Thursday will be devoted to training two new organizations about our People Power leadership model. We’ll explore what it means to be a values based organization and how to build corporate values into one’s recruitment, orientation, training, supervision, performance review and time management processes thereby building and strengthening the corporate culture.

We will come back Friday, exhausted but exhilarated.

Geat teamwork. It must be luck!

2009-03-28T19:36:00.001-04:00

The Delarc Team is amazing. I have never taken it for granted and always expect the best; yet it continues to surprise and delight. It doesn’t matter what the task or situation, they always respond with excellence and they do so with a smile.

Recently they provided a unique experience for a group of local sixth graders, rallied round an individual we support who was going through an extremely stressful home situation and prepared for a Medicaid audit; all while providing top notch service to children and adults in Delaware County and mentoring several other agencies in New York and Georgia. Simply amazing!

The audit will be happening over the new few weeks, so we’ll have to wait to see how that makes out. But the sixth graders were thrilled and the fellow who was having such difficulty is doing fine, the children and adults we support are thriving and the organizations with whom we are working are thrilled.

What makes for such excellence? Sometimes I think we are the luckiest organization ever. And while I’m just superstitious enough not to deny its random power, I have always believed you make your luck.

Inc. magazine, in this month’s issue (April ’09) features an interview with Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and Built to Last. In the interview he says, “I see nothing to contradict the principle that who comes first and what comes second, for a very simple reason: If you cannot predict the what, you have to be able to do a good job with the who, because the what is going to be constantly shifting.”

When he was asked what he meant by doing a good job with the who, he asked the following question. “Do you have a culture of people who A. share a set of values, B. have very clear responsibilities, and C. perform.”

Mr. Collins’ formula has been the one the Delarc Team has been committed to for over 30 years. It was one of the first organizations in the U.S. to put it’s core values, which it calls its Unifying Principles, in writing back in the 80’s. Since then it has methodically built those values into every practice and process and has gone to extravagant lengths to assure all new hires share them.

It transformed all it job descriptions to be outcome not duty oriented. Expectations are further clarified daily through well trained coaches and weekly through individual sit down meetings with their immediate supervisor. Performance is measure through a unique tool it developed called the Stages of Employee Development within the first week of employment, at 30 and 90 days and at least annually thereafter.

Find recruits who share your values, clarify your expectations, provide world class coaching and measure performance objectively and consistently and I guess luck will follow.

Shout It From The Rooftops!

2009-03-18T13:39:00.004-04:00

The Arc of Delaware County is totally committed to a positive, proactive approach in our care and treatment of people with disabilties. Unfortunately there are many agencies across the country that don't share our beliefs; please take a moment to check out the link below and you will see just one more example of such. We frequently hear of physical abuses and even deaths of people with disabilites because of the care and treatment they receive by the people whose care they are entrusted to.

Though the information in the link is very troubling to hear, it's important for us to keep this in front of people - it's time for America to get their heads out of the sand and really know what is happening in this country to people with disabilities. Our agency spends a great deal of time and engergy trying to spread the word that there is a better way; our CEO does trainings for any agency in the country who is willing to listen. We need your help though - together we can raise awareness and help people know there really is a better way. I encourage you to help us spread the word - share this information with everyone you know.

I'll leave you with one thought: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead

Link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101937985

Thank you.
Catherine Tweedie,
Delarc Community Relations Director

Positive Behavioral Supports

2009-02-25T17:54:00.001-05:00

Two Delarc heroes.

During the week of February 15 to 20, Chief Operating Officer, Barbara Rothenberg and Life Coach 10, Sharon Klinger achieved remarkable results in Delarc’s efforts to find practical ways to assist others committed to supporting people with developmental disabilities.

During our visit to two different agencies, one on Monday and Tuesday the other on Wednesday and Thursday, Barb and Sharon spent their first day shadowing an individual chosen by each agency due to the significant challenge each was presenting. We asked them to pick their toughest case.

In one case this included starting at 6:45 A.M. in the person’s home. At the end of the day and into the evening they then devised the approach they would demonstrate the next day. Lesson plans were written as were behavior plans which included reinforcement types and schedules.

The next morning was spent delivering instruction to the particular individual and teaching layers of staff to do the same. Sharon took the lead with instruction as Barb coached staff.

One of the things that distinguishes Delarc is our belief that Directors, in addition to being good administrators, must be excellent teachers. With this in mind, after they observed Sharon and with Barb’s support, the respective directors then took over for Sharon. They followed the lesson plan and learned how to use lavish reinforcement for and planned ignoring. Next came the next supervisor and the next. Finally, direct support staff took their turn.

By noon the individual’s team was prepared to continue the lesson the next day. During the afternoon debrief questions were answered, further detail provided so what they learned could be generalized to other individuals.

At our next stop Wednesday and Thursday, we followed the same process with a different individual. In both cases the results were remarkable. Behaviors were nearly eliminated and the people actively participated in the lessons Barb and Sharon devised.
Simply amazing.

As part of our project we conduct conference calls with the Action Teams of all the organizations every 6 weeks or so. Yesterday we had one and parties from both of those organizations participated and reported to the rest of the group what had occurred and the results they saw. At one point I asked if we showed up today and asked for their toughest cases, if they would choose these two people and in both cases they answered a resounding NO!

Simply amazing. No wonder Barb and Sharon are my heroes!!

Good Teaching and Engagement.

2009-01-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

Rafe Esquith is a 5th grade public school teacher in Los Angeles and the only teacher ever to receive the National Medal of the Arts award. His latest book is: Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire. We are ordering it for our library. Sign up now to read it.

At one point in the interview he said something that rang a loud bell for me. He said part of his philosophy is “put more food on the table and everyone will find something they like to eat.”

At Delarc we call it person-centered engagement. A rose by any other name, stills smells as sweet.

I believe this demonstrates, one more time, our philosophy and approach is state of the art. You are doing what the best of the best in the world are doing. The people you support are receiving the benefits and that is something of which we should all be proud.

I am looking for a volunteer or two to read the book and advise us of what they discover.Let me know if you are interested. Thanks

Training again

2009-01-14T19:36:00.000-05:00

We’re off and running again in Georgia!

On Tuesday January 13, we kicked off our new contract with the State of Georgia. This is the second contract with them. This year we will be continuing our work with 4 agencies and adding 3 new one to the mix. On Tuesday we conducted an overview session for Georgia providers to help them decide if they want to apply to be one of the three new agencies. There were approximately 75 people present. And id sounded like several agencies plan to submit an application.

Today, was day one of a two day visit to one of last year’s agencies. There is a team of three of us here and two of our staff spent the day observing the program in action and in particular focused on one individual who presents a particular challenge. It is now 7:30 pm and they are meeting to compare their notes and to develop their recommendations for improvement which we will present tomorrow. At the end of the day we also provided Time Management training to a number of their staff which we will continue and conclude tomorrow afternoon.

Exhausting but excellent.

Board Relations and the Shift Happens Model

2009-01-09T11:21:00.002-05:00

Earlier this week I meet with the President of our Board of Directors regarding our upcoming Board meeting and a few other Board matters. As the meeting was starting he said that there was something he had been reading he wanted to read me. It comes from the book, Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card. He read the following to me:

Soldiers who did good work did not have special privileges and were given no special authority, so they were not resented by the others. The praise was not effusive, so it never embarrassed them. Instead, they were admired by the others, and emulated. And the focus of the soldiers became the earning of Bean’s recognition.

That was true power. Frederick the Great’s dictum that soldiers had to fear their officers more than they feared the enemy was stupid. Soldiers needed to believe they had the respect of their officers, and to value that respect more than they valued life itself. Moreover, they had to know that their officers’ respect was justified--that they really were the good soldiers their officers believed them to be.

When he was done he said that as he was reading this passage “It dawned on me that this is what Delarc is about and I wanted to share it with you.” A very interesting observation and one I wanted to share with you.

This is great on a number of levels and I would like you to think about it. Do you agree? Disagree? Do you see this applying to the people we support? To our subordinate staff?

How great is it that someone from our Board would see something in print, think of us and then take the time to point it out.

Great stuff!

Measurement … a dilemma

2008-12-15T17:12:00.001-05:00

We often are asked about the effectiveness of our training. How do we know it works? What data can we provide to convince them our training will be right for them? This is expected and is a thoroughly legitimate and respected question. Our usual response is that we have not figured out how to measure it. We explain that we are practitioners not researchers and that while we totally support the accountability that is measurement, we just haven’t figured out what we should be measuring or how to do it.

The people who ask the question are those who have not experienced it. And that is reasonable. However, it is interesting no one who has ever experienced the training has worried about it. Instead they leave, thoroughly excited and motivated to use the tools we give them to make the changes they determine are necessary in their organizations. And they report positive results. It is also very interesting that no paying customer has ever asked us to honor our long standing 100% money back guarantee. Quite the contrary; they usually either ask us for more or recommend us to others.

That’s all well and good but the question remains and we are committed to answering it. In 2008, we approached several relevant parties to assist us in the effort and all fell through for different reasons.

Some research has led us to ask the following: should we be measuring the effectiveness of our training in terms of the competencies or skills those leaving the training attain or should we be measuring what they do with those skills when they get back on job? Is our job to give them a process, tools and supports and theirs to make a measurable difference?

We don’t have an answer but we are committed to finding one. If you can help, let us know. If you just want to add your two cents, that’s OK too.

We will keep you posted.

The spread of our positive behavioral and proactive management philosophy and approach.

2008-11-22T16:37:00.005-05:00

1 Interest in our highly effective proactive philosophy and positive approach continues to grow. On Thursday the 20th we hosted four visitors from the Saratoga County ARC. The visitors included their Executive Director and three members of her executive team. All experienced professional and all very impressed with what they experienced.

When such visitors come to Delarc we don't do the typical tour. Rather they are expected to be here by 8:30 a.m. and to spend their day in our Vantage Point (VP) program. We invented VP in 1992 and since then every new employee spends their first dau of employment as a consumer of services. During the course of the day they are involved in a series of role play experiences that place them in the shoes (or wheelchair) of a person with disabilities and which teach them things new employees want to learn; like the names of their new co-workers.

By 3:00 they have had the experience of a lifetime. Something they will long remember and we hope they never forget. The folks from Saratoga left with a lot to talk about on the drive home and even more to think about as they, like the rest of us, strive to improve the quality of their services and supports.

2 Just before I met with the folks from Saratoga at 3:15 I picked up a phone message asking me to check my email. It was from the state of Georgia and contained a contract to deliver a second year of consulting and training to providers there. During ’08 we have mentored six different agencies for people with disabilities in Atlanta, Breeman, Athens, Augusta, Waycross and Lithonia.

The ’09 contract is to continue that work while adding three more agencies.

3 On December 3 we will have two folks visiting from the Yates County ARC. Their Executive Director and Chief Psychologist visited a couple of months ago and as they build momentum for change they want more of their employees to experience, first hand, our unique philosophy and approach.

4 We are currently developing plans to conduct several Executive 2 day introductory sessions across New York State. They will be sponsored by the NYSARC Executive Directors Association and should be launched in January or February. These Execs and their teams will learn about our Shift Happens and People power Models of Excellence.
I’m quite certain at least several of them will want additional help moving forward.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Recruitment and Training

2008-11-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I conducted the last of four training sessions with Delarc supervisors. There were two groups and each group participated in two four hour sessions. It had been a few years since this training was offered so the groups contained both fairly new and some well experienced supervisors.

Both groups impressed me in many ways including:

1 All the bright eyes. I didn’t notice one “dud” in the lot. Every single person, 35 in total, actively participated. At one time or another, every single person asked questions, offered opinions and contributed important insights. People were alert and stayed alert.

2 Eager learners. The purpose of the training was to impress upon them the critical importance of their jobs and to increase their mindfulness of key issues. Issues which I need to count on them to continually address in order for our organization to maximize employee productivity and retention; which in turn will lead to the satisfaction of the people we serve and their families and in the longer run accomplish our mission.

At the conclusion of the sessions I was convinced that each person left the room having learned important information, gained important insights and increased the mindfulness we were looking for. They came in with the right mind set and left better equipped and motivated to provide world class levels of coaching and support to our world class staff.

3 The benefit of proper recruitment. This lesson continues to shine through in so many ways. There were several times during the sessions when I couldn’t help think of prior training sessions we have conducted with many different audiences across the country. While there were always bright and motivated people in attendance and while, with humility, I can say there were other, more borderline performers we were able to captivate and bring around, all too frequently there were people in the audience who quite clearly didn’t belong there. In too many cases, they outnumbered those that did belong.

Our emphasis on proper recruitment and selection pays off in so many ways. The caliber of those 35 supervisors proves it once again.

4 The children and adults we support come first. This principle is so simple; yet, so profound. Easy to say; extremely difficult to actualize. It is the bottom line of this organization. The key to that actualization is the partnership between our staff and the people who coach and support them.

I slept well last night (at least until 3:00 when I started thinking about the day ahead) knowing that partnership will be even stronger.

Geraldo Rivera Takes on the Waiting List Crisis!

2008-11-10T12:54:00.001-05:00

January 6, 2009 hour-long news special to focus on the emerging crisis for people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Visibly moved by comments from self-advocates, family members and chapter leaders at the Opening Plenary Session of The Arc's 2008 National Convention, renowned television journalist, Geraldo Rivera, electrified the audience, pledging that on January 6, 2009 - the anniversary of his expose about Willowbrook - he will present a one-hour news special to shine light on the current crisis facing people with disabilities and their families - the Waiting List.

While in Delaware County our waiting list is short, most parts of the country are experiencing long severe waits. It is not at all uncommon for parents in their eighties to still be caring for their adult child in their homes. These parents have been heard to say they can’t die since there will be no one to care for their child.

The Arc US has long advocated for a national response to the waiting list crisis. With Geraldo’s help perhaps the message will get through and states will be moved to act to end these terribly long waits that all too many families are enduring. Look for the special on January 6.

GOVERNANCE

2008-11-10T12:42:00.000-05:00

At The Arc US annual convention on November 6, I attended a session on nonprofit governance which reinforced and supported the work of our Board of Directors.

Entitled “Tools for Excellence” which was conducted by The Arc US Executive Director, Peter Berns and Steve Morgan, Executive Director of The Arc of Baltimore, the session explored important issues and trends facing organizations like ours.

It introduced a tool developed by the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations called Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector. The tool promotes the highest standards of ethics and accountability in nonprofit governance, management and operations.

The thing that attracted me to the session was that some time ago we became aware of the standards and our Board had already determined to use them as it reviews our Board policies. This was the first training session available on their use and I came away very pleased and confident our Board meets most of the standards and especially, the most critical ones.

For more information on the Standards for Excellence, please go to www.standardsforexcellenceinstitute.org or give me a call if that is preferred.

The Shift is Happening in New York!

2008-11-07T14:55:00.002-05:00

At its meeting of October 14th, 2008, the Executive Directors' Association (EDA), a partnership of executive directors of NYSARC Chapters, voted unanimously to have The Arc of Delaware County conduct a series of two day Shift Happens training sessions introducing an alternative to the use of restraints and physical interventions. These trainings will be conducted in various regions throughout New York State, enabling all NYSARC Chapters to participate and hear more about this best practice.

For those unfamiliar with EDA, it is a professional leadership organization that promotes excellence and professional leadership in support of the NYSARC mission, encourages growth and development of quality services for people with disabilities, influences public policy, develops innovations in service delivery, and provides professional participation to the governing structure of NYSARC, Inc. The EDA commits itself to the promotion and maintenance of the highest ethical standards, and Delarc is excited to be part of helping NYSARC chapters make the shift to a non-aversive, proactive approach.

Check back soon for details on how the shift is happening in New York!

Training

2008-10-01T09:35:00.001-04:00

The Challenge of the Challenge

Our first publication, welcome to the Challenge of the Delaware County ARC was written in 1992 and has been a big hit within our organization and with many folks across the country. It has sold out and been reprinted several times. Earlier this year as we were preparing for another reprint we decided we needed to do more than simply reprint it.

Since 1992 many changes have occurred in our field and in our organization and these needed to be included in The Challenge. Since then we have written one other book, Shift Happens…Making The Arc of Delaware County Shift to Proactive Behavior Management and a monograph, Vantage Point, a Dynamic approach to Employee Orientation. These needed to be referred to in The new Challenge because it is the first book our employees read.

In terms of changes in the field like the term Intellectual Disability vs. Mental Retardation, and the concept of person centeredness were not around in 1992. They too needed to be included in the new publication.

Using The Challenge

It took several months to complete the rewrite and printing. When it was delivered our first instinct was to give every staff member a copy. Our fear though was two fold. First we did not want to hand it out and have it sit on shelves. It is an important read. Secondly we wanted to make sure our leaders were well aware of the changes so they could refer to it, be able to answer questions about it and determine how best to introduce it to their existing staff who have all read the original.

So we have held off on distributing to staff while our leaders read it, let me know what they think of it, ask any questions they may have and finally determine how they will use it in their departments. That is currently underway. Once I hear form them and they are prepared, books will be distributed to all existing employees. In terms of new employees, we will keep our practice of having them read The Challenge within their first week of employment.

Obtaining copies

The Challenge of Caring Without Restraint is now available for purchase through our web sites: www.delarc.org or www.shifthappens.tv . Get your copy today.

Happy reading!

The Arc of Delaware County featured in a revolutionary new book.

2008-09-10T15:24:00.002-04:00

TITLE: “For Our Own Safety, Examining the Safety of High-Risk Interventions for Children and Young People” Edited by Michael A. Nunno, David M. Day and Lloyd B. Bullard.

DATE OF RELEASE: July 2008.

BACKGROUND: During June 1-4, 2005, George Suess, CEO, represented The Arc of Delaware County (Delarc), at the first international symposium of its kind, entitled “Examining the Safety of High-Risk Interventions for Children and Young People. The symposium took place at Cornell University. It was cosponsored by Cornell’s Family Life Development Center, Stirling University, Stirling, Scotland and the Child welfare League of America.

For Our Own Safety is devoted entirely to the subject of, and risks associated with, restraint and seclusion of children. This book is a collection of the diverse viewpoints presented at the international symposium, Examining the Safety of High-Risk Interventions for Children and Young People. It presents frank examination of the legal, ethical, and historical uses of physical restraints and seclusion. Also addressed in this collection are issues of safety, the psychological and emotional impacts of restraint, guidelines for development and use, as well as clinical and organizational strategies likely to reduce use. SUMMARY: Intended for use by professionals who want to address the impact of aggression and violence, this volume contributes to the discussion of the appropriate use of high-risk interventions and the ways to improve the general quality services and supports through safe and harm-free environments.

Subsequently, the book described below was born from the papers and presentations from the symposium. Delarc was urged to develop a chapter on the use of restraints as a leadership and cultural matter, which it did.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: YOUNG PEOPLE AND PHYSICAL RESTRAINTS
Chapter 1: Young People's Experiences of Physical Restraint in Residential Care: Subtlety and Complexity in Policy and Practice

PART II: THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL ISSUES
Chapter 2: Literature on the Therapeutic Effectiveness of Physical Restraints with Children and Youth
Chapter 3: Modernizing Seclusion and Restraint

PART III: ENSURING SAFETY AND MANAGING RISK
Chapter 4: Physical Restraints: Are They Ever Safe and How Safe Is Safe Enough?
Chapter 5: Risk and Prone Restraint: Reviewing the Evidence
Chapter 6: Learning from the Research

PART IV: REDUCING RESTRAINTS THROUGH ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Chapter 7: Adopting a Public Health Model to Reduce Violence and Restraints in Children's Residential Care Facilities
Chapter 8: Leadership's and Program’s Role in Organizational and Cultural Change to Reduce Seclusions and Restraints
Chapter 9: A Case Study Organizational Intervention to Reduce Physical Interventions: Creating Effective, Harm-Free EnvironmentsChapter
10: Beyond a Crisis Management Program: How We Reduced Our Restraints by Half in One Year
Chapter 11: Reducing the Use of Seclusion and Restraint in a Day School Program
Chapter 12: Lessons Learned from 30 Plus Years of No Physical Intervention

PART V: LEGAL ISSUES
Chapter 13: Using Restraint: The Legal Context of High-Risk Interventions
Chapter 14: The Reach of Liability for Restraints: A Question of Professional Judgment

PART VI: CONCLUSION
Chapter 15: Moving Forward

ORDERING AND INFORMATION: For information, including purchasing information please go to the Child welfare League of America web www.cwla.org

2008-08-14T18:11:00.002-04:00

Four Shappennings in One!

Shappenning #1

Yesterday afternoon three of our supervisors and I spent an hour conducting our annual "Summer Workers Pizza and Wings Forum". Once a year we gather our summer workers to accomplish a few important things.

Our summer workers can be high school or college students or anyone looking for work in the summer. Sometimes, like this year, we hire school teachers who are looking for something good to do while they make some extra money. This year we had two high school grads about to go off for their first year of college and a special education teacher from a local district.

The primary purpose of the forum is to encourage these, usually young, folks to make a life time commitment to people with disabilities. This can be done through employment (with us we hope), volunteerism, or by just being an enlightened and good citizen / neighbor. A secondary purpose is to thank them for their hard work. And a third is to clarify our proactive philosophy and positive approach.

Shappenning #2

Usually during the forum we serve pizza and wings. This year their Program Director, Molly Little, added a new twist; Shappenning #2. Rather than serving the pizza during the forum, at its conclusion Molly arranged for us to join the rest of her staff in the dining room so that her entire team could recognize them, cementing relationships and acknowledging their good work over a pre-dinner snack.

Shappenning #3

The highlight, for me any way, was the activity Molly cooked up. Between bites, she asked her staff to think of their best advice, a few words of wisdom or an encouraging message they would like each of the summer workers to have. She then asked them to copy the message three times on strips of colored paper.

As they handed each of the summer workers one of their notes Molly asked them to use the tape, she also arranged for, to link the strips into a Caring Chain each could use to decorate their dorm rooms, classroom or homes. Molly’s idea was that they could reflect back on these messages over the upcoming weeks and months.

What a thoughtful shappening kind of idea!

Shappenning #4

This morning I learned that on the way home that night as one of our newest staff was driving home, she spotted one of these very same summer workers walking home with his chain wrapped around his neck. She stopped her car, backing up traffic, jumped out and took a photo of him.

I laughed and laughed. You know, some times (actually quite frequently) I can't believe I get paid to be part of these shappennings.

It’s amazing how positivity breads more positivity and its amazing how one good thing can quickly turn into four. Keep that in mind the next time you have an opportunity to create a shappening.

2008-08-14T17:19:00.002-04:00

A new word …. Shappening!

Sometimes you can’t find the right word to describe something. In some cases we need to invent a word and that’s what I’m doing now.

Shappenning (shap ening) n. any occurrence, activity or event which promotes or demonstrates any of the Shift Happens concepts.

2008-07-25T14:26:00.000-04:00

Where you been?

New Edition of The Challenge

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately writing, just not on this blog. Typically, a project I originally thought would take two or three weeks took three months. The first book the Arc of Delaware County published, in 1992, has been reprinted several times. Before the last reprint we realized it needed modernizing. Many developments have occurred in the field and in our organization since 1992 and the need for a rewrite became clear. Welcome to the Challenge of the Delaware County ARC was written to help introduce new employees to our unique culture. Since then hundreds of new employees have launched their careers with us by reading it during their first week of employment. During that time as well, hundreds of people outside the organization also read and appreciated it.

The biggest development over the years has been the wide spread and rapidly expanding interest in our proactive philosophy and positive approach which has enabled us to support even the most challenging individuals without the use of physical intervention. In light of the growing national controversy over the use and abuse of such techniques interest in positive alternatives has grown and grown. So much so that while many changes occurred in the content of the new edition of The Challenge, it was also decided a change in the title was very much in order. The new edition, entitled Welcome to the Challenge of Caring without Restraint, is currently at the printer and should be available in a few weeks.

The Second Most Frequently Asked Question.

When organizations examine our philosophy and approach they usually have many questions. The first is some variation of, how do we make such a change in our organization? It is amazing the second question that almost always follows is, how do we convince our existing staff to buy in?

They don’t worry about the amount of training they will need to provide. They don’t worry about their Board of Directors’ position, they don’t worry about the impact on the people they support (in large part because they see the immediate benefits). They don’t worry about dollar costs. They don’t worry about new employees. The overwhelming concern is how to convince existing staff to get on board. While I have become use to the question, it still amazes me.

It amazes me for several reasons:

- Don’t their staff want the very best for the people they support? They often say the do.
- What are their values? Are they about excellence or convenience?
- Why the resistance to change? Whenever someone shows me a better way, I can’t wait to get started.
- When they ask that question, do supervisors and executives know how lame they sound? I ask, “Who’s the boss? Who signs the paycheck? Who works for whom?”

Ultimately, once the shock or the humor (depending on my mood) wears off I respond that it usually boils down to get on board or get out!
I’m quick to add that we can’t be arbitrary. That we need to provide inspiration, training, support and opportunity for coached practice but ultimately our responsibility is to the people we are hired to support. So they need to show us they are trying and not just trying but making progress or they need to make room for those who can do what needs to be done.

It’s funny, most of them respond, “You’re right.” But what I struggle to understand is why they need me to say it in the first place. On the other hand, I’m glad they do. I know they appreciate it and I also know it doesn’t take most of the too long to get it. And for that I’m grateful.

“Leaders continually clarify the values.”

2008-05-29T12:15:00.000-04:00

I read the above quote (or something like it) many years ago. Each year it seems more and more profound to me. As I’ve mentioned in prior postings 20 years ago few organizations had their corporate values defined in writing. Now most do but when I ask audiences across the country what the issue today is, they inevitably and unanimously respond that people in organizations don’t demonstrate the values in their day to day work.

The criticism extends both to management and to labor. At some level most everyone observes this, yet very few leaders do anything about it. The values statements become posters on walls or labels on coffee cups that no one notices despite the mega-dollars spent on graphics and printing. They’re hollow and the best of the best within the organization resent the hollowness and worse the customer never experiences the benefits.

Two problems

My observation is the hollowness comes from two sources. The first one goes well beyond our organization or other similar organizations and relates to the huge social issue of saying one thing and doing another. I’ve read certain experts trace this back to advances many years ago in advertising. Madison Ave. types learned a long time ago that if you say something over and over, even if it isn’t true, people will believe it. We have all experienced this time and time again. So now it seems to many of us that more money is spent convincing the public about the quality of an item than is actually spent on improving its basic quality.

Unfortunately, we feel the same is true of far too many human service agencies who have very well written values statements but whose staff act in completely contradictory ways. Hospitals proclaim that “Our patients are our first priority” yet, we find ourselves spending hours in waiting rooms waiting for service or we have to go through way too many phone numbers to get an answer to our questions or worse yet we come out of the hospital will ailments we didn’t have when we went in. Rehab agencies tell us how dedicated they are to their consumers yet they approve behavioral techniques which are medieval.

The result of this is a deadening of our senses. The more of these experiences we encounter, the less sensitive we are to any single occurrence. We have a long way to go in this country to turn this one around.

The second source is that too few leaders have ever worked in a genuinely, values based environment. So they have never learned the role they play in clarifying their values on a moment by moment, event by event, situation by situational basis.

What do we mean?

A few examples may help.

We don’t talk to people who are late for work about the matter as a rules violation. Rather, we talk to them about our values, which we call our Unifying Principles. The People We Serve Come First is our primary principle and we explain how when they are late or are a no show consumer services are impacted. We also seek to help them understand another of our values, Employee Satisfaction and we explain to people this means their satisfaction as well as everyone else’s. We then go on to help them understand the impact on their co-workers when they don’t show up for work or don’t show on time. We also talk about another of our Unifying Principles, Be Dedicated and talk to them about the level of dedication it requires to be on time all the time.

When someone is found to be spreading gossip or losing their temper, again we don’t talk about a rules violation but rather about Communicating Effectively and our Commitment to Excellence. We help them understand that around here those things are viewed as neither effectively communicating nor excellent.

The same is true when developing policies. Anyone who has tried to develop a smoking policy knows how divisive this can be. But no matter how controversial a particular policy or decision may be we have always found that if we bring it back to our Unifying Principles and can clearly show how the policy is consistent with our values, versus a unilateral management decision, staff not only accept the policy but they can thrive within it.

So, over time, the culture is not about power and control but rather about the values. People then need to decide whether they share those values or not. They decide whether they want to help us strengthen the culture, or if they are compromising it. It takes time and it takes effort but the benefits are substantial.

2008-04-24T17:07:00.003-04:00

Giant Pumpkins. Low Bars and Pulling Weeds

Over the last 2 and half months we have worked intensively with six organizations (The Lucky 6) by contract with the State of Georgia. We visited each one twice for two days of jam packed information and inspiration. Their missions were similar though their sizes varied from relatively small to fairly large.

Half the training was mission related; the other half specific to values based human relations practices. The latter, human relations, is the topic addressed here.

GIANT Pumpkins

Deb is a valued veteran of our staff. She and her husband share a love of gardening. They are the most serious gardeners I know. Their specialty is growing giant pumpkins. When asked the secret to growing 1500 lb. goliaths Deb told me there are two; starting with great seeds and plenty of nurturing (five whole gallons of miracle grow every day to be exact).

We use this metaphor to help organizations understand what it takes to build a world class team of staff. We help them understand the critical importance of holding out to find the best talent. Then we show them how to improve their recruitment practices so as to attract and select world class candidates. Then we move on to the nurturing part which includes new dimensions and vast amounts of orientation, training, coaching and support.

Stages

As each of the Lucky 6 organizations grasped this new paradigm of human relations they quickly realized they have current employees who do not meet the standards they are about to set for new hires. Just as quickly they realized they need to use the tools we provided to communicate this new understanding to current employees.

The Stages of Development is a tool we developed to graphically enable managers to view performers in one of four boxes. Those in Box 1 need to be told what to do. They need specific instructions and certainly shouldn’t be expected to be trusted with any significant duties or responsibilities. Brand new employees and recently promoted veterans always spend some time in Box 1 .

Eventually people develop some basic skills and move out of Box 1. They need coaching not direction and become Box 2 performers. Eventually they gain more mastery over their jobs and their confidence grows to a point where all they need is a sufficient level of support. These folks try things and report back often saying something like, “This is what I did, what do you think?” We call this Box 3 performance. With more experience in varying settings and circumstances they become independent in their jobs and reach Box 4.

The Lowering of the Bar

Our experience with The Lucky 6 has confirmed observations made over the last twenty years with dozens of organizations throughout the country. A sad and conflicting scenario has repeatedly occurred. Due to better advocacy, enlightened families and institutional closures our field has witnessed dramatic growth. Yet as our jobs have become ever more complex; government support insufficient and labor supplies have tightened far too many organizations have watched helplessly as their performance bar has lowered and sunk.

Over this period we’ve heard executive after executive bemoan they are hiring people today they would never have even interviewed 10 or 15 years ago. When we ask them if any of their current employees with 2 or more years of experience are still performing in Box 1 (they don’t do anything unless specifically told to do so) they quickly and regretfully respond, yes. When we ask if any with 5, 10 or 15 years experience are also performing in Box 1 their regret turns to embarrassment and then distress.

Certain industries have compensated for this lower bar through technology. Just push the button on the cash register that looks like a hamburger and hand back the amount of change the machine tells you to. But we haven’t figured out yet how technology can be of similar assistance in direct human service systems. So, too many organizations find themselves with more and more Box 1 performers.

Pulling Weeds

In our way of thinking, human service organizations are left with two choices. Provide sufficient training, coaching and support to help those who are motivated improve. For those who are satisfied with their poor performance, resist change or do not respond to additional training we are left with only one alternative. Keeping with the gardening metaphor they have to be viewed as weeds, which need to be removed from the garden before they choke the vitality from the giant pumpkins.

Using labels is dangerous. Metaphors are fun and often useful teaching methods. When considering this one, please remember that by definition weeds are plants which are out of place. In another garden or another place they will be appreciated and will thrive.

Georgia is Making the Shift!

2008-04-03T11:04:00.005-04:00

Hi Mr. Suess,

I hope all is well with you. Everyone here at East Central is still filling buckets in various ways. The atmosphere seems so much more positive! The Champions have been facilitating the consumer groups in the manner that you showed us and we have already seen great results. One consumer has reduced her episodes of SIB. Consumers are paying more attention, and the staff seem to be having fun assisting with the implementation of the programs. The best news of all is that our accidents and incidents dropped to 128 for the month of March! (We generally average around 200+).

We have also completed our caring assessments. We have had daily reading sessions in order to allow all staff time to read the "Shift Happens" book. I enjoyed the book, "How Full is Your Bucket". I have also printed the water drops from the website and have given several to staff within the division.

Just wanted to give you a little update. Talk to you later...

Denise Bartlett
Developmental Disabilities Chief
East Central Regional Hospital, Georgia

Poem: George Is In Georgia

2008-04-03T10:46:00.004-04:00

The following poem was written by Sharon Suess, George’s wife, as a tribute to his dedication and passion in spreading the word of Delarc’s proactive, positive approach.

George is in Georgia. That's where he is.
He flew there this morning, it's all about biz.

He teaches and charms the good people there.
He expends lots of energy and shows how to care.

Delarc is amazing, they've worked really hard,
The proactive approach deserves high regard.

He comes home exhausted yet strangely delighted.
His audiences listen, their hope is ignited.

He never stops working, not even at night.
I can tell what he's thinking and I'm always right.

He closes his eyes at the end of the day.
But helping his people never goes away.

He's a true warrior for people who need him.
He fights the good fight, his goals never dim.

His work is his passion, he's spreading the word.
Sharing his wisdom, his vision unblurred.

Reflections from participating in Training in Georgia

2008-04-01T10:31:00.002-04:00

Although I've been part of training and consulting a few times over the last 10 years, my participation always reaffirms the blessing I feel to work and provide high quality services for the consumers at The Arc of Delaware County.

Many organizations across the country are eager to learn how to improve their service provision to consumers to achieve even greater benefits. It's really terrific that The Arc of Delaware County is such an inspiration for other agencies serving individuals with developmental disabilities. The staff at these agencies truly devour both the behavioral technology and the leadership approaches we use to such great effect in our own organization. It is humbling yet very gratifying to be told that we are such a motivation to them. We are able to provide them with hands on knowledge and skills. It makes a hugh difference to agencies that we walk the same walk every day and understand the realities and challenges. We were told on this trip that we're their heroes!

I always return invigorated and energized, which positively impacts the work I do for the individuals we serve in Delaware County.

Barbara Rothenberg,
Chief Operating Officer
The Arc of Delaware County

2008-03-09T13:01:00.004-04:00

4, 4, 3, 2 A World Record

Five states, four airports, 3 planes and two rental cars (the same one twice) all in one day and all for one trip from Augusta, Georgia to Albany, New York. A trying end to an otherwise extremely successful trip introducing the proactive philosophy and positive approach of the Arc of Delaware County to two large agencies, the last leg of the first phase of our Georgia project. More n the record later, but first ...

Once again … the wisdom of direct service staff, the importance of leadership and lessons learned:

This trip concluded the first phase of this year long project (see prior posts for details). We have provided six agencies in Georgia with two days of training over the last five weeks. This training has focused on our philosophy and approach as it applies to the people served. In two weeks we begin the second phase of an additional two days of training at each organization. That phase will focus on organizational culture and employee / HR practices. This week we learned:

1 This training is powerful. Once again 100% of our audiences (well over 400 people) enthusiastically describe this training as the absolute "best" they have ever experienced. The Director of our largest group told us any number of surveyors and consultants have eloquently reported to them what their myriad of problems are but none of them gave them the practical, systemic solutions we presented.

2 People are eager to do a good job. There is so much talk about poor work ethic in America; yet what we consistently find is that people truly do want to do a good job. But if there is no support or poor leadership they lose heart and things spiral downward.

3 Workers are smart. They know there has to be a better way and they can spot it when they see it.

4 The push and pull of change. Leadership is critical. It is an established fact that cultural change must start at the top. But not enough attention is given to the importance of an inspired workforce. Determined leaders will effectuate change. It may take time and it may get bloody, but change will happen. But it will happen a lot quicker and a lot easier if the workforce pushes while leaders pull.
There is ardent excitement in all six organizations; they have been introduced to a model they can believe in. One that makes sense; will benefit the people they serve; one that is encouraging and positive; one that answers a lot of questions they have wrestled with for years. They're excited and we are excited for them.

5 Alas, unfortunately the first phase of this training also confirmed or rather reconfirmed something very troubling we have known for years. That is, an awful lot of bad hiring and bad promoting is going on and has gone on for quite some time (as in decades).

6 Stop shooting yourself in the foot! Perhaps the most frequent question that arises when attendees start to understand our philosophy and approach is, "How do we get resistant staff to get on board?"
My response is always to begin by stop shooting themselves in the foot. By that I mean begin by improving hiring and promotional practices so as not to continue to hire or promote people who can not or will not eagerly buy into this effort. To achieve higher quality improving these practices is a must. At the risk of mixing metaphors, we have to stop the leak before we start to bale out the boat.
Once the leak is stopped and we are hiring and promoting better candidates they will actually help us turn around poor performers and move out those who are dead weight. Better front line staff will make the poor performers stand out and will make it easier to address their deficiencies. Better supervisors will help us follow through on the retraining of those who will benefit from same or discipline those who are incapable or who resist.

7 Change SWAN to SEAN! For years we have prided ourselves on hiring SWAN's. That is candidates who are smart, willing to learn, ambitious and nice. This emphasis has had many benefits; yet, time and again, we have lamented how hard it is to determine candidates' "willingness to learn". The more unique the organization the more important is the attribute of being willing to learn.
We have spent endless hours trying to improve our interviewing practices to determine this willingness. We do well but failure from time to time, particularly at the upper management level, results in many levels and degrees of frustration and dissatisfaction.
Consequently we continue to study, at times to the point of agony, this matter. We have concluded there are a few reasons why assessing willingness to learn is so difficult. One reason is that it is pretty easy to fake. Look attentive and interested and you can appear willing. Other reasons are that willingness to learn is a fairly passive act and it applies a disproportionate amount of the candidate's willingness to learn to the agency's ability to teach.
The most profound thing I have personally learned this year is that it is more about eagerness than willingness. It is not a matter of the candidate's willingness to listen to us lecture them but rather a matter of them demonstrating an eagerness to learn whatever it is we are teaching as well as those lessons that are unfolding around them even if a formal teaching session hasn't occurred. It is more about the questions they ask than the answers they glean. It is more about the follow up questions than the initial ones. It is more about taking the lessons, applying them independently and asking for feedback than on passing a quiz.
That’s' why we are changing swan to sean. We need employees who are smart eager to learn, ambitious and nice. It's good to be willing but critical to be eager!

Now for more on our traveler's world record:

Bo, Jim and I are claiming a traveler's world record and if you have one to beat it, let us know.

We started by sitting on the runway in our turbo prop Delta Connections plane in Augusta at 8:00. As soon as the doors shut the pilot informed us there was a terrible storm in Atlanta that had put a hold stop on everything going in or out. What to do?

A call back home to our travel agent (glory be for Saturday hours) informed us all Delta flights for the next two days were over booked and we would be lucky to get flights by tomorrow night and we would most certainly have to split up. A real problem since Jim and Bo rode to Albany together.

Pat, our travel agent was great and after checking a bunch of options told us our best chance was to drive to Columbia, South Carolina and buy US Air tickets to Charlotte, North Carolina and grab a connection to Albany from there. She would write a letter to Delta Monday requesting a refund for our Delta tickets.

So back to the Budget rental car booth where we re-rented the car we had turned in three hours prior. Budget may think it is in the car rental business, but since the car was washed and gassed up when we took off again we realized it was really our pit stop and we gave thanks to our pit crew that got us out on time and refreshed.

Two hours later we were in Columbia and while it was very windy there we learned no flights there had been canceled and it looked pretty good our Charlotte flight would take off as scheduled. Still, having learned a lesson, we asked our pit crew chief in Columbia to hold our car in case we needed it again if the weather turned worse. She said she would hold it for three hours and then close it out. A couple of long lay overs in Columbia and Charlotte and we were off to Albany. However our adventure wasn't over. 30 minutes from Albany the worse turbulence any of us had previously experienced set in. The group behind us was have a ball yelling weeeee and woooo with every lift and dip. As for me, I was digging in the pouch in the back of the seat in front of me for that little white barf bag. While they were having fun pretending they were on an amuzement park ride I was breaking into one of those prepuking sweats that lets you know if it the "ride" doesn't end soon I'm going to lose it.

Breath deeply George, breath deeply I kept telling myself.

Fortunately the flight ended just as I was reaching the end of my control.

So, a little worse for wear, today's journey concluded:
4 states, 4 airports, 3 airplanes and 2 car rentals; a record Bo, Jim and I defy anyone to beat!

More next time,
George

Stacie's Note:

2008-02-27T11:37:00.004-05:00

George,

The following are my thoughts regarding our week in Georgia.

Motivating, inspiring and clear.

These three words can help express my week in Georgia with Shift Happens consulting and training. I say motivating because this experience made it quite clear that The Arc of Delaware County has done exceptional work in its years of existence while caring without restraint. For me, someone who is new to this field, seeing another way of serving people with developmental disabilities reinforced my view of the need to continue our strive for excellence while spreading the message, philosophy and competencies of Shift Happens.

I say inspiring for two reasons. First, George is an incredible speaker/trainer. He does everything he can to reach each individual in the audience. If he doesn’t convey our message during the six hours of training, you see him during breaks, lunch and after the training listening to people and explaining Shift Happens in way that is easier for them.

The second reason is because it is also clear that the organizations we are working with are hungry for a new, better way of helping people live fulfilling lives as opposed to sticking to the status quo.

One of the most powerful quotes that I hear George say is, "You can’t get good people to do bad things, and you can’t get bad people to do good things". After seeing Shift Happens being introduced to new organizations, that point is crystal clear. I know we are all very excited and anxious to see how the good people of Georgia will embrace this essential "shift".

Thank you,
Stacie Haynes
Community Relations Assistant
The Arc of Delaware County

Thank you Stacie. I was delighted you were part of the team. And even more delighted you are part of this organization.
George

Exhausted & Exhilarated.

2008-02-24T16:48:00.004-05:00

Several years ago an experienced professional visited Delarc and wrote about his visit in his organization's newsletter, one with a state-wide if not national distribution. His tour was thorough. Our agency was one of dozens he had visited over his career.

He was quite taken with what he saw and the article contained many wonderful comments. One line he wrote though has stayed with me all these years later. When talking about the energy and spirit of our staff he wrote, "Exhaustion and exhilaration at the end of an 8 hour day."

Now, so many years later, and once more 30,000 feet over the Carolinas that's the line that sums up this trip. Up at 3:00 a.m. to drive two hours to Atlanta to catch an 8:30 flight home we're feeling exhilaration and fairly exhausted. It's hard not to be exhilarated when, once again 100% of the staff from two very different organizations are raving about the Shift Happens training we provided them this week. And while part of the exhaustion comes from being up at 3:00 the majority of it comes from the grueling training schedule and the associated physical and mental exertion.

Monday and Tuesday with one organization just north of the city of Atlanta, and Thursday and Friday with another an hour and a half away, Wednesday as a day of travel, debriefing of one, preparation for the other and then there's the matter of our real jobs back in Delaware County. Phone calls, emails, letters, and other items as necessary and maybe a little exercise fill up another ten-hour day.

Both agencies serve individuals with developmental disabilities but that's where the similarity ends. One was larger, one offered several other services, one had a foundation set by religious tradition, one was a division of a huge corporation, one focused on a limited geography, one had just recovered from a serious setback.

In both cases there was a mix of new and veteran staff. I loved it when one of the higher level administrators, who had lots of experience on the front lines caught me at the end of his second day to tell me that he agreed to attend the sessions because it was the right example to set, but that he expected it would be rather typical; something to be endured. He told me that he had "sat through" tons of training sessions over the years and to his absolute delight this was the best one ever. It was a comment shared by everyone else in both groups. Pretty awesome but read on…

How great is this?

On Monday and Tuesday a young but experienced woman suffered through the days with a serious head cold. She was sniffling throughout and used way too many tissues to count. Several times over the two days, Chris and Stacie, my teammates this time, and I commented to ourselves and to each other about what a trooper she was. She didn’t just hang in there, she fully participated. At times she was skeptical to the point of resistance, yet she displayed a hunger and eagerness to learn.

When the session ended late Tuesday afternoon she expressed sincere gratitude for all she learned. We told her we appreciated having her in the group and were proud of the way she went about learning and wished her well.

I don't know about Chris and Stacie but I was sure she was heading straight home to bed. We then turned our attention to a small group of their leadership team to debrief the two days and confirm the objectives they had set for the next six weeks.

About 30 minutes into the debriefing, our cold victim reappeared and politely excused herself for interrupting. She said there was something she felt she just had to tell us. She went on to say she had just spent the last half hour talking to her supervisor about a difficult subordinate… a person older than her with a strong personality whose performance had troubled her for quite some time (years?). She said that as a result of today's training she gained the confidence to confront the individual and the knowledge of how to do so in a way that would encourage improved performance. She said, "For the first time I feel truly empowered." How great is that!
Read on for more…

That was great. Now read this.

24 hours later Chris and I received the following email (which we promptly shared with Stacie) from a supervisor in the same group whose name is withheld:

Hello George & Chris,

I would like to share a story with you. Early this morning I received a call on my cell. Upon answering, I discovered it was a staff at one of our houses who attended both days of the training. My initial thought was "Oh, no" as this is a staff who I like and value, but she only calls me when she has a major complaint or concern, and usually results in me having to do some sort of legwork. I asked her how she was (sick?) and what was up. She then told me that she called just to tell me how much she admires the way I find just the right words to talk to the individuals we serve, and how she aspires to learn that skill, and just how much she appreciates that about me.

I am floored and humbled by the effect your training has had on our staff, and must express to you our commitment to the philosophy. Staff are excited that you're coming back, and look forward to it.

Just wanted to share and say thank you.

An uphill, no, up a steep mountain battle.

On one hand we truly are exhilarated by the response of these dedicated people to the introduction of our philosophy and approach which we were privileged to offer. But, and this is a huge but, funding is a huge obstacle. When we were first discussing the possibility of this contract we learned that the state of Georgia is the 10th largest state in the union by population yet it is 51st in spending on individuals with developmental disabilities. After working with four organizations we're beginning to learn how such poor funding over decade upon decade has created a huge mountain for providers to scale. On one hand I see the obstacles and the state of affairs and my heart goes out to these Don Quixote's; on another my admiration for them grows and grows, as does my desire to make the training we give them the very best.

It doesn't matter how you deal the Delarc cards.

On this trip I was joined by our Director of Residential Services, Christine Fritzsch and our Community Relations Assistant, Stacie Haynes. They represented two different ends of the Delarc staff spectrum. Chris has been with us 20 years, has worked herself up through the ranks with a tremendous range of experience and a wealth of knowledge. Over the years she has conducted enough training for other organizations to be considered a senior member of our training team. Stacie, on the other hand, is fairly new, having joined us only a few months ago, and her work in an administrative capacity has barely given her enough experience to be considered a junior member of the training team. What a great team they were and are.

The organizations we worked with provided a substantial amount of residential services and they found Chris' input invaluable. She was able to give them very specific answers to their many questions. No matter how serious or desperate the problems she offered concrete advice and practical solutions which they eagerly absorbed.

What confidence Stacie showed! She was always at attention, ready to step in and do whatever needed to be done. One day into the training and you would have thought she was a regular. She freely interacted with trainees, offered insights from a newbie, took photos and, video camera in hand, interviewed attendees, and she never once came off as a flack. I was impressed with her confidence and even more so with her perspective.

Over dinner on our last night, the three of us were discussing the training and the exceptional work the two of them did. We talked about the next team of Bo and Jim and of future teams. At one point I said to Stacie that one of the things that I particularly love about Delarc staff is that when it comes to such teams we can take all our staff's names, shuffle them up and deal out any two or three and always, and I mean always, come up with a great team. I know. I've done it time and again. Teams have included executives, professionals, direct service staff, aides, administrative staff, contracted staff and even volunteers and board members.

Always winners. It's amazing. It speaks to the depth of our culture and our commitment to recruit only the best.

Fill those buckets.

Tom Rath wrote a best selling book entitled How Full is Your [emotional] Bucket. When we introduce the topic of praise and reinforcement we sight Mr. Rath's book to show how important praise and reinforcement is to the general population. That sets the stage for helping the audience better understand how lavish we need to be with people we serve, many of whose buckets have been drained for years and years. They get it and they love it. They always leave inspired to use praise and reinforcement as a tool to improve their many and varied relationships and to use it to encourage the people they serve to learn and grow. It is amazing and very powerful stuff.

I hope after reading these passages your bucket is feeling a little bit fuller.

More next time…

Comments and Questions are encouraged...

2008-02-15T10:33:00.002-05:00

If you have comments or questions regarding our proactive philosophy and positive appoach, our consulting and training services, or Delarc in general, please post a comment. We would like to hear from you.

I Continue to Learn from Our Staff

2008-02-14T11:20:00.005-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I spent 4 hours introducing a group of 16 of our staff to our People Power Leadership Model. Most have been hired within the last year though one person has been with us for 14 years and this was her fourth time in this session. Later she recommended everyone coming back for a refresher from time to time and I couldn't agree more.

People Power is about our values based human resource practices. Building our vision and values into our various H.R. practices so that we continue to clarfiy and strengthen our culture.

A few of the folks in the group have been with us for only a few days or weeks.

In this organization we pride ourselves on our elaborate recruitment process. Three interviews, three hours each, three settings with at least three interviewers particiapating at every stage. We are convinced this results in hiring the best of the best. Spending time with them confirms that belief. But when you spend time with the best you also learn from them.

While I led the training some things they taught me stand out:

1 History. People are intrigued by our history. How we developed our philosophy and approach. Understanding that its roots go back 30+ years helps them realize that quality doesn't come easy and requires consistent effort over time. This sets the tone for the message delivered later in the session about the need for them to continue to learn and grow. That learning is a life long activity and that we need staff who understand and welcome that challenge.

2 The BIG Picture. The age of "just do as I tell you" is over. (Actually, I believe it died 20 years ago but most organizations are only now coming to terms with it and far too many still don't get it.) One staff member said it succinctly when she said something like, "Since I was hired two months ago I've been learning lots of the pieces and that's proper and important. It's very helpful to have the opportunity today to see how all these pieces come together and make sense." This confirmed a conclusion I reached many years ago that people need and in fact are longing for the big picture. It is a key to their growth and development. Things need to make sense. They don't mind and in fact fully understand they need to master elements a piece at a time. But that isn't enough for the best of the best. Those folks want more.

3 Transparency. This term has become an overused cliche in our society. We hear calls for transparency every night on the news and see it every day in the newspapers. Yet we don't hear much about successful models of transparency.
To me, it means more than simple attempts at openness (though most organizations are not that open). It means actively taking the time to help employees understand our vision, our values and our operating practices and encouraging inquiries, discussion and debate.
Yesterday I learned this training helps our organization be more transparent and that transparency is important for new recruits as much as for seasoned veterans .

4 Eagerness to learn and grow. I also learned how the best of the best truly do want to learn and grow. They know what we have to offer is substantial and complex but that doesn't scare them. It actually inspires them.

5 Gratefullness. I also learned that when the organization encourages and supports this growth
staff are genuinely grateful. This type of gratitude builds loyalty and commitment and does more for morale than any incentive tokenism could ever accomplish.

6 They love the Stages of Development process. Delarc developed this process a few years ago and it is very gratifying to hear so many new staff say how much they appreciate this development tool. Several of the newer staff left the session armed with an appreciation of this fundamental tool, other veterans left with a much deeper appreciation of it. In all cases they see it as helpful to them. This taught me that the best of the best don't just say they want to grow and develop but that they welcome and absorb tools specifically developed for that purpose.

All morning I fought to sqeeze the time necessary to properly prepare for the teaching I was going to to do in the afternoon. When it was all over, I realized how much they taught me.

Way cool!

Thank you to everyone present.

Off to a great start...

2008-02-10T14:19:00.001-05:00

Coming home

Up at 4:30 to catch a plane. It's Saturday morning February 9, Delarc Speech Pathologist Marcia Maxwell Brown and I are flying over one of the Carolinas as we head home from a week of exhausting yet exhilarating work. We spent Monday and Tuesday with one organization and Thursday and Friday with a second. The beginning of a year long project of mentoring six such organizations. We'll be back in two weeks to begin with numbers 3 & 4 and two weeks later with agencies 5 & 6.

They were so different; yet in so many ways the same. One rural; one more urban. One somewhat larger; one a little smaller. One serving certain individuals with developmental disabilities and the other specializing in a somewhat different mix. We followed the same training agenda but found ourselves varying from it to meet each organization's particular needs.

Preparation, preparation, preparation

During this trip I relearned a lesson I first learned many years ago. Preparation is oh so important. It enables you to think beyond the material you want to cover and they agreed to receive. It enables you to listen to the audience without losing confidence that you will get them where they want and need to go even if not by the same path..

In both cases they told us we left them in a better state than when we arrived. We brought them a renewed consumer-centered focus and left them with the energy that focus generates. They'll need it because we also left them with some very ambitious objectives to achieve before we return in six seeks. We also left them with a firm belief that the objectives are worthy and with the confidence they will need to see them through.

A gift from a good friend

Art Dykstra, a personal hero and good friend once gave an auditorium full of people the book, How Full is Your Bucket? How fortunate I was to be in that group. And how fortunate for the hundreds, maybe thousands of people, these most recent folks included, I've talked to about the book since then. In addition to the other objectives, they left with a commitment to fill the emotional buckets of the people they serve, the people with whom they work and their families. There will be an awful lot of bucket filling going on and the thought of that, in turn, fills ours.

Caring without restraint...

So important with everyone and especially with the children and adults we serve. Yet taken for granted to such a degree that everyone believes they do it well. Yet after a couple of days with us they realize how much better they can be and need to be.

A remarkable exercise

At one point, early in the first day, we ask our audiences if they care about the people they support. Of course, just like all our prior audiences, everyone present raises their hand. We then ask them on a scale of 1 to 10 to jot down the average caring of their particular work group.

We then ask how many of them had a teacher in school that genuinely cared about them. How many had a teacher that made them feel special, that bent over backwards for them. A teacher that could help them turn around during a bad day and who could get them to work hard even with subjects they really didn't like.

Over the last few years we have conducted this exercise with hundreds, if not thousands, of people and the responses are always similar. About 80% of the audience raise their hands. We ask them to look around and notice how many people don't raise their hand. How many people can't remember even one teacher who really cared about them. This, I believe is the real problem, the real shame of our educational system.

We then ask how many had two such teachers and are amazed that rather consistently about 50% of the people raise their hands. That number reduces to about 10 % when we ask, how many had three such teachers.

We then ask them what would happen if we had all those teachers that everyone had throughout elementary, middle, high school and college in one room and asked them if they cared about their students. To no one's surprise, everyone is quick to respond that all those teachers would surely raise their hands.

We then ask how many folks have had to struggle with the decision of seeking nursing home care for a parent or grandparent and a fair number of hands go up. We ask those folks what the source of the struggle was and inevitably the majority respond they were afraid their family member would not receive the care, the very basic care, they required.

We then ask them what would happen if we had all the employees of all those nursing homes in the room and asked them if they cared about their patients. "Everyone would raise their hand", comes the unanimous response.

This exercise hits people very close to home and makes it very easy for them to see that caring is determined by the response of the person receiving the care, not the person being paid to care.

After this exercise and further discussion we conclude the exercise by asking them to once again rate the average caring of their particular work group. It probably comes as no surprise, yet is still striking that no one has ever said their rating was higher the second time around. As individuals, families and organizations we have a long way to go if we are to care without restraint!

Making the Shift happen

2008-02-06T16:51:00.000-05:00

Hi there, I'm in Lithonia a suburb of Atlanta. Monday and Tuesday of this week we started an exciting one year project with the Department of Human Resources Office of Developmental Disabilities. The project contract calls for us to mentor 6 DD Agencies.

We will do this by providing four days of pretty intense in house training to each organization. The training is a lot to digest so we are doing it two days at a time over the next two months. Monday and Tuesday in agency # 1; Thursday and Friday in agency #2. Then back home for a week. Then back to do agencies 3 and 4, etc. When we are done with the first round of training we will start the second round on the same schedule.

Each agency will develop 4 Action Teams that will be charged with helping exisitng agency resources so that moving forward will be more manageable and so that the Shift will begin immediately. The four Action Teams are:

1 Assessment. This team will support the assessment of all staff members in 6 basic Shift Happens Competencies.

2 Training.

3 Culture Building.

4 Performance improvement.

One of our big concerns as we developed the contract was, what will happen after the first year?

This project is the beginning of a quality improvement effort that will take 3 to 5 years. What happens after we're gone. Yes we will provide each agency with 2 days of follow up visits during the year and yes we will also provide them with one hour telephone support in each of the next 12 months and yes the contract will fund 2 staff members from each agency to visit our organization for 2 days of high impact individualized attention, but what happens after the year is up? This was a big concern.

We hope collaboration will be the answer. The Champions of each Action Team will meet every six weeks to compare notes, share common experiences, brainstorm solutions to common problems, identify follow up training resources and, very importantly, share a common proactive, positive language.

In addition, quarterly the CEO's from each agency will meet with the Champions to hear about progress and address concerns of mutual importance. We hope by the end of the year these six agencies, some small, some quite large, some in urban settings and others quite rural will develop positive relations and be resourceful to each other.

If the rest of the project goes as well as the first two days, the results will be remarkable. The Office of Developmental Disabilities has impressed us with their selection process. We have conducted pre training conference calls with each agency and each was as impressive as the next. All different in size and location but all eager to participate in this very sinificant undertaking.

It confirms my belief that many of the people working in this field are desperate for a better way of doing things. They are talented and committed. They work hard for very modest pay and they are frustrated by the overly beaurocratic systems which control them and which seem to offer more obstacles than solutions; yet they won't give up and they still want to do more and better for the people they support. Yet, they often just don't know where to turn for guidance and direction.

Our proactive philosophy and positive approach offers many of them the kind of comprehensive, consumer centered, innovative solution they have been longing for.

I'm encouraged and excited.

More later.

George