Welcome to the ABCD Senior Staff Forum Blog!

Welcome to the ABCD Senior Staff Forum Blog!
Welcome to the ABCD Senior Staff Forum Blog. This weblog has been created for ABCD agency staff to share information and ideas regarding financial, human resources, and quality assurance and training issues. Please feel free to utilize the blog to comment and share dialogue, and check back with us as we will be updating the site regularly in order to provide agencies with the most current information and resources.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

College of Direct Support Statewide Rollout 2009

In 2009, the Division of Developmental Disabilities will rollout the statewide tracking system for agency personnel, as required by CMS, which will be administered through the College of Direct Support (CDS).

In November of 2008, ABCD's HR and QA&T Senior Staff Forums met with Training and Consultation Specialists from the Elizabeth M. Boggs Center to discuss the rollout and any technical assistance issues and questions. Boggs Center staff also announced that going forward, information for agencies on the statewide rollout would be provided regularly in the new Career Path Quarterly newsletter, which would be made available in late 2008.

Below is the introduction excerpt from the first edition of the newsletter with information for agencies on the rollout. For more information, and to view the entire newsletter if you have not received a copy, visit the Workforce Development pages on the Boggs Center website by clicking here.
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New Jersey, like many other states, is facing a workforce crisis.
By 2016, the demand for direct support workers in home and
community based settings will outstrip supply by 30% (PHI, 2007).
Low wages and high demand on workers leave agencies with high
turnover rates and challenges to providing quality supports. The
NJ Direct Support Professional Workforce Development Coalition
developed the NJ Career Path for DSPs to increase their skills
and enable them to earn more money through the completion
of coursework provided by The College of Direct Support (CDS),
mentoring, and the development of a portfolio documenting job
competency. The NJ Council on Developmental Disabilities funded
a pilot of the Career Path project for two years.

In 2009, The NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities
will subscribe to the College of Direct Support, making the Career Path available to all DSPs who work with people and agencies who receive HCBS waiver funding. Agencies will be able to make the courses in both Level I and II of the Career Path available to all DSPs. In addition, they will be able to use the CDS to assign courses of their choosing to their staff. Participation in the Career Path is voluntary, and the amount of salary increase given is determined by the agency. Participation is highly recommended to reduce staff attrition, increase morale, and recognize the professionalization of DSPs. There will be no fee for agencies to access the CDS. In addition to the Career Path, the CDS will be used to keep track of pre-service training so using the CDS will be mandatory—see below. All agencies will need to identify a CDS Administrator (or collaborate with another agency)—see How to Choose Your CDS Admin on pg. 7.

Technical support will be provided by the CDS System Administrator and training will be provided by The Boggs Center. All agencies will submit a list of current staff to DDD for bulk upload into the CDS, have a representative attend a training on CDS Administration, and enter new hires into the CDS. Agencies will be given access to the CDS through the regional rollout process taking place in 2009. Informational sessions on the statewide rollout of the CDS will be held at all of the membership associations and are available by request.

HR Forum Contacts:

1.) Tony DiBartolo, Bancroft NeuroHealth, tdibartolo@bnh.org
2.) Juliette Parkinson, Cerebral Palsy League, jparkinson@thecpclinic.org
3.) Louis Brigando, Cerebal Palsy Leaue, lbrigando@thecpclinic.org
4.) Janet Halpern, Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey, jhalpern@cpnj.org
5.) Sumitra Horlavadi, LADACIN, Sumitra.horlavadi@ladacin.org
6.) Nancy Petrillo, Matheny, npetrillo@matheny.org
7.) William Weiss, Passaic Co. Elks CP Treatment Center, wweiss@pcecpc.org
8.) Maria Alvarez, Passaic Co. Elks CP Treatment Center, malvarez@pcecpc.org
9.) Sharyn Matthews, Spectrum for Living, smatthews@spectrumforliving.org
10.) Laura Mazzella, Spectrum for Living, lmazzella@spectrumforliving.org
11.) Steven Vernikoff, Center for Family Support, svernikoff@cfsny.org
12.) Sharon Lax, Center for Family Support, slax@cfsny.org
13.) Cherryl Noel, UCP Hudson, cnoel@ucpofhudsoncounty.org
14.) Jane Detweiler, Elwyn NJ, jane_detweiler@elwyn.org
15.) Maureen Dobosz, Volunteers of America-Delaware Valley, mdobosz@voadv.org
16.) Jane Horowitz, Spina Bifida Assoc. of the Tri-State Region, jhorowitz@sbatsr.org
17.) Clifford Koons, Elwyn NJ, cliff_koons@elwyn.org
18.) Jim Steinruck, Eden, jim.steinruck@edenservices.org
19.) Susan Bird, Eden, Susan.bird@edenservices.org
20.) Lauren Kelley, Bancroft, lkelley@bnh.org
21.) Dolores Miles, Passaic County Elks CP Treatment Center,
dmiles@pcecpc.org
22.) Chris King, Matheny, cking@matheny.org

QA&T Forum Contacts:

1.) Joy Gross, Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey, jgross@cpnj.org
3.) Michelle Turjancik, Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey, mturjancik@cpnj.org
4.) Jeanne Terrence, Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey, jterrence@cpnj.org
5.) Brian Horsmon, Bancroft NeuroHealth, bhorsmon@bnh.org
6.) Jennifer Deluca, Bancroft NeuroHealth, jdeluca@bnh.org
7.) Peter Cartwright, Bancroft NeuroHealth, pcartwright@bnh.org
8.) Juliette Parkinson, Cerebral Palsy League, jparkinson@thecplinc.org
9.) Louis Brigando, Cerebral Palsy League, lbrigando@thecplinc.org
10.) Patti Carlesimo, LADACIN, patti.carlesimo@ladacin.org
11.) Linda Steeger, LADACIN, linda.steeger@ladacin.org
12.) Connie Hobson Falls, Matheny, chobsonfalls@matheny.org
13.) Bonnie Rodgers, Matheny, brodgers@matheny.org
14.) Chris King, Matheny, cking@matheny.org
15.) Bill Weiss, Passaic County Elks, wweiss@pcecpc.org
16.) Mary Fischer, Passaic County Elks, mfischer@pcecpc.org
17.) Dale Sakurai, Spectrum for Living, dsakurai@spectrumforliving.org
18.) Eileen Berg, Center for Family Support, eberg@cfsny.org
19.) Barbara Greenwald, Center for Family Support, bgreenwald@cfsny.org
20.) Steve Vernikoff, Center for Family Support, svernikoff@cfsny.org
21.) Reggie Neal, UCP Hudson, rneal@ucpofhudsoncounty.org
22.) Keith Kearney, UCP Hudson, kearneykj@yahoo.com
23.) Deborah Limosino, Elwyn-NJ, deborah_limosino@elwyn.org
24.) Mary Ruiz, CPNJ, mruiz@cpnj.org
25.) Peggy Walsh, CPNJ, pwalsh@cpnj.org
26.) Kerianne Neu, Center for Family Support, kneu@cfsny.org
27.) Carolann Garofola, CPNJ, cgarafola@cpnj.org
28.) Nancy Fegan, CPNJ, nfegan@cpnj.org
29.) Kara O'Donnell, CPNJ, kodonnell@cpnj.org
30.) Linda Peroff, CPNJ, lperoff@cpnj.org