Part of our OPWDD grant to design and pilot a statewide facilitation service delivery system involves testing how provider agencies (and other sources of potential facilitators and Decision-Makers) might interface with a centralized entity (for now, SDMNY) which does training, mentoring and provides uniform facilitation materials. Over the past months we have reached out to a number of agencies that share our values and commitment to SDM. We’re happy to announce that, as of this week, we have signed contracts!
In the past, we’ve worked successfully with Adapt Community Network in NYC, ARC Westchester and the Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD) in Westchester, and AIM Services in Saratoga Springs, so we are delighted that they will continue to partner with us. In addition, we’ll now be joined by Catholic Guardian Services in NYC; ACMNY, a self-direction brokerage organization on Long Island, and Future Centered Care, a private care planning and management entity recently started by our friend Allison Kleiman, formerly of the Jewish Community Center. Each of these organizations will promote SDM and SDMNY facilitation to their client bases, and send us employees to be trained as facilitators; even without signed contracts, we’ve already trained 20 new facilitators and expect many more at our next training in September.
Excellent co-ordination is obviously key to success in this partnership pilot, and it got off to a great start at an Agency Launch Meeting at the end of June. Principals and staff of all the partner agencies met with SDMNY, generating plans and a structure for the collaboration and, as well, lots of enthusiasm. Perhaps no-one was more excited than SDMNY Director Naomi Brickel who worked tirelessly to navigate the complex contract process that finally brought everyone together. Here’s what she had to say:
“This could not be more exciting, a thrilling milestone and official “launch” of our statewide facilitation services network, making SDM a legally recognizable alternative to guardianship available to those wish to participate, and evidencing our State’s commitment to ensuring access while implementing the most progressive and meaningful SDMA legislation in the world!”
CONGRATULATIONS NAOMI; LOOKING FORWARD TO GREAT RESULTS!