MH/DD
Program Site Review
Hope
Community Resources - Southeast
April 27-29, 1999
Site
Review Team:
Ellen
Younker, Juneau
Don
Bullock Jr. Juneau
Betty
McLaughlin, Peer Reviewer
Nancy
Mathis, DMHDD
John
Havrilek, Facilitator
A review of the Developmental Disabilities (DD) services offered by the Hope Community Resources (HCR) in Juneau, Alaska was conducted from April 27-29, 1999. HCR offers DD services that include in-home support, respite, core services, chore services, family support, care coordination, supported living, one-time funding, various community development activities such as sibling support group, autism support group, monthly lunch group, CHAD group, ladies night out and parents anonymous, transition group, Summer Fun Program, annual day camp, parent resource center, lending library, community training, on-going parent training, Art For All, and others as children and parents’ needs dictate. HCR presently serves 67 funded clients and approximately 250 through related and collaborative activities with 3 full time staff and 26 team associates that deliver direct services staff. This is the first review conducted of HCR. Our team is using the Mental Health Developmental Disability and Early Intervention Program Integrated Standards and Quality of Life Indicators.
To conduct this review, a team consisting of a facilitator, two community representatives, a peer provider from DD and a DMHDD representative, met for three days in Juneau. The team conducted interviews, reviewed individual family records and program and agency materials and interviewed 22 consumers and family members, program staff, community members, and related service providers. Of those, 8 were randomly selected individuals and families who receive services from HCR (a total of 11 families were interviewed, 8 random and 3 walk-ins). The board members were not interviewed because the HCR board is in Anchorage.
Interviews were in person at families’ homes, in the community, at the HCR’s offices, or by telephone. The interviews lasted from 30 minutes to an hour. After gathering the information, the team members met to draft this report, which was presented to the staff on the final day of the visit.
Monitoring and reporting the quality of life and the quality of services for individuals and families makes an important contribution to the State of Alaska’s understanding of the effectiveness of program services and supports. The review team’s findings are reported below. The report includes a list of areas of excellence, an administrative review, areas of programmatic strength, specific services or procedures that are recommended improvement, tables of consumer satisfaction with quality of life and services and individual file reviews.
1.
HOPE offers true family-centered
planning. Parents consistently reported that HCR staff
personalizes their services. They aren’t offered a menu, but are asked what
they want and then helped to get it.
“If
there is a need, HOPE creates a program.”
“Staff
act like they want families to come in.
The staff is definitely here to provide services. This is a safe and nurturing place for
families.”
“The
agency has created an atmosphere of education, making sure we are informed.”
2. HOPE
is extremely creative in meeting families’ needs. They are
constantly developing supports,
programs and options to meet each client’s individualized and personalized
needs, as evidenced by all the activities and programs noted in the
introduction.
“HOPE”
creates programs, riding programs, summer programs, support programs.”
3. HOPE
is a strong activist and advocacy organization for children and families.
“The
staff is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to support us.”
“They
even helped me over the weekend to make sure my son would be safe in school on
Monday morning.”
“Chris
will advocate for any family that needs help, even if you don’t get services
from HOPE.”
“She’s
been there and she knows how to help us.”
Hope Community Resources is a very new
organization. It has been in Juneau for only three years and in its new
facility for the past few months. It is already seen as a vital and necessary
part of the whole service community, mainly because of its small but very
energetic and dedicated staff. Parents
consistently reported that: “HOPE gave
them hope,” and “I was at my wits end
till I came here and they gave me help I never knew existed.”
HCR is making remarkable strides with
clients and families in its short, new existence. The parent organization in Anchorage has a very strong set of
policies, procedures, business functions and governing board in place.
Our team, with information gathered in
interviews and through observation, recommends that HCR work to strengthen its
paperwork-billing-follow-through with related agencies to keep services
consistent for clients and families (#17).
We further recommend delineation of staff responsibilities so related
agencies know who does what, and also to keep staff from being stretched too
thin (#21).
Quality
of Life
This portion of the narrative refers to the Quality
of Life Values and Outcome Indicators, as they relate to the specific services
offered by HCR. The items below are
those that the review team identified as strengths. If the team concluded that any of the indicators warranted
improvement, they are listed in the Areas Requiring Response section of the
report.
The team identified the following strengths under
Choice/Self-Determination for people receiving services from HCR:
Families/Children:
·
are the major contributors to their plans
·
plans are designed and created by their goals and
dreams.
HCR
Staff:
· develop and create programs for people based on their individual needs
· parents are educated to make informed decisions.
“It’s like a dream come true,” a parent commented, referring to their
freedom to say what they want and need.
“Things get done here.”
“I was always told what my options were at other agencies; here
they ask me what I need.”
“No one offered me a menu; it was what I need.”
“There’s a good dialogue here between parents and staff
concerning needs of my children.”
Dignity, Respect and Rights
The
team identified the following strengths under Dignity, Respect and Rights for
people receiving services from HCR:
Families/Children:
·
are aware of their rights and know HCR staff will
be a strong advocate for them
·
report that staff respects and understands their
needs
·
feel they are family and get personalized
attention.
“Chris puts language into
terms I can understand.”
“Chris is very thorough.”
“They treat me as a team
member as to what is best for my child.”
“Chris gets people
involved; she helps us be a better advocate for ourselves.”
“We have friends working
at HOPE and in the community and they didn’t even know we were receiving
services from HCR; that’s how highly they think of confidentiality.”
“We are always treated
with respect and have good communications.”
“I’m so grateful HOPE is
here because they treat me so well.”
The
team identified the following strengths under Health, Safety and Security for
people receiving services from HCR:
Families/Children:
· reported feeling like family at HOPE
· HCR raised the standard of care for other agencies
· HCR supports the whole family with activities and support groups
“Chris makes a point that no one meets our son unless he has had
training first.”
“I can go to work with peace of mind.”
“HOPE’s high standards increased the pay for respite workers and set
standards for other agencies.”
“Respite workers are going to work in schools the last month to
transition to summer care.”
“Chris helped my family travel when I didn’t know what to do.”
The
team identified the following strengths under Relationships for all people
receiving services from HCR:
Families/Children:
·
report that this is a real focus of strength at HCR
·
HCR has created several support groups for siblings and
parents to cope and share challenges
·
staff personalize services and treat people as families
·
the sibling support group wrote and received grants for
over $12,000 for travel and activities.
“My daughter goes to sibling support group and our family borrows books
from HOPE’s library.”
“As Moms we talk a lot about how much we enjoy the ladies night out
support group.”
“There are no restrictions on staff’s availability—24 hours, 7 days a
week.”
“I was at my wit’s end before HOPE saved us.”
“The best thing about HOPE is it’s a small shop with personalized
service.”
“Respite workers for my son
only lasted a week or two.”
The
team identified the following strengths under Community Participation for
people receiving services from HCR:
Families/Children:
·
are accepted and valued in the community
·
actively participate in areas they want to
·
have plans and options created to meet their goals
and dreams
·
are supported as a family to participate throughout
the community.
The following recommendations were identified by the team
as areas that need attention from the organization:
1.
Strengthen your documentation and billing process
with related agencies to keep services consistent for clients and families
(Admin Standard #17).
2.
Develop and implement an organizational structure
that will delineate staff duties and provide it to the public and consumers
(Admin Standard #21).
3.
Move your FAX machine to a side office to protect
confidentiality of information.
4.
Keep discussion of clients to private offices.
5. Don’t use
cordless phones for business calls.
The following are suggestions for
maintenance of client files.
1. Maintain
your labeling of each section; your organization of files is excellent.
2. Maintain
the type and quality of information; it’s also excellent.
3.
It’s great that you are starting to be
consistent in keeping contact notes.
For reasons of confidentiality, we suggest those notes be kept in the
individual’s binder.
Consumer Satisfaction
Each consumer interviewed by the team was
asked whether or not they were satisfied with the quality of their lives as
they relate to each of the five Outcome areas and with the quality of the
supports and services they receive from HCR.
The questions were taken from the Consumer Satisfaction section of the
five Outcome areas, and the responses are presented according to type of service.
DD
|
Choice
N=11
|
Dig&Res. N=11
|
Hth,Saf,Sec N=11
|
Relatns. N=11
|
Com.Par. N=11
|
||||||||||
Outcome
|
Yes |
Part. |
No |
Yes |
No |
Part. |
Yes |
No |
Part. |
Yes |
No |
Part. |
Yes |
No |
Part. |
Person/Parent/guardian
|
11 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
Staff
Performance
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Person/Parent/guardian
|
11 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
11 |
|
|
Note: If an item is marked UNK (Unknown) or Not
Applicable (NA), will be entered in the No column.
Public
Comment
Six families that are presently receiving services
from HCR attended the public forum that was advertised on the cable TV scanner. The families were all very positive about
HCR’s services and staff and had nothing but praise for the agency’s work.
The review team received some suggestions during the
course of the review and these are listed below:
·
“Clone
Chris and her staff”
·
“Chris
can never leave Juneau.”
·
“I’ll
never leave Juneau because of the quality of services I receive and my family
needs.”
·
Work
on documenting and billing for services, including shared services with other
agencies, more efficient management of the billing process through Anchorage to
assure payment in a more timely manner to collaborating agencies and families.
·
Move
the FAX to a more private location.
·
Keep
client discussions to closed offices.
·
Delineate
staff responsibilities, so that staff can efficiently respond to consumer needs
as the agency: ”work smarter not harder”.
·
Most
importantly, don’t over extend yourself and staff. You and your services are too important.
CONCLUSION
The team thanks the HCR staff, Chris, Bunti, Melanie
and support staff for all their support and hospitality during this site
review. The staff’s generosity and dedication to families is especially
notable.
You will receive a finalized report within 30 days
of this review, an overview of the agency’s compliance with the standards and a
format for developing and action plan in response to items identified in the
review. HCR in cooperation with DMHDD will be responsible for developing a plan
addressing the issues noted as Areas Requiring Responses.
There is no doubt that HCR is committed to
developing and providing supports in ways people request. The high regard staff
have for the people they support adds to the quality of services they deliver.
This review confirms that HCR meets or exceeds the
basic guidelines of the DMHDD Service Principles. The team recognizes that all
the programs, regardless of how good they are, can always get better. We trust
the recommendations we have made will help you consider ways to improve your
services.
Once again, thank you for making us feel at home and
allowing us the opportunity to review your services, keep up the excellent work
for families and children.