Announcer (00:16):
Welcome to Networks Looks At, topics that are near and dear to our hearts at Networks that are really at the core of who we are. We hope you really find these helpful, so enjoy it. Take care.

Nikita Arnett-Orr (00:37):
Hey, this is Nikita Arnett-Orr.

Joe Murphy (00:40):
And Joe Murphy from Networks for Training and Development.

Nikita (00:44):
This episode is part of our series about working in the disability field with a focus on roles in supported employment. These roles provide an integral part of making our communities inclusive.

Joe (00:55):
We hope you enjoy listening.

(00:57):
Welcome to our latest podcast. My name's Joe Murphy with Networks for Training Development. I am joined by three lovely ladies. You just want to introduce yourselves and who yous are?

Holly Rizzo (01:08):
I'll start. My name is Holly Rizzo. I am the program director with Quality Progressions. We are a supports coordination organization that supports individuals diagnosed with intellectual disabilities and autism. And we have two offices, one currently serving the Southeast region of Pennsylvania and another that serves some counties in the Northeast region as well.

Joe (01:30):
Thanks, Holly.

Holly (01:31):
Mm-hmm-

Joe (01:32):
Erica, Heather? One of yous?

Erica Stout (01:33):
Hi, I'm Erica Stout and I'm a supports coordination supervisor of the Northampton branch office. We are located in Bethlehem. We serve primarily Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Monroe, Pike counties.

Joe (01:45):
Great. Thank you. Heather?

Erica (01:46):
Mm-hmm-

Heather Shanefield (01:48):
Hi, uh, my name is Heather Shanefield. I'm a supports coordinator supervisor out of the Philadelphia office. And we serve a bunch of the counties in the Southeast region.

Joe (01:59):
Great. Thank you. So for those that are new to this field and new to our services, and we have so many different ways about it, you keep saying a supports coordination organization. What is a supports coordinator? Sorry, uh th- that's not one of our main topics, but I think it's important people know because it's labeled different things in different areas of the country.

Holly (02:19):
Yeah. So a supports coordinator, it's often referred to as a case manager or a social worker. But we are truly like our own niche. People start this job. They don't really realize how much goes into supports coordination because we are supporting individuals again that have a diagnosis, a primary diagnosis of intellectual disability and/or autism. But we support the whole person. So that's what a supports coordinator is. We look at the person. We try to figure out what are their hopes, their dreams, what they want to do with their lives. And we support them in every facet of that, not just focused on their disabilities. I don't know if Erica or Heather have any other thoughts on what it is that we do and how it's different than what other people would consider. Okay.

Joe (03:04):
They're, they're both giving us the thumbs up, for those listening, you're not going to see that, but trust me, the thumbs went up so we're good with that. So next question is what makes your job so fulfilling?

Erica (03:15):
On my end, I am a really big advocate for employment for our individuals. I think that for a very long time, a lot of people didn't believe that people with intellectual disabilities were able to work. And that's just so untrue. So I actually am part of a group in the Lehigh Valley. We're called the Lehigh Valley Employment Coalition where we come together every single month and we have providers that come in that give job supports and job coaching to folks. And then we also started to bring in employers to recognize them and to kind of get the name out there to spread the word and get more businesses to sign up to hire our folks.

(03:53):
So it's super rewarding. We advocate for the employment all the time. They're great. They do really well. They love it. They get a sense of independence while making some money on the other end of it as well. Though we have had a big increase. It, it went down in numbers when COVID happened of course like everything else did, but we are really bringing our numbers back up. And I think just advocating for that and spreading the word and being a support for them to get out in the job field, it's just awesome. Like I love seeing that for our people. And I know that they appreciate it too. So for me, that's a huge reward.

Joe (04:28):
Thank you. Employment is my passion. And hearing supports coordinators talk about it like this is pretty important for me.

Heather (04:36):
So for me, what makes my job fulfilling is I get to build relationships with all different types of people. Not only, you know, the individuals, but their families, their friends, their social community. So I just enjoy the relationships and meeting people where they're at. So I might have somebody who's young in school and I get to support them on that end. And they're starting to figure out, you know, I'm graduating and y- doing some career assessment. Or maybe they're older and they're starting to retire and meeting them at where they're at there and figuring out how we're going to live out our retirement. So for me, it's about the relationships and friendships that I'm building with these people.

Holly (05:16):
The only thing I'll say is kind of on the other side of it now, being in the program director position, the job is still very much fulfilling. But it is fulfilling in a different way. But I was a supports coordinator and I was a supervisor at one point in my prior years. So, you know, certainly what these ladies have said about building those relationships and really making a difference, that is what caught me and kept me. But now it's fulfilling to see young women like Heather and Erica and what they're able to do and the difference that they're able to make. And build them up to one day take over and keep this thing going. Because we all hold those same values very true to our hearts.

Joe (05:57):
True. Thank you. Thank you all for sharing. That's very meaningful, um, answer and I appreciate it.

(06:04):
In all aspects of our field that work in- turnover in our field is a huge issue for everybody in our field. And keeping qualified staff, it is always something everyone's struggling to do. So why do you guys stay at QP? Why have you stayed there and risen through the ranks, Holly? I mean you went from an SC to a supervisor to your role now. And I'm sure you guys both didn't become supervisors. I've known QP since it's first started when I worked for Joel when he started Quality Progressions and SPIN. He only hires quality people. (laughs).

Holly (06:34):
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, honestly Joel is the reason for me. If I had to pick one reason, it would be him. Because when I started as a supports coordinator, this was before Quality Progressions and other supports coordination agencies were even here. So I was just out of college, looking for a job. Didn't know what I wanted to do. Fell into supports coordination with what was then called a base service unit.

(06:58):
And then we were all told, "Oh, you know, the system's changing. You're pretty much all going to lose your jobs."

Joe (07:03):
(laughs).

Holly (07:03):
But you can go interview with these other new organizations if you'd like. And I knew I had a guaranteed job at one of the new organizations, but I still wanted to see what options were there. And we were able to, for lack of a better term, interview all these new executive directors. I had never met Joel a day in my life. I didn't know who he was, but he was just some guy sitting in an empty room with a pencil and a tablet.

(07:30):
And he was like, "Tell me about yourself." He showed interest in me. And I told him, I said, "I can go somewhere else and be a supports coordinator guaranteed. But I want to move up and I want to be supervisor." And he right off the bat was like, "I believe in you. I think that you can do this." So he took that chance on me and I just never forgot that. And so, to have somebody like that that's the executive director who's now our president have that type of belief in somebody that he's never met before, it just really motivates you to want to do a good job. And then on top of that, the mission and the values of what he stands by it and what we all try to live by in doing this work.

Joe (08:09):
I don't know if I said it, so Joel is actually Joel Goldberg who was the executive director and just moved on as president of QP as he's trying to semi-retire I think, eventually.

Holly (08:17):
He's trying. (laughs).

Joe (08:17):
(laughs).

Heather (08:21):
Yeah, for me, why I stick around is just because it helps me get better and grow. When you leave, you don't really learn that much. I'm building connections out there. It's just helping me better myself in general and within the role at QP. And also like Holly said, a lot of our missions and values align with my own personal missions and values. So I stay there because I'm comfortable. I enjoy this place. And I want to stick it out. I care about the people I support. I want to be with them across their lifespan.

Erica (08:51):
Yeah, everything Holly and Heather said, I feel exactly the same way. I think, I love supporting our individuals. But I also really love being a supervisor and supporting my team. I like watching my team grow as coordinators. I get to be the one, of course they do their standard online trainings and learn all the fun stuff with the webinars which are super great. But getting hands on is even better. And I love going out there and showing them how I learned. Being hands-on with them and letting them think for themselves and think outside the box.

(09:23):
That's another really cool part of this job. We have service definitions in place for every service that we have, but there's always some kind of gray area. And I love getting into that and being creative and getting our people the most that they could get through their waivers and helping them in every way. So not just helping our individuals, but helping the coordinators too. And I think that that goes a long way and that's how we get people to stick around. Showing them that we care about them so they can help care for the people that they're serving too.

Joe (09:52):
Thank you. So what makes the three of yous really good at this job? Let me rephrase that. What makes a good supports coordinator? If someone's looking to come in to this field and join a supports coordination organization, SCO, what makes a good one?

Holly (10:08):
I'm going to let Erica and Heather take this one. I have my own thoughts, but they are the ones that are working directly with our new supports coordinators, so they'll probably have more direct insight than I would.

Erica (10:19):
So I would say for sure one of the major things that I talk about in interviews is organizational skills. There's deadlines for things. And if you're not organizing, keeping track of what's due when, it's easy to fall behind on things. So organization is definitely a key component.

(10:37):
Communication is my other big one, and compassion. You have to be willing to want to work with people. Sometimes we have difficult families and difficult individuals that really struggle and they might want to fire you that day. And you have to just stick it out with them and help them and show them what we are doing for them. So, compassion, conversations, all that I think is definitely things that we need to be looking for in a candidate.

Heather (11:05):
Yeah, I'll hop, uh I agree with Erica said. Two, I also think as far as the communication, just having those interpersonal skills. And you need to meet people where they're at right then and there and their teams. So if you are a personal person, I should say, you know, they're going to open up to you. They're going to trust you and that just helps your job move quite along.

Joe (11:28):
Thank you. So I have one final question. Can you guys share a feel-good moment from over your years that you've worked as an SC?

Erica (11:37):
I had a pair of brothers that were both severe intellectual disability and non-verbal. And they were just unfortunately not given a good hand at life all around. They lived with their father for a while. And he struggled with addictions and he ended up passing away. And they had a mother who was also struggling with addiction. They couldn't live with her so they ended up living with the dad's girlfriend for a while. And there was just severe neglect issues going on and we were advocating for them so much. And we were really struggling to get them out of the home. With the way some of the rules are written, it was just a big struggle.

(12:16):
And a very unfortunate situation happened where their caregiver passed away and nobody knew and they were just left alone for days. And I don't know how they did it, but they lived off of each other. I think they kept each other alive. And when we were finally able to figure out what was going on, we were able to get them into a really safe home. We got them into a residential group together so they could live together because they're brothers. And they are thriving now. It's been a really tough journey for them. And seeing them in a safe home with clean clothes and trying to gain some independence in areas that nobody helped them with before had just been really great. It was a very emotional rollercoaster for everybody involved, and the SC worked really hard along with me to get them out of there and it just, it was great.

Heather (13:02):
A few of my feel good moments are around within the criminal justice system. So I had a few people that I support get involved in that and getting incarcerated, locked up, staying there for a while. So some of my feel-good moments are working through that system with them and just really telling their story, the facts of what is their story. And just hearing the judge order, "Hey, let's figure out some services in place. And this person should not be in the institution and put in some service out in the community."

(13:38):
So some of my feel-good moments are around those people that got caught up in that system. And realizing, like, these people need help. They need services. Putting them in an institution is not where they should be at right now. We need to help educate them and help them learn.

Holly (13:53):
I don't again, do the direct supports coordination work anymore so I don't get to see first hand as many of those feel-good moments anymore. But, you know, some of the situations that I'm pulled into, they're very egregious at first and there's a lot of things going on. And the supports coordinator might be pulled in a bunch of different directions. But it's always nice to see when things turn out.

(14:15):
But the ultimate feel-good is when you're able to support a person they way that they want to be supported. There is no right or wrong. And when you as a supports coordinator and a facilitator of that team can get the other team members to see that and acknowledge that it's okay for people to make mistakes. We all make mistakes. We can't protect an adult whether they have an intellectual disability or not from making those mistakes. So I think it's those types of situations where as a team facilitator you're able to help other team members see we're all here for the same goal. And let's work on whatever this person wants to do with their life, that's what we're here to promote.

Joe (14:53):
Wow, thanks. For those listening who can't see, I'm sitting here shaking my head nonstop. I agree with everything you guys are saying. And I'm with you Holly, I used to do the direct work and be, be front line and I haven't been in quite some time. And I miss that part and seeing the end result sometimes. I love hearing these stories of some successes that are coming out.

(15:11):
I want to thank the three of yous for joining us today. If someone would like to get a hold of Quality Progressions, how could they do that?

Holly (15:16):
So they can go to our website which is just www.qualityprogressions.org. And all of our information is there for both of our offices. Again, Heather's from our Philadelphia office and Erica is with our Northampton office so we do work with many counties within the entire state. Yeah, we are very happy to work with people. As Heather said, you know, meet people where they're at, so please takes some time, look us up.

(15:42):
We have some success stories on there, some individuals that we've supported that have had some great successes. We highlight some of our staff so if people are interested in learning more about what supports coordinators do, there's some of that information on our website as well.

Joe (15:56):
Awesome. Thank you very much. I'll make sure I add that all to the episode notes so if anyone's listening, they'll, they'll be right down there to grab for you, the website.

(16:04):
Again, thank you very much and please come back and listen to more podcasts.

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