Over the past several days, our ASN team has worked diligently to research and pull together information that may be useful to the individuals and families we support as well as direct support professionals.
Click the resource links listed below to learn more information about COVID-19. We will continue to update this post as we learn of new resources.
Throughout our communities, we are all significantly impacted by the very real threat of coronavirus. Many organizations, services, and businesses have announced closures and cancelations in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus. At Arkansas Support Network, the complexity of the work we do and the nature of the needs of the individuals we support make closure and cancelation decisions more complicated. A number of the individuals we support fall into high-risk categories, and many individuals require direct support in their homes and communities to maintain their health and safety. Suspending operations is not an option for us. Instead, we’re working diligently with our leadership team, human resources department, nursing staff, management teams, direct support professionals, individuals receiving services, and agency stakeholders to ensure we are implementing all possible safety precautions while providing each individual receiving services at ASN with the appropriate supports to meet their needs during this uncertain, and often confusing, time.
ASN will not cease operations of any direct service. However, some services will be changed or modified based on individual needs, stakeholder decisions, or partner organizations’ operations. Communication about any such changes will be made directly to individuals affected by such changes. Our directors, managers, HR personnel, nurses, and CEO are all available to answer any specific questions individuals receiving services, family members, employees, or other stakeholders may have about services, needs, safety precautions, or other concerns. If you have questions, contact the ASN members of your support team directly or contact our CEO, Syard Evans, at sevans@supports.org or 479-927-4100.
We also ask that as you engage in the work of protecting yourself and your loved ones from the spread of coronavirus, please consider that for many individuals we support and many more individuals across the country, stockpiling resources is not possible and “social distancing” practices perpetuate existing experiences of isolation, loneliness, and mental health distress. Be safe, use precaution, and remember that, while all of us are affected by coronavirus concerns, there are members of our community who will experience more significant consequences than others. If you would like to learn about ways you can help your neighbors at ASN, contact Nakisha Snell at nsnell@supports.org or 479-927-4100.
Juaneva Forbush is one of 20 ASN Direct Support Professionals who recently applied for and was accepted to ASN’s pilot training program, the ASN DSP Academy. As a member of the academy, she was given access to the full curriculum of Open Future Learning, access to the NADSP E-badge Academy, and additional ASN-based support, as needed. Juaneva completed all requirements and received the National Alliance of Direct Support Professionals’ certification for DSP-1 on February 24, 2020, making her the first DSP-1 certified through NADSP’s E-badge Academy in Arkansas. Juaneva, who has worked as a DSP at ASN for almost 10 years, received a completion bonus and an hourly raise for completing her DSP-1 certification, and everyone at ASN is extremely proud of her and her accomplishment.
Below, Juaneva shares her experiences pursuing DSP-1 certification through Arkansas Support Network.
Direct support professional. What does that mean to you? To me, the term professional implies that there is a definite skill set and concrete standards that pertain to the position. I am happy to see ASN partnering with NADSP (National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals) to promote a higher level of skill and training for direct support professionals. Setting the bar higher for support staff should improve the quality of services that we provide.
I recently had the opportunity to participate in this partnership by pursuing certification as a DSP 1 through the NADSP ebadge program. This involved 50 hours of additional training and at least 13 essay submissions. The entire process was pretty straightforward. I feel like the entire experience provided valuable knowledge, insight,and perspective that I, as well as everyone providing direct support, can utilize in working with individuals who have disabilities.
With the availability of audio learning modules on the training website, it was pretty easy to complete the required training fairly quickly as these modules can be done while doing other tasks at the same time. The trainings were easy to follow and a real step up from the trainings that we had when I first started working at ASN.
The ebadge program essay submission process was clearly explained on the website. The only thing that I noticed that was a little awkward is that once you have submitted an essay, to check the status of your submission you have to go through multiple steps/multiple web pages to get that information.
For me personally, the hardest part of the entire process was waiting on my submissions to be reviewed and approved or denied. It was also a bit intimidating not knowing exactly how in depth to write for each submission,not knowing for sure how strenuous the criteria really are. I had to resubmit a few because I hadn’t gone into enough detail. Some of my submissions took nearly a week to be reviewed. Others were reviewed in less than 24 hours. How long a submission awaited review did not seem to have anything to do with whether it would be approved either. I actually submitted more than the required 13 because I thought that some of my submissions were probably going to get denied since they had been awaiting review for so long compared to some of the others.
For my fellow support staff who are pursuing this certification, I would suggest that when writing essays you explain the prompts with the presumption that you are addressing someone completely unfamiliar with what we do. Make sure to relate each submission to the code of ethics and emphasize the importance of letting the person/people you support make choices for themselves and the ways that you do so in your own work. Read carefully the comments/feedback if you have a submission rejected as it will tell you why it was denied.
To me this represents both personal growth and development of my skills and growth and development for the future of the entire field of direct support! I look forward to seeing this type of service model become even more of the standard for how we work with the individuals we support!
Written by: Juaneva Forbush
Are you interested in learning more about how to ensure person-centered, community based support for people with disabilities? We’d love for you to join us as we have community dialogues about the direct support profession throughout the year in preparation for the next Arkansas legislative session.