Submitted By: Kathy Scott, Community Connections, Inc.
A couple of years ago, Chandra Day was a Direct Support Professional, here at Community Connections, Inc. in Winner, SD. One of the people she worked frequently with was Rob. At the time, Rob was sleeping so much his doctors and staff were tracking the sheer volume of hours and working to figure out the cause. He was not working, had few friends, and hardly ever left his home. He was not showing interest in much of anything.
His Service Coordinator and he completed his Personal Outcome Measures® interview and while staff had been so focused on his health and sleeping, Rob talked about wanting to trying working again, maybe landscaping like he had done before, where he could earn some money, make some new friends who didn’t drink and maybe get an apartment. He and his team discussed the things he was wanting, and while it was hard to imagine for most that he would be awake enough hours to hold a job, Chandra took those dreams to heart. She helped him find and try a job cleaning offices. It was okay, but not quite what he wanted. She helped him apply for a landscaping job – a job he knew within hours, was not for him. When she heard a local shop, Grossenburg Implement, was having difficulty keeping janitorial staff, she talked to the owner and secured Rob a situational trial funded by Vocational Rehabilitation. The trial went well and Rob loved the job, so Chandra went and talked to the owner again and he was more than willing to offer Rob a part-time job, which he proudly accepted.
Today, Rob is still working for Grossenburg’s. He proudly tells people where he works and shows them his uniform shirt with his name on it. He is in charge of the janitorial duties for the entire shop area and the new offices. He runs the sweeper, mops, oil recycling, cleans the bathrooms, does the trash and whatever else is needed. He’s a valued employee, he’s made friends, he has an apartment he shares with a roommate, and he regularly attends parties and events at Grossenburg’s.
As for Chandra she seems to have found her niche too, focusing on finding people jobs that really work for them and they can be proud of, as an Employment Specialist. And none of that would have happened without Rob helping staff to focus on what he really wanted, with Personal Outcome Measures®.
2016 Direct Support Professional Recognition Week
This article is part of a campaign during the 2016 DSP Recognition Week, to acknowledge Direct Support Professionals who are helping people achieve their individually-defined outcomes, through the use of Personal Outcome Measures®. This campaign was developed through a partnership between CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership and The National Alliance For Direct Support Professionals (NADSP).
Chandra Day: Helping Rob Achieve Employment Outcomes