Hadiyah:

Welcome to all of you who are attending for our final installment of this year’s I/DD Community Panel series – formerly last year known as a Parent Panel. We’re doing this in partnership with SV@Home and you’ll hear more from them at the end of this webinar. My name is Hadiyah Fain and I’m so happy that you’re able to join us again. Whether you’re joining us live or you’re watching this later on YouTube or some other platform – we want to welcome you and thank you so much for joining. We had a really good talk again this afternoon and today we’re going to be talking about navigating the regional center system and giving a parents roadmap to housing and support. We have a few people who are going to be joining us on our panel and we’re excited to hear from them before we get started – a couple of housekeeping things… we also want to hear from you – take a moment to do our poll for us. How’d you hear about us? What’s your relationship to someone with I/DD or intellectual or developmental disabilities? Finally, what’s your biggest concern when it comes to the future of housing and care planning for your loved one with I/DD. Just take a moment to fill that out for us – it helps us greatly when we’re planning these webinars to know what you want to hear and to plan content. I’ll give a few more minutes for those of you who are here to fill out the questionnaire. Thank you so much for giving us your feedback… Just a few more seconds here. There’s a couple more people who are rolling… awesome… All right thank you so much for taking a moment to fill out that poll. Without further ado, I’d like to take a moment to introduce all of today’s speakers. Before I do that – I was going to talk about the format of this particular webinar. Unlike last year — if you’re joining us for the first time this year — we’ve been doing something different. This week, for affordable housing month, we’ve had a a list of panelists come up… they’ve been doing a presentation for a number of minutes and at the end of that presentation we’ve had them open up to you the audience for questions. If you’re hearing something at any time, and you want to ask a question — we’ll take the questions at the end of course — but feel free to go to the chat function at the bottom of your Zoom feature. If you’re here with us live or the Q&A uh feature if you want to put in a question for us to answer directly on air… and we’re happy to do that if at any time you have any questions… that need answered and you want to do them anonymously or off of the side — feel free to do that through the chat feature and we’ll be happy to do that. There are people on our staff and our team that are standing by waiting to answer your questions and to help you with whatever you need. That being said — our panelists today are eager to speak with you and I’m excited to introduce them — Javier Zaldivar, Executive Director of San Andreas Regional Center, Sharmean Heffernan, the Vice President of Operations and ARFPSHN homes at LSA and then Mouna Raad — the program manager at Parents Helping Parents and closing us out as I mentioned before — we have a special guest from SV@Home — she’ll come on at the very end of this presentation so please stick around for that special announcement from Reva. Thank you so much — we’re honored to be here. To begin here with Javier, our Executive Director of the San Andreas Regional Center or commonly known as SARC — he’ll share a broad overview of the regional center system, what families need to know about eligibility funding for housing, timelines and available services. Thank you for joining us — please take it away.

Javier:

Thank you so much — it is good to be here with you all and this is a very high level discussion that we’re going to have and one of the things that I always tell people especially parents when they’re considering community living options is that they go in with as much information and hopefully representing what the person wants. A lot of times, we know as parents or as caregivers – we think we know what’s best for the person and we make decisions without their input or assuming that we have their input. So with that said –- we want to make sure that we are giving you as much information and that we are hopefully giving you a roadmap for the future. I normally do this presentation in two to three hours, but I’m going to shrink it down to the 12 minutes that I have. So today we’re going to talk about some of the living options that we have – housing search… What is ILS?… What is supported living and where can I go in the future? Should I want to live in an independent setting and how to prepare some of the services we’re going to talk about briefly… include group homes and residential facilities. Group homes are for children usually from roughly 10 to 17 and then residential facilities are 18 and above. In different kinds of capacities, intermediate care facilities… These are facilities that are run that require a person… requires some kind of medical intervention and with intermediate care facilities, depending on the kind of facility, there is always a nurse attached to the home, to ensure the medical needs are met. ARFPSHN’s are… that’s a big acronym, but basically these are specialized homes that LSA runs for us here in the community and these are to often meet the medical and behavioral needs of people that otherwise would have been in a state hospital, but since all state hospitals are closed – this model was developed almost 20 some years ago now and have been successfully running and treating people and serving them in the community. The newest homes that we have are the enhanced behavioral support homes – I’ll briefly touch on those… we’re going to talk a little bit about housing search supports and how ILS independent living services and SLS supported living services differ, considering living options, some of the tips that are going to help you to include you when you’re meeting with your service coordinator – make sure that you are at least touching on what are the housing goals that are in the future for me – if I’m a person being served or if you’re a loved one caring for a person – what are the housing goals and that way it’s always there – the service coordinator is aware and if there is a turnover in a service coordinator – hopefully it’s in the plan so that the person’s needs are as clear as can be… Depending on the living option requested, it can take several months to secure a chosen housing track for a person. Oftentimes, factors that go into a decision.. when it comes down to living, include the location, the type of housing and often secondary options such as – is it close to transit, is it close to entertainment, medical facilities, etc. There’s a lot that goes into the planning, but oftentimes it’s really making sure – once a kind of living is selected that we go through our internal options that we have and that we’re giving the person the choice. We may have one option… we may have four options and that all comes with a real discussion with the person – especially if it’s out of the area. Let’s say we have an apartment and the person’s been living here in San Jose their entire life and maybe now we found an apartment that’s affordable down in Gilroy and so the person’s going to really want – is that community. What is the transit?… And as I mentioned, the other kinds of options that are available – and then of course always discuss your goals with your service coordinator so that they can write it into your plan – what is the policy? This is welfare and institution code. It is in the lantern act… you know, the bedrock, the foundation of the service system here in California. When it is the choice of the individual or family to find an alternative living option they will be included in all phases of the planning and decision-making process. San Andreas will ensure that persons placed out of their homes are in the most appropriate, least restrictive living arrangement and in proximity to their families as possible. We’ll do our best eligibility for services in housing – it’s pretty general in order to be eligible for housing support here at the regional center. Well the person has to be served by San Andreas Regional Center – period. We’re not in a housing situation – we get calls weekly from people that need housing and because they assume we’re a housing provider and it’s partially correct, but the reality is we can’t serve people that are not clients of San Andreas. And then the goal must be written into the individual program plan and that comes back to that earlier statement as you’re meeting with your service coordinator – make sure your goals for housing and or services are spelled out now. If you’re actually interested in what makes you eligible for San Andreas’s Regional Center – you can actually go to our website. We have a whole web page that is spelling out the eligibility criteria. We have a crosswalk for people to consider and we have other typical services that might be available. I’m not going to get too far actually… not even talk more than that on eligibility for San Andreas since I assume most of you are already familiar with it – What qualifies someone for regional center funded housing? Basically, you just have to be served by San Andreas – that’s the only real qualification. One of the other questions that was asked is how does payment work? Most residential homes and services operate under either a contract or through a program designed with San Andreas Regional Center. The majority of the cost of the placement will be covered by San Andreas purchase of service – a POS and it can be quite expensive if you live in a residential facility. The cost of the facility can be upwards of $20,000 a month and in some cases we can be talking upwards of 50 grand a month depending on that situation, but most of those are covered by POSOS – the purchaser service. However, everybody that is seeking any kind of housing – they are required to apply for all eligible public benefits, including SSI, SSA medical, IHSS… whatever the situation is and that they will contribute their SSI SSA or a portion thereof depending on the housing being signed. They asked about visitation for most situations – the visitation guidelines are determined by the person being served and the person visiting – pretty open in general and there may be limitations in residential homes and these are often related to schedules that are trying to be maintained such as meals and outings that the home may be providing for the people that they’re serving. However, even with notice I’m sure they can make modifications to allow open visitation generally. Although not common, sometimes a residential home may ask that you not visit during the initial 30 days of a new placement. Sometimes frequent visits after or during that initial phase may be disruptive to the person as they’re adjusting to the new setting and it can be confusing. So they may ask, especially if the person has anxiety or separation issues, that you give the home time to establish the staff, time to establish the new routine, and limit the potential for disruption… Keeping an eye here, I got four minutes — Group homes again — 9 to 18 roughly, 10 to 17 there is a parental share of cost for voluntary placement. If a parent has made a determination that serving somebody out of home is in the best interest of the family unit, there is a share of costs administered by the state for that and it can be as much as $1,900 a month depending on the situation, such as income number of people being served in the family, and other factors. These homes we visit quarterly to ensure the plans are being met. Ora’s are the general what we have, but we also have a couple of enhanced behavioral homes for children that I’ll talk about in just a second. Adult residential facilities on average, one to six individuals per home. We now have it — used to be level one through four, we now have levels one through six and we’re in the process of working with the residential facilities to assess whether they will stay at their classification that they were or whether they’ll be eligible for the new five and six that are now available. Home levels are based on the person’s needs — personal care, behavioral medication etc. As I mentioned, ICF general information, these are people that need intermittent nursing care and a lot of the ICE — my goodness — a lot of the ICF facilities are funded by the person’s insurance — normally Medicare. ARFPSHN’s are the adult residential facilities for persons with special health care needs. These are medically fragile individuals and conditions are expected to be stable and they need support with daily living and they have a need for nursing and they do not have behaviors. ARFPSHN’s are generally funded by the regional center and the SSI the person may receive versus the ICF earlier, that is funded by medical enhanced behavioral support homes. These homes are designed to meet the needs of people who require a higher level of intervention, due to behaviors. The funding structure is based on the person’s needs and can change as often as needed to address those needs. Staff receive a much more enhanced training to prepare them in working for the unique challenges. That’s a little bit about residential facilities. Housing choices is our partner — we have contracts with them if you decide you want to live independently, not in a residential facility and you want to maybe live in an apartment or a like situation once that’s identified we’ll partner you with housing choices and they will help you by first understanding what are you looking for and then they will make sure that all of the public benefits are available to you such as SSI. They will help you look for affordable options — independent living services 18 and above and they support by scale building to maintain the person safely in their own living unit and generally it’s up to 24 hours per month — sometimes a little bit more, but in general up to 24 hours per month. Supported living is a little more intense and that’s the same thing — they provide services in the person’s home and not the family home — their home… you know, their apartment or whatever their situation and it can be up to 24/7 and then if we don’t find something locally, you can talk to your service coordinator about looking outside of the regional center San Andreas. There are 20 other regional centers — maybe the person wants to live in LA, San Diego, San Francisco – so we will do a statewide search to the appropriate regional center. And that is the presentation.

Hadiyah: 

Right on time. It’s perfect timing. They have a clock and a timer on me as well so well done and and kudos to you. There are questions that have come in for Javier and as I mentioned at the end of this we’re going to go ahead and open up the floor for questions for all of our panelists so thank you for those who’ve already put some of your questions in the chat. Please keep those coming — we’re going to move on to our next panelist. Thank you so much Javier for  a lot of information really in 10 minutes. Sherman, I know that you are with LSA and a part of LSA,  but there’s so much experience that you have had outside of LSA in your many years of this labor of love, which has become your career. I’d like to introduce you all to Sharmean Heffernan who’s the Vice President of operations at LSA. Sharmean supports individuals and families as they transition into LSA licensed homes and work closely with the regional center on placement and support. She’ll walk us through the process, common barriers, and successful examples of the transition. Welcome Sharmean.

Sharmean:

Great, thank you. Sorry I don’t have slides so you’re going to have to look at me this entire time — I apologize, next time I’ll better prepare, but great — thank you, good afternoon everyone. Thanks for joining us. As Hadiyah said, my name is Sharmean — I’m one of two VPs of operations at Life Services Alternatives or LSA and I’m excited to share information about what is truly… the you know, the heart of our work and that’s helping individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities transition into a home where they’re safe, supported and given the opportunity to thrive. Today, I wanted to focus on the critical partnership between LSA and San Andreas Regional Center or SARC and how together, we help individuals and families navigate the journey into residential care. It’s a process that’s deeply personal – often emotional, but always transformative. First, our shared purpose – LSA and SARC share a common goal. Again, it’s to provide individuals with I/DD a chance to live as independently as possible within a supportive community-based setting and as Javier shared there’s lots of criteria and things that happen in the background in order for someone to qualify for services but it’s really San Andreas who determines the eligibility. They help assess the needs of the individual and they develop what’s called the individual program plan or IPP and it’s within that IPP with the help of families and service coordinators and the individuals served of course – a residential placement plan is developed and that’s where LSA comes in. We operate a range of homes across Santa Clara County each is designed to meet the different and unique needs of the individual who’s being referred to; the homes are categorized by level of support required. For example, we have homes categorized as level four all the way up to level seven and the level defines, essentially the number of staff required, the number of staff hours needed you know, per day, per week as well as the type of staff we provide. Meaning are we expected to have direct support professionals or DSPs on staff or do we need more clinical services – a certified nurse assistant, a licensed vocational nurse or an RN and again these requirements are determined and set by our regulatory agencies. For example, Department of Developmental Services or DEES… we love acronyms in this in this industry…. or community care licensing CCL and then they’re funded and monitored by San Andreas Regional Center so once this residential placement plan is determined, we begin the process and the next step in the process is transition. Transitioning into an LSA home, you know, it isn’t simply about moving into a new place. It’s a process of building trust, laying foundations and establishing stability and security. Here’s what a transition typically looks like and I’ll use the word typically – step one is sort of the referral and the matching process so SARC would refer an individual to us based on their support needs. We would then work closely with the family and San Andreas to determine if one of our homes is the right fit for the individual and we consider things like personality, routine, age, gender and you know personal preferences and interests. So those are the kind of things that we look at for a match. Then we introduce visits — we invite the individual and their family to tour the home, meet the staff, meet the other residents and ask questions. This is often the first moment that families and individuals see what’s possible and it can be very scary. It can be very emotional and it can be exciting and all of those things at the same time. Once we’ve, you know, done this visitation – sometimes those steps happen backwards, meaning we might have a visit or introduction prior to a referral, but typically this is the process. The third is planning the move. If it’s a match, we work with San Andreas and we create a transition plan that outlines the timing the support needs and the keys and goals and objectives for the move. Sometimes it involves a gradual process like overnight stays or short visits and you know, we’re trying to increase people’s comfort. Step four is really day one and then beyond – so moving day is just sort of the beginning. Our staff help individuals adjust to their new routines, build relationships and develop a sense of belonging. We stay in close contact with the family and San Andreas through every step of this process. I’m often asked what are some common barriers or challenges and to be honest this process is not always easy or smooth. Even with the best of planning, some of the most common barriers we see are – first emotional readiness for many families. Letting go is incredibly difficult – parents often struggle with fear or guilt or uncertainty – especially if they’ve been the sole caregiver for years and the same is true for the individual who’s likely to leave the nest for the first time. The second would be maybe lack of information – the residential system can be complex. As Javier pointed out there’s – a bunch of different possibilities and we really try to focus on the person’s interests and the person’s needs. It can get complicated and families may not know what services exist, what their rights are or maybe how to advocate for their loved one. Lack of information can be a barrier. Third is communication – if the individual has limited verbal skills or complex behaviors, families may worry about whether their loved ones needs will truly be met or understood and that would be a challenge. Lastly and I think most commonly – timing and logistics. Finding the right home, at the right time can be tough. There are wait lists, there may be urgent needs and transitions. Just take careful coordination between all parties. So I think that’s why the partnership between LSA and San Andreas is so critical because together we smooth the process and provide transparency and ensure no family or individual, kind of walks this journey alone. I wanted to share a real life story just to give you a sense of how this can go. I changed names for privacy of course, but Carlos was 26 when we met him. He’d been living at his home with his parents who were both in their 70s. His mother was tired and his father was dealing with health issues. Carlos has autism and he needed 24/7 care and support. So San Andreas worked closely with the family and identified residential options and LSA was one of the providers that was contacted so we invited Carlos and his parents to visit one of our homes and at first Carlos was really anxious so was his family he didn’t want to leave the car so we started with the staff coming to the window and and saying hello through the window and then we built up to him coming inside for five minutes then we we planned a lunch and then a few weeks later we did an overnight and then eventually a full transition. Today, Carlos lives in his LSA home he’s been there for over two years he’s made friends. He loves Taco Tuesday, he loves attending his community-based day program, he smiles when staff greet him in the morning, and his parents – although they’re still involved, can finally rest knowing that he’s not just safe, but but also happy. That transition wasn’t instant, but it was intentional and I think that’s what truly made the difference for Carlos and his successful placement. The other thing I was asked to cover is advice for families starting this journey. For families beginning this path, here’s the most important advice I can give. Although it’s going to be individualized of course, number one – start early. Don’t wait for a crisis. Begin exploring your options while your loved one is still stable and at home. Planning ahead gives you choice. It gives you peace of mind. Second, ask questions – be curious, be vocal, don’t hesitate to ask about staffing or training or routines or medical support. It’s your right and it’s your loved one’s future. Include the individual to the greatest extent possible. Involve the loved one Lean on the team. Use your start coordinator, use the LSA team. We are here for more than just a placement. We’re here truly for you and your loved one. Lastly, trust the process. It’s not always linear – it may take time, but with the right team, the right fit and the right support, it does work. In closing, I’d like to say – LSA – we believe that a home is not just a place, it’s a feeling. It’s safety, it’s comfort, it’s community, respect and thanks to our partnership with SARC, we’re able to offer that to individuals who deserve nothing less. To the families here today, we see you, we honor your journey, and we are here to help to guide and to walk beside you as we move forward. Thanks.

Hadiyah:

Very well said and I concur. I think one of the best parts about our organization are those who we serve. Each individual story is their individual story so I want to thank you Sharmean for just speaking on behalf of us, but also on behalf of LSA, but also again just it means so much to know that there’s someone who understands on the other side of that process and and I could think of no better person at LSA to come out and to represent those who serve. You’ve explained very well and I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of discourse and conversation at the end of this panel just to talk a little bit more about some of the nuances. That being said, I’m going to move on. We have our last panelist for our evening or our afternoon which is Moana Raad and she’s from PHP. They also provide services for families and Moana in particular brings deep experience in helping families navigate the regional center system and access support and build realistic plans for long-term care…practical insights resource tips and community- based support strategies. Welcome Mona.

Mouna:

Thank you, this is such a wonderful event. I’m so glad to to be participating and Javier said a lot of things that I also wanted to say and Sharmean did the same and she concluded by saying I see you and then I was touched and I am one of the families – right… like many of us at parents helping parents, I have raised I am raising – I have four kids. My youngest one needed a lot more help than the older two. So I have personal experience navigating the regional center system, but also throughout my child’s 26 years, I have interfaced with many systems and to get started I wanted to talk a little bit about my personal experience and I thought I was preparing what I wanted to share with you — I thought about my first few regional center coordinator. My child was in early start and I remember almost every single one of them. I remember them and how hard it was to transition from one to the next and and I remember how important it was for me to realize that regional center was going to stay by my side. Although, at first I didn’t want to be a regional center client. I’m like we’re done with early start, can we leave now and then now I’m really glad that they are there and I see the breadth of support that they provide so I want to encourage everyone to have a good relationship and understand what the role of the regional center is. I wanted to encourage you to ask about the role of your service coordinator – when somebody is introduced to you – find out more about what it is that they’re supposed to do and I remember asking this question and that person stopping and saying “This is a very good question.” Finding out more about how to communicate with them. The previous, both Sharmean and Javier talked about communication, so it’s important to understand if people prefer email, phone calls – what’s a good time and how to approach your service coordinator. I even ask about their schedule like, you know, I’m an early person so when somebody work starts work at 7:30am I’m like great can we meet at 8. Also, a few times I’ve had wonderful people really supporting us a few time they’ve moved on and I didn’t know or sometimes I found out, but reach out to the regional center and say so where is this person and who can replace her and if you don’t hear back ask to escalate it to the person higher. I basically have called people, have asked me how do you do it – I just call and I say who is – but the reality is people have very good intentions and their role is so important. That’s why I wanted to encourage you from time to time to check a great resource that’s published by Disability Rights California at PHP – we call it RULA and it’s writes under the lantern act and it’s written in easy language and it has very clear chapters and it helps you understand a little bit more about the role of the regional center. The reality is, they know your child, but they don’t know your child the same way you do – so that communication is essential and sometimes as parents we just go on and on and it’s important to look at ways to describe your child and this is why I wanted to move now to what we do at parents helping parents. We have a variety of trainings on effective communication on describing your child for example – we have the one-page description trainings and it helps write things down in a way that people can in choosing words that really do our kids that really describes them in as positive a way so that someone else trying to understand what they need is able to to get it and the reason I like the one page description. Communicating with your regional center person – it’s important to consider putting things in writing and saying let me and when you talk to them –let me make sure I understand, ask questions about when this will happen and will it be sent to you in the mail or will it be an email and write things down for us parents. So much is going on and you think you’ll remember… there is a lot you will not remember – write down names, addresses, decisions, emails phone numbers… write them down. Write the title sometimes. I’ve looked at names and I’m like what do they do and having a title is helpful. I have been with Parents Helping Parents for over 20 years I’ve stopped counting… what we do is we provide a variety of supports to families not just in Santa Clara County, but in neighboring counties. We have designations or appellations and at first when I worked at PHP, I’m like what is this FEC what is this PTI – whether you know, we’re talking about acronyms, but the reality is we have mandates and each one of these acronyms tells us who we’re supposed to serve and how we’re supposed to serve them so one of the these appellations as a PTI – not only do we serve families in Santa Clara County, but we serve them in five neighboring counties as well and some of them intersect with the San Andreas Regional Center so that’s why we all work together and we all collaborate and try to make things as easy to understand. What do we have at Parents Helping Parents?  – A lot. That’s why sometimes it’s helpful to call us or email us and talk to a person live. You can of course go to the website and you will find hundreds of webinars, videos short and downloadables, little word documents that have good links so there is a lot on the website. You can also join support groups – some of them happen in person, but most of them happen online and I love it when I encourage families… I often say you know if you don’t like this training or this you can just shut your laptop and leave right so it’s not like oh my gosh I drove and I got stuck in traffic and I got a ticket – if it doesn’t work for you, but when you talk to one of us we are able to orient your learning. We are able to work with you and find out what it is that you’re looking for in addition to these resources. I told you we have a resource directory that us at PHP consult all the time– it’s truly the way you use it. It’s a little bit like a Google search, but everything you’re going to find is connected to our experiences as parents of kids who have – whether it’s a learning disability or something a lot more complex and chronic, you will find these resources in our resource directory. Sometimes parents call and they say swimming right – we’re looking for swimming so just putting the word swimming you’d be amazed, you’re going to find several options and then if you live in Sunnyale you don’t want to drive to Gilroy and or you might like to so that’s what we do in addition to what I just said we have expertise in assistive technology. We have an advocacy branch also because we are helping parents do advocacy at a higher level. We answer questions related to anything you can think of along your journey. Some of our programs for example, we used to have sip shops for siblings of kids with disabilities ages 8 to 12. We don’t have it at this point, but we have resources that can help. We have thought it out so everything you have experienced – chances are one of us has experienced it and we have created a program to address that. Did I talk about assistive technology?… So we have expertise with assisting technology and nowadays it’s become essential to look at how something can happen and assisted technology can be complicated and can be very simple, but it really helps. So consider talking to us regarding that type of expertise. We also provide of course emotional practical resources for parents. When people talk to me I say I’m not a speech therapist, I’m not a licensed therapist… mental health therapist. There is a lot of things we are not, but we have a lot of training on listening skills and trying to guide your efforts – at PHP, it’s pretty unique, we never tell you what to do. We never advise you because we’re not attorneys. We never expect you to follow up on what we told you. We believe that as a family, as a unit, as a parent you have your own agency and you can make the decisions you need to make even if it’s to hang up and say “I’m not doing this, this PHP stuff is crazy.” We respect your decision, but we’re here in case you need some options going forward. I was asked to offer practical tips and what I wanted to tell you the main message I wanted to tell you is not only are you not alone, there are lots of families on that journey. It’s important that you take very good care of yourself first. The self-care concept is something that is so hard for us families – we tend to say “Yeah, yeah self-care and then my kid.” But I want to encourage you to stop and think about yourselves first. We have a couple of support groups, they’re called support for caregivers and quidamos in Spanish and we’re starting one in Vietnamese and it’s for all families to just take care of themselves first – regardless of their child’s condition, regardless of what’s difficult for them. It’s for you to acquire the skills to develop coping skills… understand all these pieces of the stress and the grief you’re going through. It’s for you to help to learn to pace yourself and to connect to other parents who are going through the same journey so please take care of yourself. I also wanted to make sure that, just like Javier said, please talk to your young person and expect them to participate and they will give them time for some of our kids it’s maybe in a ride in the car where you start a conversation and then you pick it up again later and then little by little you start getting a little more feedback from your child. If they have a hard time communicating, please make sure you use at least the school years to develop some more skills – too often I hear people saying non-verbal right, and I’m like I don’t like this word. I like it to say non-speaking okay and finally last one is when you look at your child – look at all aspects of growth, think about recreation, think about housing, think about furthering education, think about maybe spiritual growth for them and then encourage them to try something new… not easy I know, but you’d be amazed if little by little you know the step by step remember – how Sharmean said we come to the window we say hello so maybe you never thought about some sport or some art or some activity for your child, but think about it – just feels amazing and it’s an opportunity for them to grow and feel better about themselves. So consider all aspects of life and and think of it happening in our community. I tell you, Santa Clara County is huge and is full of wonderful opportunities in whatever area you’re looking at so if you contact us at PHP this is our role to help with this journey and I think I’m done. 

Hadiyah:

Wonderful. On the dime on the nose. I just wanted to take a moment on behalf of all of LSA and thank you Moana and Javier and of course Sharmean for coming on the pane. That was wonderful Mona and I think also some heartfelt messages. You would think just because we’re a part of these institutions that they’re a decent size and employees and numbers that the sentiment wouldn’t come through and a spokesperson or somebody who’s speaking up on behalf of the organization, but I just want to remark that all of the panelists today even though I am not the particular audience that you’re talking to I really felt that you were passionate, that you care and you’re concerned about me, about the audience member who you’re talking to and just sitting here and and listening today – I want you to know that if I don’t get a chance to say it, you’ve come off as authentic and genuine and that you really care about those who you serve. Now, if only all of the institutions that we interact with were like that right, if I went into the post office and they said “I am so happy you came in here today let me take this letter and personally deliver it for you.” Then I would be so happy – right. That would be wonderful if I walked into the bank and they were like “Hey I know you have bills, but first let me ask how you are doing.” Like that’s what I got from you Javier, that was the sentiment that I felt from you Sharmean and and from you Moana. You guys all had that sense of personality and I know it’s appreciated. That being said, we cannot address everybody’s individual um questions so if it’s a highly personalized question, though the panelists that spoke are extremely personable, I’m going to navigate away from those and stick to questions that are a little bit more general. There are people who are behind the scenes right now even from our panelists who are taking on questions. Javier has taken on quite a bit of personal questions in the chat and other places to make sure that they get addressed. I’d like for us to address some of those personal highly personal questions, but the overall general questions that this is going to be recorded and posted online. I’d like to tackle a few of those right now if possible. Now that being said, there’s a few that have come in – one I think came for you Moana and I know you’ve already written back a response, but I’d like for you to answer it on air because I think it might be helpful and so she asked this is a question for you – do you tape your IP meetings? She said she’s always taped her IP IEP meetings so that all participants can listen to what has been discussed and agreed upon and then I’d like for you Sharmean to maybe answer that and then Javier or give your take, Moana.

Mouna:

Yes, so I was a little confused – is it IP or EP because once it said IEP? I do not record meetings, but the IP document is a discussion and then eventually gets signed, but for IEP meanings – yes it’s often a good idea to record IEP meetings and I let you decide and it’s important that you let your IEP team know at least 24 hours in advance that you intend to record the meeting. It’s usually a good idea.

Hadiyah:

Thank you so much Mouna. Sharmean?

Sharmean:

Yeah I concur, we don’t typically tape the IP. Really the IP is the contract between the provider and the regional center. The regional center owns that document and it talks about the service delivery, what we are going to provide that individual – so we don’t typically record them, but I would just echo what Mona said – if you do want to record it, you should just make sure in advance, the team is okay with that and that they have ample time to be, aware informed.

Hadiyah:

Thank you so much. Javier?

Javier:

A very personal decision I’ll tell you often when you record a meeting – it may put people on the defensive – like there is no trust. Regional center – we require a 24-hour prior notice to record the IP and aside from that you can certainly do it if it’s in the best interest.

Hadiyah:

Great and very well said Javier. This next one is actually for you as well – there’s someone who wants to know what common misconceptions families have about eligibility for the regional center and housing support? Can you walk us through what families should be doing early on to prepare for the housing placement process? You kind of covered this a little bit in your talk, but if you can kind of lay that out for us clearly – so common misconceptions families have about the eligibility for regional center housing support and then what should we be doing early enough on in the placement process to prepare?

Javier:

I think the common misconception often has to do with the kind of placements that a person may be eligible for and that’s why we encourage people to be very clear at the IP meeting as far as what are the needs of the individual and what are the desires of the individual. Oftentimes, we don’t take people and you know there’s a question that I saw in the QA that’s the kind of misconception that I think you’ll fear – it really is a person- centered process and what I encourage people to do as I mentioned during the presentation is to have an open discussion during the IP meeting. Even if it’s a young 14 year old, this person you know when they turn 18, 19, 20, 21 – doesn’t matter, but here’s what they’re thinking… they’re going to want – so I think the more open and forthright, the easier the process is, but for any question ask it and don’t assume because I think that will lead you down a a dark path.

Hadiyah:

Very well said and this one is directed at… Thank you so much Javier by the way… this one’s directed at Sharmean, but I’m gonna have each panelist answer it or help me answer it. There’s a couple of times in which we talked about timelines in this panel and I wish there was like a steady timeline. I’m sure most parents and family members feel this way that you can expect this in two to three weeks, you can expect this in four to five weeks, but it sounds like you really have to be open and if at all possible, avoid being underneath the gun. This person asks what advice would you give to families who are feeling overwhelmed by the process or have hit roadblocks with regional center coordination? Sharmean maybe you can answer that and then I’m going to have you Mouna just briefly touch on it then Javier.

Sharmean:

Sure – it’s common to feel overwhelmed. I want to start by saying that it’s a huge life change for the family. It’s a huge life change for the individual who’s going to be supported and served in the community so it’s common to feel overwhelmed. It’s a complex system, but we just have to ask the questions. As far as timing and timelines – there’s just no way to predict when the right placement is going to be available. We really look at it a as a match and a match takes time. It’s like finding your life partner – there are a lot of frogs first, so it’s important that you’re fostering that match and that fit because we want this to be a long-term success and in order to do that it does take time it does take planning and it does take coordination and so it can be a long process. Although you know we do understand that emergencies happen and circumstances change, that kind of falls more towards the regional center in terms of finding a placement – should something more immediate need to happen. but yeah just hang in there. Use your resources, ask questions and just keep pushing.

Hadiyah:

I appreciate you saying that Sharmean – I have quite a few girlfriends who are still kissing their frog so for someone who’s found her um I know we’ve talked a little bit about this – I do want to just interject for a moment just to say that fairy tales aside the reason why we’re even doing these webinars is because hope and a happy ending does exist and so if you’re in that process and you’re becoming frustrated the whole reason why we’ve set up these panels and these webinars is because these people have seen many families – our panelists have seen many families have a successful and a happy ending and if you’re still in that process that’s what I’ve heard most of them say today is have hope. Mouna do you want to add on to that a little bit?

Mouna:

I did – I wanted to say you know sometimes when you feel overwhelmed it’s a good idea to take a break right and say “Okay, I’m going to put a few things on hold.” But the other thing that many of you said is start early and do it often just like our we have a great hub for students transitioning starting age 12 to 26 – we have a an amazing resource on the PHP website and one of the constants in all of this is start early and then and then give yourself some time as you go because it’s not a quick process and then people change your young person who wanted to be home their whole life suddenly says get me out of here so plan plan plan as much as possible and check our website. 

Hadiyah:

So Mouna, we did put your website in the chat – I’d like if possible for my team to go ahead and put the put the link back in the chat again – we’ll make sure when we post this on YouTube that we leave that as well okay let’s also put Connections California so PHP connections California – I’ll put it in the chat. Thank you so much. Javier, do you want to just touch very quickly – we’re just about at time, but advice for those who are still in the process?

Javier:

Yeah, definitely – if you are overwhelmed then say you’re overwhelmed. Often times we’re working like robots on this side and trying to get it done without taking into consideration the emotional toll it may be taking so I think that open communication is going to help in the entire process and if you hit a roadblock with the regional center such as I’m not feeling supported by my service coordinator then you can always at the very beginning well what is the supervisor’s name just so that I know and I I encourage people to reach out so that they’re not feeling frustrated and stuck.

Hadiyah:
Love that Javier, we’ll end with this last conversation just at time – I wanted to ask on behalf of Jonathan, he says “I’m curious to hear a high-level summary of the different funding buckets for which my children might be eligible.” And then he gives the example of self-determination – can you do that in 30 seconds Javier?

Javier:

Well the IP is the contract. It’s what drives the services and it’s either the only two buckets really are POSOS purchase of service meaning that regional center will buy the service via POSOS or self-determination where a plan is developed and they will partner you with an FMS agency that’ll help you manage the funds and the other third one is of course – generic options like section 8 housing that might be available. SSI and things like that can be used toward helping you achieve your goals.

Hadiyah:

Very well said and we have 5 seconds to spare so thank you so much to all of our panelists. Javier, you’ve been great. Sharmean and Moana, thank you so much for joining us. Did you enjoy this webinar series? If you did and you want to join us again, we’re doing a whole month of webinar series every Tuesday – our I/DD Topics and Trends – it’s one of our biggest series that we do. We bring in experts from all over. If you’re interested in learning more about things like self-determination or you’re interested in learning more about as Moana mentioned – assistive technologies and what that is, you’re in for a treat because July 1st through July 22nd we’re doing a summer series where our own Executive Director Dana Hooper sits down with at least one other person and talks about these topics in depth and you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions. Please keep checking in on us, sign up for our newsletter for when those dates will drop and register early to make sure that you save your spot. Those are also free to the public. Thank you so much again to all of our panelists. If you’ve enjoyed seeing us online, you’ll love us in person – we are going to be doing LSA’s Run Home which is our annual race and that’s happening at Vasona Park in Los Gatos on September 6. Register early so that you can run, walk, roll or you can cheer us on at the finish line as we take on this very important fundraiser for ourselves, but then also within the community. Thank you so much again for joining us. Before we go – connect with us on social media. Keep the conversation going and email us if you have any questions – we love for you to sign up for our family interest form. So many people think that we have a waiting list – we do not have any waiting list as Sharmean said earlier. It’s just about placement and timing so you could sign up today and we could find out that you’re a perfect place. You have a perfect opportunity for an open bed or open place for us at LSA Homes. Thank you so much again for joining us today – we’ve had a wonderful list of panelists that have come and joined us. Javier from SARC, Moana from PHP and our very own and precious Sharmean Heffernan who joined us. Before we go, as promised we have Reva who’s joining us from SV@Home and she has some important resources and information to share with us as we’ve done this final installment in this partnership for affordable housing month. Thank you so much to SV@Home and thank you Reva. Take it away.

Reva:

Thank you. Thank you to all the panelists for sharing valuable resources and providing a holistic approach with audience to navigate the complex procedures we have to go through. I just want to talk a little bit about SV@Home and tell that we are really thrilled to partner with LSA for affordable housing month and this year our theme is strengthen housing which is a powerful reminder that when we unite across sectors and communities we can strengthen our collective commitment to housing justice and drive lasting changes at SV@Home we lead this change through advocating for affordable housing policies leadership development coalition building and particularly amplifying the voices of the most impacted by the housing crisis. We are aligned with LSA in our shared commitment to ensuring that everyone in our community has access to safe and stable and affordable housing and we are excited to be part of this movement and learn from each other and lift up lived experiences and be part of this conversation. We truly believe housing is a right and not a privilege and I encourage you to check out SV@Home’s website and look at the events we have for you. 

Hadiyah:

Thank you so much and if this was your first or if this was your third time joining us this week we appreciate all of your attendance, comments, questions and when you get this video – share it with your friends and family. Share it with somebody who can use it. Thank you so much for joining us again if you’re celebrating here in the States have a happy Memorial Day weekend and enjoy your weekend. Enjoy your family, enjoy your loved ones. Until next time, see you later. Bye, thank you everyone – bye-bye.