Breakout Sessions

Session Title: God and the Group Home: Moving Beyond the Nervous Relationship of Providers and Religion

Session Description: Historically, there has been a reluctance on the part of support provider organizations when it comes to actively supporting the spiritual practices of the individuals whom they support. Yet, the acknowledgement of the spirituality of people with disabilities raises important questions about the integrity of individual supports as well as the full and complete personhood of the individual. Acting as though this is somehow a delicate “church and state” concern is a distraction from the real issue. The session will provide data relative to US cultural norms of religious practice, and the practical impact of faith communities as natural support networks. It will also propose a renewed understanding of the person-centered, choice-honoring nature of planning and supports.

Speaker Bio: David Morstad, M.Ed., is the author of the book, "Whole Community: Introducing Faith Communities to People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities". He is a Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) and was the 2010 recipient of AAIDD’s Henri J.M. Nouwen Award. For more than 38 years, he was with Bethesda Lutheran Communities in roles that included educational resource development, corporate director of staff training, Vice President for Communications, and was the Executive Director and Senior Fellow of the Bethesda Institute. David is widely published and has lectured to professional organizations across the US, Europe, and the Baltic nations. He is currently a member and past chair of the Governor’s Committee for People with Disabilities in Wisconsin and serves on a number of boards including the Faith Inclusion Network of Virginia, and Creative Community Living Services in Wisconsin. His blog can be found at www.LargerTable.com.

Session Title: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Programs & Initiatives: What you need to know now!

Session Description: This session will cover the basics of Medicare coverage, as well as highlight recent CMS initiatives resulting from the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how to make informed decisions about Medicare, Medicaid, and Marketplace coverage options and where to find important resources and trusted local counselors who can help with a variety of needs.

Speaker Bio: Melissa Scarborough is a graduate of Texas A&M University Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health who earned her Master of Public Health degree with a Community Health & Management emphasis in addition to her Health Education Specialist certification. Ms. Scarborough then completed a two-year intensive training program as a Presidential Management Fellow and has now been with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for over 20 years serving in numerous roles to develop expertise in a variety of programs and projects throughout the agency. Serving as a Local Engagement and Administration Staff at CMS Dallas, Ms. Scarborough works with both traditional and healthcare provider partners to ensure the most accurate and up-to-date information is shared by providing training, staffing exhibits at conferences, speaking at meetings, compiling/distributing weekly newsletters, and more.

Session Title: Psychotropic medications work…really…they do!

Session Description: Seriously? Do these drugs even do anything? Wouldn’t we be better off if we just took everyone off their meds? Psychotropic medications play a prominent role in IDD patients. Used correctly they can result in positive life altering changes, used incorrectly they can have dire consequences. Learn what psychotropic medications are and how they work. Hear about the pro’s and con’s of older psychotropic medications versus newer. And, through case studies, weigh the benefits versus the risk of these drugs.

Speaker Bio: Ken Lang, RPh, is the Vice President of Pharmacy Operations at KODOCARE Pharmacy. Ken has led the award-winning pharmacy as they have become one of the most respected pharmacies in the IDD space. A graduate of St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Ken is a consultant pharmacist and enjoys interacting directly with patients. He and his wife have two adult sons and he enjoys playing sports (especially when winning).

Speaker Bio: Yevette Saldaña, CPhT, Certified Immunizer, is the Business Development Manager at KODOCARE Pharmacy. She was instrumental in KODOCARE’s efforts during the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine which led to the Illinois Department of Human Services working with her and the Pharmacy to vaccinate IDD patients early in the rollout that other providers couldn’t. Yevette is a recent recipient of the Everyday Hero’s Award.

Session Title: The Fundamentals of Organizational Transformation

Session Description: Our field is always changing, and it’s important that organizations and supports for people with disabilities continually transform to ensure that we are providing effective and person-directed services. During this session, led by the National Leadership Consortium, attendees will learn fundamentals and core strategies to help them embrace and lead transformation. We will answer questions like:

• How do organizations begin a transformation process?

• What are barriers to change what we should look out for?

• How do we gain buy-in and support for change from key stakeholders?

• What does successful transformation look like?

Professionals working in all levels and roles in an organization will gain useful knowledge and concrete practices that they can take back to their agencies to enact meaningful change and transformation that can improve the lives of the people we support.

Speaker Bio: Caitlin Bailey, PhD is the Co-Director of the National Leadership Consortium, she has worked with the Consortium since 2010. In her role as Co-Director, she leads the development and coordination of all research and evaluation projects as well as technical assistance and support to organizations and disability sector leaders. Caitlin also co-leads all strategic planning initiatives for the National Leadership Consortium. Caitlin brings significant knowledge and experience in research and evaluation, training, development, and facilitation of leadership development programs for the disability service sector, the Department of Labor, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Caitlin has served on the Boards of Directors for the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, as well as the Alliance for Citizen Directed Supports.

Session Title: Supported Employment: Making It All Happen

Session Description: This session will share strategies and achievement stories on a Supported Employment Program in Mobile, Alabama. Anthony leads The Volunteers of America Southeast Program. He has been successful in “making it happen” for the people that he and his team support despite all the challenges. Innovative approaches are taught to clients with IDD so that they may find gainful employment. He also shows how to keep people and their staff engaged in the process.

Speaker Bio: Anthony Lewis currently serves as the Supportive Employment Coordinator at Volunteers of America Southeast where he has worked for 25 years. He currently serves as a board member with the Dearborn YMCA and is a proud member of the Leadership Mobile Class 2022. Anthony holds a BA in Criminal Justice and Corrections from Alabama State University, Montgomery, Alabama where he also played football. He has a long history of coaching youth football and serves as a mentor to many athletes in Mobile, Alabama. He is the father to two fabulous young adults and is the loving husband of Carla Lewis.

Session Title: Leader's Quest: Lessons every leader should know and how to teach them.

Session Description: Why do we love going to movies and playing games but dread sitting in training? Can we take the psychological mechanisms that make movies and games fun and apply them to training? Yes, we can! That’s where Leader’s Quest comes in! What is Leader’s Quest? It’s an epic two-day learning adventure designed to get staff started on their journey to becoming organizational leaders. This two-hour interactive seminar will teach you how to build your own Leader’s Quest. The techniques you’ll learn can also be applied to any training topic to create engaging and effective learning experiences for your staff.

Speaker Bio: John Pingo is the CEO and Board Certified Behavior Analyst of the Goldie B. Floberg Center based in Rockton, Illinois. He started his career serving people with developmental disabilities over 20 years ago as a direct support professional. Over that time he has held roles in human resources, program administration and many others. During this time, John also earned his Ph.D. in behavior analysis and therapy from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. John has taught at the college and university level and was formerly an adjunct faculty member for both Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and Aurora University in their behavior analysis and therapy programs. John's professional passions are engineering positive workplace cultures, helping people served achieve empowered lives through applied behavior analysis, mindfulness applications for staff, combating cognitive biases through learning, developing fun, engaging training, and making person-centeredness a reality for people served and staff members.

Speaker Bio: Tiffany Kragenbrink has held multiple positions during her time with the Goldie Floberg Center. Her experiences as a Case Manager, Director of Intake, Communication Specialist, and now Vice President of Staff Development have provided her with a unique perspective learning. Tiffany does not believe that learning is just about Powerpoints and lectures – she uses her imagination and love of superheroes to help create exciting learning opportunities filled with games and competitions. After all, every day is a new adventure - why can't training be the same?

Session Title: The Whole Person: Raising One Another Up

Session Description: Creating quality days of meaning and purpose for those with developmental disabilities is not only possible but also essential. In this interactive session, Linda will bring her 50 years of experience in the field of disabilities to present real-life solutions to problematic concerns. Linda believes deeply in recognizing every individual as a whole person. With moving real-life examples, Linda will provide ways of support and care that emphasize relational dignity, intrinsic value and meaningful joy.

Speaker Bio: Linda Cofield-Van Dyke is a therapist, program leader, consultant and teacher, who specializes in life cycle issues, such as spirituality, grief and death, and sexuality. She has been serving persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities for more than 50 years.

Linda’s love and concern for the welfare of people with disabilities led her to found Luvability Ministries in 1997. This unique nonprofit in Niles, MI, offers a variety of programs based in the arts to nurture participants on their journey of faith. At present, Linda is semi-retired and works as a consultant to Luvability.

Linda has authored Lessons in Grief and Death: Supporting Adults with Developmental Disabilities in the Healing Process and Creating a Meaningful Day: An Innovative Curriculum for Adults with Significant Intellectual Disabilities. She has won many community and national awards recognizing her life’s work. In addition, her experience and ability to communicate with a broad spectrum of people with disabilities make Linda a respected speaker at conferences and disability organizations across the United States. Many who work in the field endeavor to incorporate her compassionate, person-centered methods.

Linda earned a Bachelor of Science degree in management and a master’s degree in ministry from Bethel College in Mishawaka, IN. She is the mother of three sons, including one who has an intellectual disability, and grandmother to a grandson and two granddaughters.

Session Title: Person Centered Guardianship: Myth or Mission???

Session Description: Many people think that the idea of person-centered planning and supports only apply to people who can make decisions without assistance. This may be especially true for parents who have been appointed to this role creating a unique challenge for the disability professional leading the planning team. This session will focus on ways that disability professionals can help parents and guardians to support their family members or charge with disabilities to be an active participant in the planning and decision-making process. We will explore different strategies and approaches though a case study approach based on real planning challenges and real people.

Speaker Bio: Tina Campanella is an independent consultant with over 40 years of experience working on behalf of children and adults with disabilities in many different capacities. She previously worked as Chief Executive Officer of Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities, an independent advocacy and monitoring organization in Washington DC. Prior to that she was part of the team at the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL) that created the CQL Personal Outcome Measures (POM). She is acknowledged as an exceptional thinker and leader with expertise in program development, person-centered approaches, and service quality management. Ms. Campanella holds a MA degree in Organizational Management and Change and is a passionate about partnering with advocates who have disabilities to promote change.

Session Title: America Runs on Behavior… and values, choices, empathy, and skill development. Using Person centered Thinking to Develop Behavior Plan

Session Description: Personal Centered Thinking is at the very center of what we do. Why do we still have plans that do not include values, choices, teaching skills that are important to the person supported? During this session, we will challenge you to think about person centered thinking during the assessment, implementation, and follow up phases of the development of a behavior support plan.

Speaker Bio: Amie Burke, BCBA received her master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis and Therapy from Southern Illinois University. Amie currently serves as one of the Clinical Directors for the Illinois Crisis Prevention Network (ICPN). Amie has been with ICPN for over 8 years and has been in the field of ID/DD for over 30 years. Her experience is with all levels of disabilities across the lifespan. Her passions include working with direct support professionals and developing practical interventions for challenging behavior. Amie provides training on evidence-based practices such as Dealing with Challenging Behaviors, Data Collection, Management & Leadership, Caring for the Caregiver, and Empowering DSP’s. Outside of ICPN she likes to sew, spend time with her husband, daughter and two dogs and ride her bicycle.

Speaker Bio: Kurt Garcia received his master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis and Therapy from Southern Illinois University. He has been in the field of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities for over 15 years. Kurt has held various titles within the residential setting, and currently serves as a Behavior Specialist for the Illinois Crisis Prevention Network (ICPN). Prior to ICPN, he was the Director of Behavioral Services at the Goldie B. Floberg Center. In his spare time, Kurt enjoys drawing, watching sports, and spending time with his family.

Speaker Bio: Anna Vvanti, LSW, received her Master’s degree from Aurora University. She has worked with children and adults with multi-axial diagnoses for fifteen years, providing clinical case management and psychosocial support for behaviorally, medically, and psychiatrically complex cases. In addition, Anna has experience in providing program evaluation, quality assurance, and program development. Providing psychoeducation to families and staff members on mental health diagnosis is a passion of Anna’s, as well as the assessing for systems impact in efforts to continue the growth and advancement of community-based services for dually diagnosed individuals. In her spare time, Anna enjoys the wild ride of raising her three daughters.

Session Title: Join the Journey: Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about the destination

Session Description: Now more than ever there is an increased emphasis on the importance of human capital, today’s leaders are tasked with an increasing number of complex challenges that require actions in tandem. Organizational leaders must think strategically, relationally, and creatively to build high-performing teams and culture. At the higher level, leaders are also responsible for setting and aligning missions, strategy, and vision across an organization. Are you ready to go beyond leadership theory? Join three industry leaders, each at various places on their leadership journey, as they discuss finding your propose, growing to your potential, and helping others. Together these leaders have over 100 years of leadership insight and will share real-life stories and proven advice from world-class leaders who've done it. Their individual perspectives and passion to develop others will help aspiring leaders, as well as seasoned leaders, unleash the potential in themselves and others, and help to cultivate high-performing teams. If you want to make a positive impact on the world, learning to lead better will help you do it. Regardless of where you are at in your leadership journey this season will help to provide you with the tools to be more successful.

Speaker Bio: Edward Hershey is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Home of Guiding Hands. He assumed his role with HGH on September 1, 2021. Edward began his career at HGH in 2015 as the Vice President of Operations and was recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Edward has 27- years of management experience in directing all facets of business operations, with expertise in operations and project management. Prior to joining Home of Guiding Hands, Edward worked for Father Joe’s Villages as their Vice President of Operations for 12 years, and for the Employment Development Department where he specialized in Veteran’s needs. Edward served in the US Navy during the Gulf War and was honorably discharged in 1993. He serves on the Board for the California Disability Services Institute, and the California Disability Services Association. He volunteers his time for Boy Scouts of America and the VFW. Edward holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management with a Specialization in Strategic Innovation and Change Management from Colorado State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership with a Specialization in Public and Non-Profit Management. Edward is a graduate of the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities, a licensed California Contractor, and is a member of the John Maxwell team certified as a leadership coach, speaker, and trainer. He lives in El Cajon with his wife of 16 years Jessica and their three children, Julia, Niko, and Ethan.

Speaker Bio: Mark Klaus serves as the Executive Director of the San Diego Regional Center (SDRC). He was appointed to this position by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Developmental Services, Inc. Board of Directors on November 1, 2021. Prior to joining SDRC, Mark was President and Chief Executive Officer of Home of Guiding Hands (HGH), a community-based provider that supported over 4,000 individuals in both San Diego and Imperial counties. In the decade that Mark lead HGH, he doubled the number of employees, the annual operations budget, and significantly enhanced the geographic area for consumer services. Additionally, Mark served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Charleston Transitional Facility in Champaign, Illinois.

Mark has almost 40 years’ senior level executive experience operating and developing person centered service options for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. He is active in numerous local, statewide and national organizations including the California Department of Developmental Services Statewide (DDS) Task Force, DDS Fiscal & System Reform Workgroup, Department of Healthcare Services Long Term Care Carve-In Workgroup, the Autism Provider Exchange and many others.

Mark is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and attended the prestigious Stanford Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders. He lives in San Diego with Angie, his wife of 35 years.

Speaker Bio: Art Dykstra serves as the CEO of the Trinity Services Foundation, a not-for-profit Illinois corporation that provides support to Trinity Services, Inc. through a variety of income producing venues, including legacy giving, asset management, and entrepreneurial activities. The Trinity Foundation also administers the Cherry Hill Consulting Group of which Art is the Director. It provides management and leadership consultation services to community organizations including many human service providers.

Previously Art served as the CEO for Trinity Services, Inc. (1987-2018), a not-for-profit, non-sectarian social services organization providing state-wide services in Illinois to children and adults who are intellectually or developmentally disabled or mentally ill.

Art grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, attended Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota and received a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Bradley University. He has extensive college and university teaching experience, including graduate and undergraduate classes in Human Services Administration, Clinical Administration, Executive Leadership and Public Administration. He is a frequent guest lecturer and conference speaker.

Art has written numerous articles, book chapters, publications and topical monographs. He is the author of Outcome Management, co-authored You Won’t Believe This: Understanding and Managing the Habits of Gossip, From Inquiry to Insight: Preventing Abuse and Neglect, Creating a Positive Organizational Culture and most recently with Thane Dykstra, PhD the January 2020 publication A New Plan: Using Positive Psychology to Renew the Promise of Person-Centered Planning.

Art and his wife, Anita, live in New Lenox, Illinois. They are proud parents of three children and six grandchildren.

Session Title: Successful Aging: 10 Tips for Meaningful Engagement

Session Description: A key to successful aging includes meaningful engagement. An active lifestyle with your community, inner social circle, and feelings are the secrets to a high quality of life. We will review service and environmental changes you can incorporate to facilitate meaningful engagement as an individual ages with an intellectual and developmental disability. We will discuss revising goals to identifying environmental improvements. Engagement is a fun behavior to plan, but one that is challenging to produce. By taking time to enjoy the process, we show everyone that meaningful engagement comes from our participation with life and connections with each other.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Maranda Trahan, PhD, BCBA-D was born in Louisiana and attended LSU as an undergraduate student. She attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale for graduate school, receiving a master’s degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy and a doctorate in Rehabilitation. Dr. Trahan completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD in Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. She then started the first ABA clinical practice for individuals with dementia in 2014. In late 2018, Dr. Trahan moved back to Southern Illinois and started work with Abilities Behavior Services. There she serves as the program coordinator for aging-related services, consulting and managing a caseload of senior clients (with and without I/DD). She also develops training materials for clinicians around the country looking to serve our growing population of seniors. Dr. Trahan enjoys being outside, growing vegetables, and spending time with her family and animals.

Speaker Bio: Amanda Ripley, BCBA is from Chicago and attended Western Michigan University as an undergraduate student. She attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale for graduate school, receiving a master’s degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy. Amanda worked in several states, including Michigan, Colorado, and Illinois, providing ABA services to children, adults and seniors. Amanda currently works at Abilities Behavior Services, and co-manages their aging-related programs. She consults with a caseload of senior clients (with and without I/DD). Amanda also helps in the development of training materials for clinicians looking to serve seniors. Amanda is an avid runner and enjoys playing outside with her kids and husband.

Session Title: 5 Ways to Strengthen Your Organization’s Language Behavior

Session Description: Cultivating positive relationships with the people we are charged with supporting is not just a nice idea, it’s essential to accomplishing our work and mission.

The reality of staff shortages, increased turnover, and the rising likelihood of hiring staff who may need a bit more coaching than in the past, highlights the importance of enhancing our efforts at educating staff in respectful language.

So, how do you teach something that may not make sense to someone new to our field?

Join us in this session to learn five ways to do just that.

1. Understanding the importance of what we say and how we say it

2. The foundation of person-centered language

3. Modeling the language behavior you want to hear

4. Sustaining your efforts: noticing progress

5. Coaching for encouragement and staff success

Speaker Bio: Anne Ward is Director of Publications for High Tide Press, a publisher of books and media for leaders and practitioners at every level in Human Services. Anne is co-author of High Tide Press publications Power of Voice, a curriculum to help direct support professionals communicate well with people who have disabilities and Words That Lift Us Up, a multi-media resource for organizations to train staff in using person-centered language. She has been writing and presenting in the areas of communications and developmental disabilities for over 20 years, with recent conference presentations for NAQ (National Association for QDDPs), APDDA (Association of Professional Developmental Disabilities Administrators), IARF, and The ARC of Illinois.

Session Title: All Aboard: Having the Best Trained Staff in Human Services

Session Description: Staff Training. Is your organization thinking about re-evaluating, redesigning, or redefining the staff development process? Disability professionals know firsthand the connection between well-prepared staff and effective supports for people. It’s imperative! Today, some service providers are considering external systems to complete their staff training needs and achieve compliance in a seemingly cost-effective manner. But at what real cost to the organization? What is lost when staff development efforts are exported to others less familiar with the organization? Join Amy Tabor as she shares “train-ing” approaches to developing a customized, in-house Learning and Development program that will work for your staff and reflect the organization’s unique culture while reinforcing its all-important mission, vision, and guiding principles.

Speaker Bio: Amy Tabor has worked in the human services field for more than three decades. She began her career as a behavior specialist in a residential setting for people with autism and has held a variety of positions within organizations -- including case management, program evaluation, staff development, and executive leadership. Much of her work has been dedicated to the prevention of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of vulnerable people, and, specifically, the importance of Human Rights Committees. As President of Organizational Dimensions, Amy travels extensively working with provider agencies throughout the U.S. and beyond, to enhance service effectiveness within these organizations. She regularly presents at local, state, and national conferences where she shares her knowledge, experiences and perspectives on a variety of topics. She holds two degrees in Sociology completing undergraduate work at North Central College and graduate work at Northern Illinois University. Additionally, Amy is an accomplished writer who continues to create new resources to assist organizations in their efforts in providing high quality, effective services to vulnerable populations.

Session Title: Person-Centered Planning Gets a Fun and Fun and Fresh Makeover

Session Description: This session explores best practice strategies, tactics and tools that could both meet documentation requirements AND result in a plan that helps set the individual’s path to flourish and live their best possible life. This interactive session will include: 1) Open Discussions of the topics presented, 2) Case Studies, and 3) Live demonstrations of three Person centered planning tools.

Speaker Bio: Stephen Sutter is president and founder of CreateAbility Concepts, Inc. Sutter has an extensive background in human services for people with intellectual developmental disabilities and those recovering from a brain injury.

Sutter also has been the Principal Investigator on 9 state grants, and 35 Federal grants with the NIH, NDILRR, and a section of the USDA that is dedicated to helping people with special needs in rural settings. Each of these projects were focused on the research and development of enabling technology to help people with intellectual disabilities.

Sutter has a degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, where he minored in Computer Science, and developed technology that was used in the cargo bay of two space shuttle flights. Prior to founding CreateAbility, Sutter had a successful career at Hewlett Packard, which included living in Germany as he managed a section of the company in Europe.

Sutter chairs the Cognitive/Sensory special interest group at RESNA and is a frequent presenter on enabling technology. He helped launch the first mobile health (mHealth) island within the medical community at the HIMSS conference in 2014 and co-teaches classes at Indiana University to help masters students learn about enabling technology.

He has helped 9 CAPSTONE student teams in the final semesters of their graduate programs.

Under Sutter’s leadership, CreateAbility has donated over $70,000 to national and global humanitarian efforts, such as assisting victims of natural disasters and the current war in the Ukraine. In addition, CreateAbility has donated replacement enabling technology to those with special needs whose devices were destroyed in these tragic events.

Session Title: Combat Caregiver Burnout and Boost Moral

Session Description: Are you struggling to maintain a motivated and dedicated workforce? Has your turn over increased, but your ability to train and onboard new hires has not? Join us for a robust discussion on various strategies to not only hold your staff accountable, but build a compassionate and motivated team.

During this session we will begin with a focus on the challenges you are facing in your organization as you lead your teams. These discussions will help to guide the rest of the conversation where we will focus on how to fill your gaps. We will collaborate on various strategies that help with not only retention and moral, but also how to adequately train and provide support to a large number of new hires. One area we intend to focus on is starting all new hires off on the right foot, and how to combat new hires coming in to a less than ideal environment and avoiding a negative starting point. Different strategies related to building moral and training a team with varying experience and seniority will also be a fixture in this conversation.

Speaker Bio: Jillian Gonzalez has been with El Valor since 2013. Jillian attended undergraduate school at Illinois Wesleyan and Law School at DePaul College of Law. After law school, Jillian worked as a Labor Law attorney before joining the Organization. Since joining El Valor, Jillian has transitioned to oversee the adult programs, fundraising, HR, and legal for the Agency. Jillian assisted her team in opening the El Valor’s first new residence for adults in over 10 years and has assisted as a Qualified Intellectual Disabilities Professional during staffing shortages.

Jillian is passionate about ensuring that adults with unique needs have access to all the same opportunities as traditionally functioning adults. She assists in guardianship needs for those served at El Valor and believes all families should have access to assistance regardless of income or language access. In her spare time, Jillian spends time with those close to her and enjoys to travel.

Speaker Bio: Jaimie O’Leary joined El Valor in 2018 as a Qualified Intellectual Disabilities Professional. Jaimie graduated from Northeastern Illinois University and worked in Special Recreation and Special Education roles prior to joining El Valor. During her time at El Valor, Jaimie has transitioned into the role of Residential Manager ensuring all of El Valor’s residents have access to community integration, quality programming, and case management supports.

Jaimie led the residential team during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic has evolved, Jaimie has focused heavily on supporting the residents return to normalcy. As the leader of the program, Jaimie actively seeks community integration opportunities that meet the needs of the each individual living with El Valor.

Jaimie is an avid hiker and traveler with a sense of adventure. During her spare time she can often be found hiking at a national park, kayaking in Michigan, or running a marathon.

Session Title: From Institution to Inclusion

Session Description: Inclusion today is more than just an educational model, it’s a bold philosophy for our time. Join us for a multi-media presentation linking yesterday’s reform of the mental health system to today’s realities, dreams and challenges to remain relevant in the special-needs field. Through pictures, video clips, and first-hand experiences, we will share tales of society’s evolution on the road to person-centered success, and consider “moving forward toward a future of possibilities.”

Speaker Bio: Steve Grieger has been a featured presenter at conferences for both the National Association of QIDPs and Developmental Services Network, Inc., discussing subjects as diverse as Alzheimer’s Disease, self-advocacy, independent living, board-and-care innovations, learning from his mistakes on the job, marriage for people with intellectual disabilities, and perspectives on long-term leadership.

This year Steve celebrates his 40th year as a Qualified Intellectual Disability Professional/Administrator for the Home of Guiding Hands in El Cajon, California, where he supervises four community group homes for people with developmental disabilities. He currently serves on several employee committees and task forces. Steve is also the author of the book Challenged: A Tribute (One man’s true story of caring for, laughing with and learning from people with special needs), a personal memoir based on 30 years’ experience in the special-needs field, which was awarded Best Memoir by the San Diego Book Awards Association in 2012.

Steve’s varied accomplishments include chef, playwright, screenwriter and teacher, but it is his longevity as a caregiver and administrator in the special-needs field of which he is most proud.

Speaker Bio: Aimee Morrison is a Seattle native, who resides in San Diego, California. She currently works as a Case Manager at Home of Guiding Hands, where she has been employed for over 12 years. She provides services to twelve women with intellectual disabilities, and serves on several other employee committees and task-forces.

Aimee is currently pursuing her degree in Integrative Psychology, with a focus on human services and the non-profit sector. The mother of an active and athletic ten-year-old son, she enjoys attending his sporting events with her husband and family. Her hobbies include home renovation and improvement projects, interior design, and animal rescue. She has facilitated the updating of several homes within her agency, tailored to the residents’ personal preferences and interests.

Aimee’s proudest achievement is her 27 years of continuous advocacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has a broad range of experience within the field. She started out as a young direct service provider. In the span of her career, she has worked as a production skills specialist, respite contractor, community inclusion coordinator, supported employment facilitator, independent living counselor, and community care licensed administrator.

This will be Aimee’s second time attending and presenting at the NAQ conference.

Session Title: Improving Person-Centered Practices with Technology

Session Description: The pandemic dramatically changed service delivery for people with I/DD, requiring a rapid transition to connected technology such as eLearn, Zoom, and cloud-based applications. Significant concerns were common as to whether the technology was adequate or even counter-productive in offering supports that were truly Person-Centered. Advocates with the The Learning Community worked to identify and address barriers. Moreover, we considered how this shift could improve Person-Centered Practices. We were pleased to discover eLearn could increase exposure. Online training could measure participant retention, and cloud-based applications made real-time collaboration easy. Join us as we talk about Improving Person-Centered Practices with Technology.

Speaker Bio: Patrick Lane has over 15 years working in the field of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. He has extensive experience in case management, project oversight, and is a certified AAIDD Supports Intensity Scale Specialist. He is presently a Person-Centered Practices Mentor by The Learning Community for Person-Centered Practices and supervises Person Centered Services for IntellectAbility. He holds a MA from Mercer University. He resides in Woodstock Georgia and has three adult children.

Session Title: The NAQ Certificate Program: What’s the Scoop?

Session Description: Despite educational requirements, Developmental Disability Professionals often find that there is a significant gap between their academic learning and the practical application required in their jobs. The NAQ Certificate Program helps to bridge that gap by providing the information, training, and resources that are critical to being successful in this type of role. Graduates of the program find that they are better able to navigate the complex systems associated with the field of developmental disabilities and implement best practices that ultimately lead to improved outcomes for the people they support.

Speaker Bio: Constance Harrington is the Director of NAQ – the premier member association dedicated to providing cutting edge tools, information, and resources to disability professionals across the country. She is also a founding member of the Technology Enhancing Capabilities Lab (TEC Lab) - a division of Trinity Services, Inc. Constance has developed assistive technology programs from the ground up for large community-based providers and spearheaded the initiative for assistive technology adoption at the state level, which resulted in a number of successful pilot programs as well as the implementation of highly regarded best practices. In addition to her work in the area of assistive technology, Constance has served a case manager, staff trainer, and supervisor of residential services. A lifelong student herself, she recognizes the value in providing learning opportunities to others and, as a result, has designed and hosted several regional and national conferences dedicated to this purpose. Constance is a highly sought speaker and consultant. She is graduate of the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities and earned her MA in Counseling Psychology & Education.

Art and his wife, Anita, live in New Lenox, Illinois. They are proud parents of three children and six grandchildren.

Session Title: The Powerful Question: What is holding us back? From Planning to Execution

Session Description: Drawing upon the energy from conferences like this one, we will discuss how to transition from possibilities to realities. Join this facilitated session to identify what is keeping us from implementing the good ideas, best practices, and innovative solutions. From there, you will develop a plan - taking into consideration everything you knew, were reminded of this week, learned and what you want to see for the future of service delivery.

Speaker Bio: Gail Godwin is the Founder of Shared Support Maryland, Inc. and is recognized for her work in self-directed service provision, positive supports, training, development, person-directed planning, individualized supports, and organizational development. For over 30 years, she has been an advocate in collaboration with people with disabilities and has worked in service provider organizations as a direct support staff, middle manager, administrator, and in training and development. She served 10 years as a member of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council on the Executive and Cross-Cutting Issues Committee. She also served 10 years as a board member of The Maryland Association of Community Services and is a graduate and faculty member of the Leadership Institute Consortium on Developmental Disabilities. She is the co-founder of the New York Downstate Person-Centered Consortium and co-founder of the Alliance for Citizen Directed Supports. Gail’s MA is from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Education, Program in Severe Disabilities – educational, employment & community inclusion.

Session Title: A Tune Up!

Session Description: Let’s face it. The work of Qs, case managers, and support coordinators is challenging. Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t wait for the check engine light to come on! Come to this session and get recharged while you learn useful personal strategies to stay organized, prioritize responsibilities, and navigate responsibilities effectively. John will share practical approaches to getting it all done while being present for the people you support.

Speaker Bio: John Lovett is the Alabama State Director for Benchmark Human Services. He earned his doctorate in Health Services Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with an emphasis on improving access to care for marginalized populations. He applies a systems approach to assist states in solving complex healthcare problems with innovative solutions.

In his current role, Dr. Lovett serves as the senior director responsible for the overall direction and coordination of Alabama’s behavioral health crisis and IDD capacity building projects. Most recently, Dr. Lovett played an integral role in helping Alabama develop and open three crisis centers throughout the state and continues to partner with Alabama to develop the state’s crisis system of care.

Session Title: The Enneagram and Qs: Ways to Enhance Professional and Personal Communication

Session Description: The Enneagram is a personality tool that displays nine personality types. It is used in workplaces to enhance interpersonal interactions and communication effectiveness. This presentation will explore the nine personality archetypes and how each type is reflected in healthy and stressed mindsets. Understanding motivations and fears in ourselves and others will help each of us gain greater insights when interacting with others and ultimately help improve communication effectiveness in professional, as well as personal settings.

Note: Do you already know your Enneagram number? If not, it is recommended that attendees take the brief online Enneagram test available at www.truity.com (under Personality Tests tab – free version) before the presentation.

Speaker Bio: Marty Desforges was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama and now resides in Austin, Texas. She has an undergraduate degree from Samford University in Communication Sciences with a master's degree from George Mason University in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Marty has been working in the recruiting and employee selection field for more than six years. She has been an Enneagram enthusiast for the past seven years and continues to research and understand the inner workings of the Enneagram.

Session Title: Finding the Bright Spots: Learning from Our Successes and Strengths

Session Description: This Roundtable, led by Caitlin Bailey, Co-Director of the National Leadership Consortium, will center around what’s working in our organizations, roles, and the field. It’s been a doozy of a few years, and now more than ever it’s helpful to focus on bright spots. Attendees will learn about appreciative inquiry and discuss successful strategies, innovative practices, and stories about great things that are happening in agencies across the country. We’ll explore bright spots to understand the practices and approaches that lead to great outcomes for the people we support and find the replicable strategies that can be applied to challenges and opportunities in our organizations. Attendees will leave this strengths-based conversation feeling recharged and fueled with positive, applicable strategies and ideas to improve agency practices, processes, and services.

Session Title: Engaging Communities of Faith Toward Inclusion, Belonging, and Relationships

Session Description: About half the US population reports that they regularly attend a church, synagogue or mosque. Yet, it is a cultural norm that often remains out of reach for many people with disabilities. How can the professional community effectively facilitate those community relationships? What do people in the pew think about people with disabilities; and what is our professional obligation in that case? How can case managers and faith communities best collaborate to build authentic, personal, and meaningful friendships among people with and without disabilities? Join us for this round table discussion where we will address these important questions.

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