BRC and Client Partners

Engagement with our clients and their stakeholders is a key element of our formula. By promoting INCLUSION to enrich decision making, we seek to develop CONNECTIONS among those who develop policy or provide services and their clientele in order to TRANSFORM  the communities in which we all live and work.

INCLUDE

California Department of Developmental Services (DDS)
Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC)

http://dds.ca.gov/ConsumerCorner/Home.cfm

CAC Members are moving forward as leaders, advising DDS staff at their quarterly meetings and reporting back to local advocacy groups about changes that impact individuals and families who receive services from regional centers.

With the successful completion of their three year Leadership Through Personal Change project, the CAC is moving forward to explore new advocacy areas for study and development of plain language tools.

The BRC team is volunteering expertise and time to assist DDS and the CAC conduct their quarterly leadership trainings. Members determine their schedule and content, BRC provides the plain language multi-media presentations, materials and videos. 2010 areas of interest include the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, National Core Indicators and emergency preparedness planning.

National Core Indicators (NCI)

http://www.hsri.org

Human Services Research Institute (HSRI)’s National Core indicators are a set of performance markers that include approximately 100 consumer, family, systemic, cost, and health and safety outcomes. Sources of information include consumer, family and provider surveys, and state systems data. Beginning 2010, California will join 29 other states using NCI to identify common performance indicators and share their results.

Working under HSRI, BRC is creating adapted print and digital media tools that introduce and describe the NCI purpose and interview process to persons with developmental disabilities who will be surveyed. BRC , with Allen, Shea and Associates, will facilitate statewide trainings for surveyors on conducting successful interviews and use of the introductory materials. As with all BRC work, we will team with advocates during development and field testing our tools and instructional approaches.

CONNECT

STEP – Strategies to Empower People

http://stepagency.com

Developing community employment opportunities involves a systematic effort to increase community-based relationships with friends, neighbors, association members and business alliances. The challenge is to assist people to establish and maintain associations aimed at creating mutual systems of natural support that lead to community jobs and internships. People with developmental disabilities have a right to the opportunity to develop their competencies and to contribute to their communities.

The BRC team will provide training and support to STEP’s 40 vocational coaches to increase community presence, participation and employment opportunities for persons served by STEP. Outcomes include: easy-to-implement community network strategies, a process that can be replicated, easy-to-use tools for staff utilization and multi-media demonstration that can be shared with other agencies.

Feeling Safe, Being Safe (FS,BS)

http://dds.ca.gov/ConsumerCorner/EmergencyPreparedness.cfm

Drawn by the growing concerns over natural disasters and emergencies, the DDS CAC is on the forefront of ensuring peers have access to preparedness tools and a training program that can be shared with family, friends, neighbors and community support agencies. BRC, with guidance from the CAC, developed the FSBS tools and curriculum, tested materials and trained peer advocates across the state to impart materials and encourage all people to feel safe and be safe.

In 2010, BRC - with the CAC - will extend FS, BS to better assure all people have access to the tools. BRC will develop and pilot an Internet webcast training program for people in hard-to-reach regions. Additionally, BRC created a new FS, BS video, closed caption and with a new introduction highlighting the CAC perspective that being prepared for an emergency is a basic human right. BRC will also introduce the tools to senior advocacy groups and at national conferences.

TRANSFORM

Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center (ELARC)
Board of Directors

http://www.elarc.org

ELARC continues its commitment to providing accessible information and resources to its community; persons with developmental disabilities, their families and service providers. The board and advisory committees develop easy-to-understand print and media tools that encourage employment and provide explanations of changing policies that impact ELARC’s constituency.

BRC and the SCILS Group [www.scilsgroup.org] have a long-term relationship with the ELARC board and its committees. The team will provide governance coaching and leadership training, and development of easy-to-use materials that reflect significant regional center and legislative issues.

People First of California (PFCA)

http://www.peoplefirstca.org

People First of California is a statewide organization of people with developmental disabilities working together to find their individual voices and advocate for others. As part of their SCDD grant last year, PFCA - with BRC support- published an easy-to-use book for people interested in becoming members of boards of directors or advisory committees “Boardsmanship - Inclusive and Accessible.”

In 2010, PFCA is developing a peer governance training program for nonprofit organizations. They will work with the BRC team to create the curricular sequence using their boardsmanship book as the guide.