Message From The Superintendent - December 2021

Greetings! 

We hope everyone is doing well! Here are some updates from around Portage DD.   

We continue to meet weekly with the Health Department. They give us essential data and information to help keep everyone safe. We now have 47 people of about 1,000 people we serve, test positive.  

In partnership with the Portage County Health District, we have set up a vaccine booster clinic on Friday, December 10, 2021, at Happy Day School from 9-12 and from 1 to 3. The clinic will be for anybody 18 years and older eligible for services at Portage DD. They will also give the 1st vaccine shot for eligible children between the ages of 5 to 11. Thank you to the Health Department!   

Portage DD went through an accreditation review by the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) on November 15 and 16. We received a 3-year accreditation award, the highest that a county board can receive. The 3-year accreditation means the next time they will review Portage DD will be in 2024. Thank you to the terrific staff who do extraordinary things here at Portage DD. They always keep the mission statement of Portage DD to assist and support individuals in developing their abilities through advocacy, inclusion, and empowerment at the center of all they do. Great job!   

We did work out a contract with Northeast Ohio Network (NEON) to onboard and recruit new Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). NEON will help recruit and retain DSPs, who are crucial for the people we serve. We hope this contract will lessen the DSP crisis. We know this initiative alone won't completely fix the problem, but we hope it will provide one more support. 

I wanted to share a big shoutout to the Portage DD SSA Department. They have done exceptional work in developing a template for crisis plans, and crisis plans, for everyone on a waiver. This plan will be used if individuals are ever in a situation where there isn't a DSP to provide services for the people we serve. Additionally, the Portage DD SSA Department is a catalyst for crisis plans statewide. DODD is now asking ALL county boards to develop crisis plans in Portage County. David Colgrove, SSA, created the template that DODD has passed onto the other county boards as a reference. Great job, David and the SSA department!  

Kim Sumwalt, an Investigative Agent, retired at the end of November. She was with Portage DD for the last 12 years doing incredible things. Kim is loved by many for her great heart and outstanding work. She will be missed by everyone here at Portage DD, families, providers, community, and the people we serve. Best luck to Kim in her next adventures!!     

We are planning some new things for 2022. We have a youth respite home in Ravenna. We are working on all the details to make this a successful new program. We are partnering with Kaleidoscope. The same can be said for our youth social recreation program. We will be partnering with Unified Resources/Family and Community Services for kids ages 12 to 17. We are also finalizing details for an adult emergency respite house in Portage County. We are finalizing the details with Independence of Portage County. We hope the adult emergency respite house will start in late winter or early spring. We have more definitive dates for a few new programs with our local school districts. In January, we are piloting a transition program for youths in Streetsboro and Windham. This program is called Building Independence. The program will run weekly on Thursday in Windham and Friday in Streetsboro for the rest of the school year. We also will be doing nine classes a week in 5 different school districts on social-emotional learning for kids with autism. The nine classes will meet once a week. These classes will also start in January. We are partnering with Ravenna, Field, Waterloo, Crestwood, and Windham for these classes. 

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. We are full of gratitude for all the families, providers, staff, community, and people we serve!  

Thank you again for your continued support. We are incredibly grateful for all your support! Portage DD will continue to strive to meet and exceed your expectations.  

WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.

Sincerely,

John Vennetti