Justin's Blog

 Archive for the ‘College of Direct Support’ Category

Oct. 19-21: 7^th Side-by-Side Event 

CDS Authors From University of Minnesota
To Join the Conference’s Program Lineup

It’s time for one and all to sign up for “Side-by-Side Technology: Therap, CDS Training Conference VII” on Oct. 19-21 in Burnside, MN, just outside Minneapolis near the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

This will be the 7^th in the series of joint training conferences presented by the College of Direct Support (CDS) and Therap Services. The venue for this unique event will be the Holiday Inn-Burnsville, which is 15 minutes from the airport and has a shuttle available,

Since the conference will be near Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota and its Institute on Community Integration (ICI), we’ll be joined by a number of the people who produce and author CDS courses.  The ICI is the entity that is responsible for developing and the authoring the CDS curriculum. We will have members of the ICI join us for portions of the conference and they will be available for questions and conversations.  Those who may attend are Amy Hewitt, Nancy McCulloh, Susan O’Nell, Derek Nord, Lori Sedlezky, Pam Stenjham and Mark Olson.

Therap Services and CDS are working jointly to enhance the services and supports available to people with developmental disabilities and those who support them. This conference brings together the two industry leaders in the field of utilizing web-based technologies to educate and train a workforce delivering support services.

Therap and CDS will offer sessions and presentations on their services and you’ll hear from the University of Minnesota’s ICI staff. There will be specific sessions for advanced users, for system administrators and for the potential users of Therap and CDS. Also, agencies from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Nebraska and South Dakota that are current users of one or both technologies offered by CDS and Therap will be on hand.

The two separate and yet distinct companies will discuss the “bridge” that allows users to access Therap’s services and bridge to the CDS via the Elsevier Performance Manager offered by Elsevier | MCStrategies.

Therap Services, LLC, based in Waterbury, CT, is a web-based service organization that provides an integrated solution for documentation and communication needs of agencies providing support to people with disabilities, especially developmental disabilities.

CDS is an online curriculum delivered by a Learning Management System and is being used across the country to develop, educate and build careers for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs).  CDS is a collaborative work of the University of Minnesota and Elsevier | MCStrategies.

For more fun, there will be exciting Therap Games, brainstorming sessions and more surprises waiting for you!

For information on conference attractions, the schedule, registration fees and hotel accommodations, click on the links below:

• Download Flyer
• Conference Schedule
• Register Online

Our friends from Rest Assured and Web Footed Friends once again will be joining us in Minnesota.

Rest Assured is a real time monitoring system with two-way communications that started in 2001. Broadband wireless technology is used to link individual homes to a central monitoring station.

Web Footed Friends, Inc. is an applied research firm developing and supporting talent management systems in human services to get the right people in specific positions to increase productivity, customer satisfaction and industry capacity that fosters growth and enhances quality of consumer support. The principals of the firm have had 30-plus years experience in psychometrics.  WFF has focused on organizational development for 15 years.

Hotel rooms are $85 a night. For additional information about this conference, call 203-596-7553.

THE CONFERENCE LINKS 

College of Direct Support:  www.collegeofdirectsupport.com
Therap Services:  www.therapservices.net
Rest Assured:  www.restassuredsystem.com
Web Footed Friends:  www.webfootedfriends.com

We just released the schedule for our next Side by Side Conference which will take place October 19th to 21st at the Burnsville Holiday Inn, next to Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport.

We have a really exciting agenda featuring a whole track of sessions by the folks from the University of Minnesota.

If you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for?

:: Justin ::

There’s a new College of Direct Support Newsletter out now which you can read here. 

There are a couple of articles of specific interest, one about our upcoming Side by Side Conference in Baltimore next month: 

and a very nice piece on  DJK Enterprises in Oklahoma who use both CDS and Therap: 

June’s Partner Profile:

DJK Enterprises Is A Small
Agency Doing Big Things

DJK Enterprises is a small agency in a small southern Oklahoma town of approximately 17,000 people that is doing some very big things in the world of technology and online training. 

This agency, which serves 45 people in four counties, began using the College of Direct Support (CDS) in August 2008. 

Damien Greenlee, DJK’s Director of Training, says that the old saying that “time is money” sure seems more and more relevant these days. “With constant funding cutbacks due to the current economic climate – in Oklahoma as well as across the country – it seems that any money an agency can save is a miracle. And The College of Direct Support (CDS) is a money-saving miracle for DJK Enterprises,” he writes in our June Partner Profile on DJK. 

Click HERE to read the full Partner Profile about how DJK is using CDS along with Therap Services and the “bridge” between the two technologies. 

 

Damien Greenlee, Director of Training at DJK Enterprises, is shown here with Barbara Sanders, who completed all CDS courses required by Oklahoma and now works in their office operations. 

If you didn’t catch it in the article, be sure to read the “Partner Profile” all about how DJK uses Therap and CDS 

:: Justin ::

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sheraton New Orleans

Registration:  9:30 AM

 Forum: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Lunch Provided

Each year as a part of the ANCOR Management Practices Conference, the CDS team hosts this interactive time of sharing with CDS users and those interested in learning how others are incorporating CDS into their workforce development efforts.  We have expanded the hours of the program and had great input from many of you who attended last year in San Francisco! 

• 2010 Product Development :: Amy Hewitt
• How the CDS is growing in the U.S. & beyond :: Bill Tapp
• The New Administrator :: Michelle Kael
• National CDS Evaluation :: Derek Nord
• Return on Investment Tool :: Nancy McCulloh & Bill Waibel
• CDS Resource Tools :: Tom King
• CDS/Therap Bridge :: Therap/CDS team
• Games, The Riot, Body & Soul :: Kristin Dean
• Roundtable Discussion Luncheon :: Everyone
• Our workforce development efforts :: CDS User Groups

Things are off to a flying start here in Indianapolis.

We have something like 90 folks from as far afield as Alaska, Canada, Tennessee, Nebraska, and even Indiana.

I’m having a great time meeting old friends and making new ones, it never ceases to amaze me how cool Therap users are, add to that all the College of Direct Support, Rest Assured, and Web Footed Friends and you just can’t go wrong.

Much more (and some photos when I remember to grab my camera).

:: Justin ::

We are getting very close to our Side by Side Conference with the College of Direct Support and Rest Assured in Indianapolis, Indiana which starts next week.  It’s looking like it will be the biggest one yet.

We just posted the latest schedule online.

See you there!

:: Justin ::

It may not be Scarborough Fair, but we’ll have much more fun than just playing with herbs.

Side by Side IV is shaping up to be a tremendous conference, and one that I am really excited about, especially as I have missed the last couple.

Once again we are working with The College of Direct Support, Rest Assured, and Web Footed Friends to bring you the latest and greatest sessions in technology designed specifically for the Developmental Disability community.

This conference will even have an international flavour with some of our Canadian customers coming down.

I am also excited about the users that we already have signed up.  You be able to meet agencies who are actively using all aspects of Therap from Medication Administration Records to Billing to Personal Finance (and I think we are on to 105 uses from an ISP Program!)

If you haven’t signed up already, what are you waiting for?

You only excuse for not going is that you are signing up to go to Maine or Oregon instead!

:: Justin ::

Therap-CDS Conference No. 4: Be With Us Oct. 20-22 in Indianapolis

The College of Direct Support (CDS) and Therap Services continue their successful series of joint training conferences with the fourth one – “Side-by-Side Technology: Therap, CDS Training Conference IV” – in Indianapolis, IN on Oct. 20-22 at the Holiday Inn North at The Pyramids.

The very first CDS-Therap conference was held in Kansas City just more than a year ago.

This LINK will take you to the conference flyer for more information and registration details. For additional information, call 203.596.7553.

This conference again brings together two industry leaders in the field of utilizing web-based technology to support people with developmental disabilities and educating and training a workforce to deliver the support services. The two separate and yet distinct companies will discuss the “bridge” that allows users to access Therap’s services and bridge to the CDS via the Learning Management System offered by MCStrategies/Elsevier.

This conference will also feature an address by Dr. Amy Hewitt, Senior Research Associate at the Institute on Community Integration. She will be presenting on the use of technology and workforce transformation. Dr. Hewitt coordinates the authoring of the CDS curriculum at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration.

There is an early bird registration fee of $150 per person available for the three-day conference and that also covers all meals.

Therap Services, LLC, based in Waterbury, CT, is a web-based service organization that provides an integrated solution for documentation and communication needs of agencies providing support to people with disabilities, especially developmental disabilities. It offers an easy and efficient alternative to the immense amount of paperwork that is done manually by the care providers.

CDS is an online curriculum delivered by a Learning Management System and is being used across the country to develop, educate and build careers for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs). CDS is a collaborative work of the University of Minnesota and Elsevier/MC Strategies. CDS is headquartered in Knoxville, TN, and its curriculum is developed by the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota.

Click here to download the conference flyer for more information.