World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is observed on 21st March every year. This is the 11th anniversary of WDSD. The theme for this year is #MyFamilyMyCommunity. Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is showing its support with LOTS OF SOCKS. This is one of the ways to get people talking about WDSD and raise awareness. We will be posting throughout the week other ways DRTC has chosen to support and bring awareness to Down Syndrome.
Sandra @WorldDownSyndromeDay2016
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,100 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online:Â DRTC.org.
Individuals in some of DRTC’s programs took part in Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol on Monday, March 14, 2016. They gave various lawmakers information about DRTC and the impact its programs have on people with disabilities. We had a great time!
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,100 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online:Â DRTC.org.
From all of us at Dale Rogers Training Center, happy Developmental Disabilities Awareness month! President Ronald Reagan proclaimed March âDevelopmental Disabilities Awareness Monthâ in 1987.
The presidential proclamation called upon Americans to provide the âencouragement and opportunitiesâ necessary for people with developmental disabilities to reach their potential. This is something DRTC strives every day by providing productive, paid work, training and employment opportunities.
Some of the folks in the Mobile Workforce and Special Needs Programs will represent our great interest in this cause by attending the rally at the Capitol Monday, March 14, 2016. If you would like to attend as well, they will gather around the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors rotundas at 10 AM.
Individuals pose for pictures at the OK Capitol during Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day 2015
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,100 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online:Â DRTC.org.
Students participating in Dale Rogers Training Centerâs School-to-Work Transition Program are getting a well-rounded education outside of the classroom, while at the same time preparing for the future.
The Moore Transition group recently spent time at DRTCâs Papa Murphyâs learning the tricks of the trade.
Shelden prepares dough at DRTC’s Papa Murphy’s
âI did the dough, sheeting it and spreading it out,â said Shelden, â(and) meat, sausage, chicken, salami, cut onions and tomatoes.â
âI like washing dishes,â said Derrick.
Shelden and Derrickâs experiences were shared among Transition students with Southmoore High School.
For some, itâs peace of mind. For others, itâs a commitment to excellence and a dedication to the lives of people served. CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities), International carries different meaning depending on whom you ask.
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC), Oklahomaâs largest and oldest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities, has won three-year accreditation honors in back-to-back surveys, looks to make it three-in-a-row in 2017.
CARF, International logo
But what does CARF accreditation mean for the 1,100 people served by DRTC and their families?
According to CARFâs website, âAccreditation demonstrates a provider’s commitment to continuously improve service quality and to focus on the satisfaction of the persons served.â
DRTC Vocational Programs Administrator Theresa Flannery, who is also a CARF Peer Surveyor, says DRTCâs efforts to ensure quality have a wide reach.
âWeâve taken the steps to voluntarily demonstrate to our family members and the people we serve that we think itâs important,â says Flannery.
Process
CARF Standards Manual, 2014
A CARF survey is thorough to say the least. In DRTCâs case, a team of two-three surveyors will visit the agency and give the areas applying for accreditation the white glove treatment, leaving no stone unturned in its effort to ensure the highest quality of services provided for individuals.
Surveyors come from agencies throughout the country and only report on the areas of their expertise. They review an organizationâs business practices, including financial reports, strategic planning, health and safety reports and other areas. Then a surveyor will look into the groupâs philosophy and planning process for people with disabilities. Finally, the survey breaks down the service delivery by area, meaning surveyors look directly at the programs, how they operate and the services provided.
âYou spend time with the people,â says Flannery. âYou see whatâs important to them. You see how the organization is meeting whatâs important to them.â
Theyâre not only looking at how the programs function, theyâre also speaking with family members, staff members and, in DRTCâs case, employers at work sites to learn how our practices are making a positive impact on the individual.
In all, a review of DRTC typically takes three days. From there, the surveyors will brief administrators and review any possible non-conformance issues, then file their report with CARF.
DRTCâs accreditations
In 2014, CARF awarded DRTC three-year accreditations in:
Community Employment Services: Employment Supports
Community Employment Services: Job Development
Organizational Employment Services
Transition Services
Accreditations cover these DRTC programs:
Employment Servicesâ
ETS Thomasena (pictured, right) assists an Employment Services Program participant with the job search.
Assists people obtain and maintain community jobs. An Employment Training Specialist (ETS) helps match an individualâs capabilities and skills with job openings in the area, works alongside the participant during the first several days to learn the job (at no additional cost to the employer), then eventually fades from the site as the participant becomes skilled at their new job.
Vocational Services Programâgives individuals the opportunity to earn a paycheck through a variety of subcontract work options from many different companies. Participants also learn work skills at DRTCâs entrepreneurial divisions Prism Place and Wyman Frame.
DRTC’s Mobile Workforce completes a project at Cedar Hills
Mobile Workforceâ A crew of up to 8 people along with a trained staff member, works at local businesses alongside their employees.
School-to-Work Transition ProgramâProgram for high school juniors and seniors with disabilities focuses on community job exploration and learning transferable job skills to prepare the students for work upon graduation.
Ongoing process
Once an agency wins accreditation, the work doesnât end.
âIf you donât stay on top of it, you wonât do well in the (next) survey,â says Flannery. âThey (CARF) want to know what you drilled on every quarter, month, year for safety and that you are requesting feedback from your stakeholders to improve services. Itâs a constant process.â
CARF accreditation was once required by the Department of Rehabilitation, but as a result of a change in leadership, the mandate was lifted before 2014. Many agencies decided not to renew their accreditation, deciding instead to save the money paid to undergo the process.
Next round
Individuals working in DRTC’s Vocational Services Program.
Dale Rogers Training Center now looks to the future and the chance to earn another three-year accreditation from CARF. DRTC will file an Intent to Survey later this year and anticipates a survey in mid-2017.
As DRTC strives to create more work opportunities for people with disabilities, allowing them to become contributing, tax-paying citizens, the agency is confident in its services provided and the positive difference it is making in the lives of more than 1,100 people every year.
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,100 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online:Â DRTC.org.
Gifts aren’t just limited to what you can put under a tree this holiday season. DRTC’s Employment Services Program is helping provide the gift of employment, and with it, independence, to many people throughout Oklahoma this season.
ETS Thomasena (pictured, right) assists an Employment Services Program participant with the job search.
Employment Training Specialists (ETS) work year-round to help individuals with disabilities find and keep jobs in the community. In the last program year, the Employment Services Program helped 141 people find a new career. Of those, 107 kept their job for four or more months! Overall, those involved in the program earned more than $1.3 million in 2014-2015!
âMy job gives me the opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and help the less fortunate. It gives my life purpose,â said one Employment Training program participant in an annual survey.
ETS Cathy (pictured, left) provides guidance to an Employment Services program participant.
An ETS works with the individual to match his/her capabilities and skills with job openings in the area. When a job has been accepted, the Employment Training Specialist works with the person hired to help learn the job. DRTC provides the ETS services at no cost to the employer. As the participant becomes skilled at the job, the ETS fades from the site, leaving a well-trained, reliable employee.
Employers note the success of the program. Many have said they like the support offered not only to the employee, but also to the employer.
“(DRTC’s) friendly staff were prompt about returning messages and eager to help out when needed,” said one business.
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,100 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online: DRTC.org.
Gifts aren’t just limited to what you can put under a tree this holiday season. DRTC’s Employment Services Program is helping provide the gift of employment, and with it, independence, to many people throughout Oklahoma this season.
ETS Thomasena (pictured, right) assists an Employment Services Program participant with the job search.
Employment Training Specialists (ETS) work year-round to help individuals with disabilities find and keep jobs in the community. In the last program year, the Employment Services Program helped 141 people find a new career. Of those, 107 kept their job for four or more months! Overall, those involved in the program earned more than $1.3 million in 2014-2015!
âMy job gives me the opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and help the less fortunate. It gives my life purpose,â said one Employment Training program participant in an annual survey.
ETS Cathy (pictured, left) provides guidance to an Employment Services program participant.
An ETS works with the individual to match his/her capabilities and skills with job openings in the area. When a job has been accepted, the Employment Training Specialist works with the person hired to help learn the job. DRTC provides the ETS services at no cost to the employer. As the participant becomes skilled at the job, the ETS fades from the site, leaving a well-trained, reliable employee.
Employers note the success of the program. Many have said they like the support offered not only to the employee, but also to the employer.
“(DRTC’s) friendly staff were prompt about returning messages and eager to help out when needed,” said one business.
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,100 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online: DRTC.org.
Cody (left) and Gary (right) display a wiring harness they made at DRTC for a subcontract through ETI.
OKLAHOMA CITYâUtility crews working to turn on electricity for thousands of Oklahomans are doing so through the hard work of people with disabilities at nonprofit Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC).
Individuals in DRTCâs Vocational Services Program make wiring harnesses used in OG&Eâs bucket trucks through a subcontract with ETI Equipment. The project not only provides a necessary component for utility companies, but it also creates steady employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Workers at DRTCâs campus at NW 23rd & Utah make several variations of the harness, with different lengths and wires used depending on the specifications.
DRTCâs mission is to train and employ people with disabilities. Individuals participating in the nonprofitâs various programs earned $5.5 million last program year.
If you or your organization is interested in touring Dale Rogers Training Center and seeing how we make the harnesses and other quality products, please contact us at pr@drtc.org.
Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) is the oldest and largest community vocational training and employment center for people with disabilities in Oklahoma. With multiple locations in Oklahoma, DRTC trains or employs more than 1,100 people with disabilities per year. Visit us online: DRTC.org.
From predator to companion, dogs have grown into a very important part of our social and personal lives. For many centuries their only role was that of guard dog and companion. Starting around the 15th century it became more common for the visually impaired to use them as the sight they didnât have. In the Civil War and World War I, dogs left abandoned on battlefields were adopted by the soldiers to lift their spirits and relieve the stress of combat.
The first school to train the blind along with first service dogs opened in the early 1900s in Potsdam, Germany. German shepherd dogs were chosen for their intelligence, disposition and size. Many of those sightless were the German war-blind of World War I. Over time the classes developed from the first lesson held in a park to better training at the school open-air courses with stairs, scaffolding and utility poles among other obstacles they might encounter in daily life.
A âSaturday Evening Postâ article by Dorothy Harrison Eustis, a wealthy American who trained dogs in Switzerland, led a young man named Morris Frank to contact her about becoming the first American to use a guide dog. Eustis agreed to train Frank. He traveled to her academy where he promised to spread the word in the United States about service dogs bringing accessibility to the blind.
Frank returned home with Buddy, his new guide dog. Together, they successfully navigated the streets of New York City with throngs of news reporters watching. After the demonstration, Frank sent Eustis a one-word telegram. That one word was âSuccess.â Morris Frank and Dorothy Harrison Eustis formed âThe Seeing Eyeâ, a non-profit devoted to the breeding and training of guide dogs in 1929. The Seeing Eye still located in New Jersey, is the oldest existing guide dog school in the world.
Morris Frank poses with Buddy, his seeing-eye companion.
Since Frank and Buddy, the use of dogs and other service animals has evolved. In 1975, the first âhearingâ dog program opened in San Francisco to serve the impaired with a companion to alert them to smoke alarms, the telephone and door bells. That same year, Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), the first non-profit opened their doors to train Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers and Corgis to be specialized therapy dogs possessing the learned skills necessary to assist their human partners with difficult tasks. CCI was founded by a former special education teacher who, while traveling, saw disabled people use burros to assist them with everyday tasks they couldnât complete.
A year later, the first âtherapyâ dog nonprofit opened its doors in New Jersey. Handlers and the dogs chosen showed a gentle temperament that allowed them to be brought into care facilities to lift the spirits of patients. Therapy dogs can come from many breeds or even mutts from the local shelter. An Oklahoma City example of this is Whiskey, the Deaf Therapy Dog. Whiskey is actually a special needs dog born deaf who volunteers with children and adults who may be very sick or have special needs. Whiskey also advocates for other dogs that have special needs. Whiskey is a regular at Dale Rogers Training Center and we love the visits.
Whiskey the Therapy Dog on a visit
Now service animals offer a broad range of physical and emotional support to those who need assistance in their day-to-day lives. Since the advent of the practice, service animals are now employed to assist their owners with everything from physical disabilities to mental and emotional disorders. Not all are dogs, either. A service animal may be anything from a parrot to an alpaca. They have found amazing ways to provide comfort and support to those with special needs.
A person is hurt in an accident and needs medical assistance. This can be a traumatic moment for anyone, but what if that person has special needs? How do you calm him/her? How will you communicate effectively in the middle of a high-stress moment? This is an issue emergency personnel face at any time with the reported number of children with disabilities tripling in the last 50 years. Since the 1970s, work has been done to create the amount of resources available for first responders, improve their education on how to work with those who are developmentally disabled and relay important information to them during a crisis.
Some states, like Missouri, have used grants to create an emergency database of persons with disabilities in their area. If a person with special needs is involved in an accident, the first responder can pull up that information en route and adjust their care accordingly. In other states, police, fire, and EMS personnel are now receiving training on how to evaluate individuals with special needs at an accident scene. Nonprofit organizations serving people with disabilities have also gotten involved by creating evaluation and response materials specifically for emergency personnel. These resources have been created for the first responder to use in the field to calm and evaluate the person and provide them with better care and compassion. You can find online examples like Texas A&Mâs very useful site, http://disabilitytips.tamu.edu/ or the US governmentâs http://www.cdc.gov/features/emergencypreparedness/ site.
Here at Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC) the safety of our clients is our first priority. DRTC routinely runs safety drills for fire, tornado and lockdown in order to be prepared for the unexpected. If a situation should develop, each building is equipped with walkie-talkies, emergency flip charts guide and designated emergency staff to guide response and take action appropriately.
