Vacancy Announcement 2/11/15 Individual Service Coordinator

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
REPOST
POSITION:INDIVIDUAL SERVICE COORDINATOR – REGULAR FULL-TIME
  
REPORTS TO: MSC MANAGER – JEN BATT
LOCATION: FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES – ARNOLD GREGORY COMPLEX - ALBION
DUTIES: UNDER MINIMUM SUPERVISION, REPRESENTS THE INTERESTS OF INDIVIDUALS AND/OR GUARDIANS IN BECOMING INFORMED, FREE, CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY.  ASSESS, LINK AND REFER INDIVIDUALS TO SERVICES.  ADVOCATE, MONITOR AND FOLLOW UP TO ASSURE APPROPRIATENESS OF SERVICES IN THE LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelors or Masters Degree Preferred
One year of experience working with people with a developmental disability or one year experience as a service coordinator with any population, 1 year experience in case management activities, or a Masters degree in health or human services and no experience. Spanish and English speaking preferred.
Ability to facilitate teams, manage conflicts and assess need, deal with people at all organizational levels, good administrative, strong organization, problem solving and oral and written communication skills are required.  Pay attention to detail and time management skills.  Must have a valid NYS driver’s license.
STARTING RATE: GRADE 16 STEP 3 - $27,259/yr. or $13.11 PER HOUR
INTERESTED CANDIDATES SHOULD SUBMIT A RESUME BY 2/18/15 TO:
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPT.
THE ARC OF ORLEANS COUNTY
PO BOX 439
ALBION, NY 14411. 
e-mail:  cfox@arcoforleans.org  Fax:  (585) 589-5669
The Arc of Orleans County is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Posted: 2/11/15

Save the Jobs of People with Disabilities!

There is an immediate crisis in New York State facing people with disabilities, especially those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Unless our collective advocacy efforts are heard and responded to by our New York State elected official and Administration, traditional Skill Development Centers and Work Centers will be eliminated over the next 6 years.

There is agreement among funders, advocates and providers that integrated employment at prevailing wages is ideal for everyone with a disability. While the Federal and State governments have embraced this concept as a desired end result, they have not created any tangible, positive options to reach this goal. Rather, they seem determined to eliminate Work Centers, an employment option that was developed over the previous decades by families and service providers. Work Centers have provided meaningful and satisfying employment to thousands of individuals with disabilities in New York State. We cannot idly sit by and watch this critical employment option be taken away!

We need your support! Please go to Employment Coalition of Western New York's website to learn more about the issues and to find out how you can help advocate for positive change! Thank you!

(Information from this blog printed directly from the Employment Coalition of Western New York's Website.)

How Would You Measure Up Gov. Cuomo?

The Arc of Orleans County would like to share a letter that was written to the editor of the Madison County Courier Newspaper.  Please see article below.

How Would You Measure Up Gov. Cuomo?

To the Editor:
(Feb. 2015) For the last eight years, I have taught photography for The Arc of Madison Cortland and The Arc of Onondaga. Today, I serve as a board member for The Arc of Madison Cortland and I must say that I have met some amazing people, people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities that have faced unbelievable challenges in their life and through no fault of their own.
Recently I read that Governor Cuomo vetoed four bills critical to people with developmental disabilities. Unless you have a family member with an intellectual disability, I do not believe the average person would have any clue what this means to citizens with disability in New York State. These vetoes take a situation, which many of us would find impossible to deal with and make it that much harder for those families that must deal with it.

Most people assume that a person with a developmental disability lives in a group home and that they are taken care of by the state. That could not be farther from the truth. The majority of people with a developmental disability reside with their family, their parents. The family provides the majority of care. Unfortunately, we all age and so do family caregivers. Where there once may have been two parents now there is one, life expectancy happens to all of us. So now what happens to the person with a disability that requires twenty four hour care, seven days a week, and three hundred sixty-five days a year? Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership they are placed on a waiting list and there they wait and wait and wait. There are thousands of people with disabilities waiting for programs and services in New York State. So what happens to them in the meantime?

I understand that something had to be done to rein in the unbelievable spending in Albany. However to keep our most vulnerable citizens on waiting lists and knowingly placing people at risk is just not right.

I truly believe that we are measured by how we care for our most vulnerable, our children, our elderly, and our disabled. How would you measure up Governor Cuomo? It has been said that Government is a reflection that mirrors the society it governs. These vetoes have cracked that mirror. We still can see our reflection but every time we look the crack is still there.

Sincerely,
James Cooke, Chittenango
Board Member, The Arc of Madison Cortland