March Edition 2011 - New York Nonprofit Press

16 New York Nonprofit Press www.nynp.biz March 2011
AGENCY OF THE
MONTH
LIFE’S WORC continued from page 15
– four, six, eight, twelve or even twenty -- based
on the individual’s needs and the goals laid out
in their service plan.
Unfortunately, State fiscal pressures are
limiting the number of families to whom Life’s
WORC can provide these essential services.
“We have a waiting list of at least 80 people,”
says Inderjit. “Families are desperate to get
help.”
LifeLinks
Life’s WORC also provides center-based
Day Habilitation programs for more than 140
people at its six program locations in Queens
Village, Glendale, Garden City, Deer Park, East
Rockaway and Old Bethpage. These LifeLinks
programs help individuals to acquire and maintain
skills that connect them to the community
while enhancing their capacity to live independently.
They include personalized, strengthbased
instruction and practice in communication,
basic safety, personal care, mobility,
domestic living, health care, money management
and social skills.
Each DayHab programs typically serves between
20 and 30 persons, building relationships
and friendships that can last a lifetime. A staffing
ratio of 1:5 ensures an ability to meet the specific
needs of each individual. Last July Life’s WORC
won approval to expand its Old Bethpage program
to serve an additional ten participants.
Autism
Life’s WORC has expanded its efforts to
address the rapidly growing prevalence of Autism
Spectrum Disorders in recent years. “It’s
frightening,” says Smergut. “We’ve gone from
1-in-100,000 fifteen years ago to 1-in-160 or
fewer now.”
The agency now provides services – including
clinical supports and parent training --
to local school districts on Long Island. “We
offer Applied Behavioral Analysis,” says Smergut.
“We’re working with seven school districts
now and looking to expand. They find it less
expensive and more efficient to outsource these
services.”
Making Connections is a socialization program
for younger children, aged five-to-twelve,
on the Autism Spectrum. It focuses on devel-
oping play and socialization skills while also
offering respite for families.
Stepping into Adulthood is an after-school
program for young people aged 14-21 with
Autism or mild-to-moderate developmental
disabilities. It helps them make the transition
from high school into adult services.
MSC and More
Life’s WORC also provides Medicaid
Service Coordination (MSC) that helps over
400 people with disabilities navigate the complex
world of eligibility and entitlements in
order to access government-funded services
and supports.
In a related vein, the agency has begun offering
Life’s WORC Community Trusts as an
effective estate planning tool through which
families can ensure appropriate care for children
with disabilities.
Challenges Ahead
Life’s WORC, like most human service
provider agencies, is facing a difficult period
as governments at all levels plan significant
reductions in their levels of spending.
Peter Smergut is putting his faith in a
strong, internal, values-based culture that
Life’s WORC had tried to create through an
elaborate and highly effective staff development
and recognition system. The agency
uses a variety of finely-tuned recruitment,
evaluation and performance-based compensation
practices in order to attract, retain and
reward staff who demonstrate commitment to
the agency’s mission and values.
The staff’s values, their commitment and
their happiness in their jobs are all essential to
effectively serving the individuals entrusted to
the agency’s care, argues Smergut. “Our staff
are so intimately involved with the people they
serve – feeding them, cleaning them, helping
them with the most personal aspects of their
daily lives. If the staff are not happy, the people
we serve can’t possibly be happy.”
So far, says Smergut, Life’s WORC has
been very successful at treating its staff as well
as it possibly can. The result, he explains,
shows up in citation-free audits … and happy
residents and program participants.
For more information visit www.lifesworc.org.
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