[0:02] [Music]

[0:16] so at Fair Haven School we do serve a

[0:18] variety of Ages they start at ages 3 to

[0:22] 5 for preschool and then we go from

[0:25] kindergarten age all the way to option

[0:26] 23 which would be age 21 so the

[0:30] beautiful part about that is we can get

[0:33] to know students and families starting

[0:36] at age three and get to follow them all

[0:39] the way to age

[0:40] 21 what we do is just like every other

[0:43] school you know we have recesses and we

[0:44] have lunch and we have academic times

[0:46] and different stuff like that but we

[0:48] have a wonderful staff and a wonderful

[0:50] full of team members that um give a

[0:53] little bit extra and help each student

[0:55] strive to what they need to succeed

[0:58] within the classroom and get them

[0:59] prepared prepared for um life outside of

[1:02] Fair Haven we start off in the morning

[1:04] with um playtime in playtime we get on

[1:07] the floor with them and play time for

[1:09] them is special so you got to get down

[1:11] and play with them and lots of it is

[1:13] fun um from Circle time you know and

[1:16] circle time is a learning time and so

[1:18] I'm helping the teacher with whatever

[1:20] she needs help with the wonderful part

[1:23] is that we can get a bit

[1:25] creative because we have multi-age

[1:28] classrooms we have so many many

[1:30] opportunities for students to

[1:35] learn we have speech therapists

[1:38] occupational therapists and physical

[1:40] therapists and this year we also have a

[1:42] psychologist we're able to work more

[1:45] collaboratively cohesively to get the

[1:48] child to perform to their best abilities

[1:51] they're very good about knowing

[1:53] development so just because a child

[1:56] might cry or throw a tantrum they will

[1:58] waigh them out they will still have them

[2:01] do the skills or practice the activity

[2:04] we are looking as physical therapists to

[2:06] get everybody as functionally

[2:08] independent with Mobility as we possibly

[2:11] can Fair Haven School is the most

[2:14] amazing place I have never worked at

[2:16] such a giving place we have different

[2:17] Sanders some kids need more support in a

[2:19] sander some kids need less support we

[2:21] have gate trainers we have probably

[2:23] three or four different types of gate

[2:25] trainers we have adaptive seating

[2:27] everything from just a seat belt with

[2:28] sides to support I've known these kids

[2:31] before they could sit up to to see their

[2:34] progress in the and where they've come

[2:36] you know some of them are 10 11 12 years

[2:38] old now to see them running on the

[2:40] playground with their friends that's

[2:42] what my rule is to get these kids as

[2:44] independent as they can be so they can

[2:45] run on that playground or wheel their

[2:47] wheelchair on their playground or drive

[2:49] their power chair on the playground so

[2:51] that they can interact with their

[2:56] friends the site program stands for

[2:59] community integrated training for

[3:01] employment so it is the focal point of

[3:04] transition and the goal of the program

[3:06] is to prepare students for that

[3:08] transition into adulthood so starting at

[3:11] the age of 14 I become a big part of the

[3:14] IEP and planning and starting that

[3:16] conversation with the families on what

[3:19] is going to happen next as they're

[3:21] preparing for their son or daughter to

[3:23] transition into

[3:25] adulthood I teach students with

[3:27] developmental disabilities work skills

[3:30] one of the jobs we do is we have a

[3:31] backpack program so we send home food

[3:34] for some of the students for the weekend

[3:36] so they'll get a meal a breakfast lunch

[3:38] and a dinner for the whole weekend so my

[3:40] students are in charge of preparing that

[3:42] so they'll get the items put them in the

[3:45] bags and then they deliver them to the

[3:47] rooms we do cafeteria Duty and we wipe

[3:51] the tables after the students leave we

[3:54] have partnered with some local

[3:56] businesses and our students go out there

[3:58] learning those real world job task and

[4:01] getting that training with the

[4:03] employability skills here we have

[4:05] students come in and basically I train

[4:09] them on the jobs that they could

[4:11] potentially um apply for after they

[4:17] graduate the preschool program here at

[4:20] Fair Haven is incredible they have

[4:25] incredible staff uh you know the

[4:28] intervention Specialists who are are

[4:29] running the classroom the AIDS um that

[4:34] the teaching assistant and the AIDS that

[4:36] are in the classroom everyone here has a

[4:40] smile on their face and is so welcoming

[4:43] they genuinely care about these kids and

[4:47] want to see them Thrive I usually get

[4:49] the kiddos that start at age three

[4:51] showing that early invention piece

[4:52] really is important and then they

[4:54] usually stay with me for 2 to 3 years so

[4:56] just seeing the growth that they make

[4:58] some come in with no communication

[5:00] skills and they're leaving with using

[5:02] assisted technology they're leaving

[5:04] speaking they're using sign language

[5:06] just to see that growth is such an

[5:07] impact on these kids lives but also on

[5:10] everyone their family and ourselves wedn

[5:13] th Frid

[5:16] [Music]

[5:21] sat every morning we get here pretty

[5:24] early in the morning we make sure the

[5:26] buses are ready to go safe on the road

[5:28] on time so that we can make sure our

[5:30] kids get picked up um that is a big help

[5:32] to families for our timing and safety is

[5:34] to be consistent so um every morning

[5:36] we're here uh around 6:00 in the morning

[5:38] for that our bus staff is responsible

[5:40] for doing what we call a pre-trip it's a

[5:42] 120 point inspection of our school bus

[5:45] they are checking everything from

[5:47] mechanical electronic just normal safety

[5:50] latches under the seats I help the

[5:53] drivers do everything they need to

[5:54] ensure safety for the kids on the bus

[5:56] really I'm here to enable them to do

[5:58] their job as best as they can my bus

[6:01] driver is

[6:03] fantastic we are a team okay we work as

[6:06] a team I already know what she's going

[6:07] to do she knows what I'm going to do

[6:10] working with the children is is very

[6:15] fulfilling um I've learned that love

[6:19] with love being the universal language

[6:21] everybody needs love and so when the

[6:23] kids get on the bus they just need love

[6:25] we have some kids that will get on and

[6:27] they want us to hug them we get kids

[6:30] that want to talk to us and talk about

[6:32] food and and all of that kind of stuff

[6:34] so I enjoy driving um she drives the bus

[6:39] I get off and I greet every child or I

[6:42] get off and I get the wheelchairs on the

[6:44] lift and then I get everybody on the bus

[6:48] um she helps me um we strap the

[6:51] wheelchairs down or we put everybody in

[6:54] a seat safety comes first always first

[6:57] with us

[7:05] Special Olympics is a program of

[7:08] athletic competition for individuals who

[7:12] have developmental

[7:15] disabilities Special Olympics is great

[7:19] Community involvement the organization

[7:22] is really fun for the kids they get

[7:26] to show their abilities and it's their

[7:29] time in in the spotlight so they get to

[7:31] you know show what they can do and have

[7:33] people cheer for them athletes I think

[7:35] it's different for every athlete but I

[7:36] think a lot of them um it it's just a

[7:39] chance to be involved in something that

[7:41] they might not otherwise be involved in

[7:43] or you know to be able to compete um

[7:45] even on a a friendly level and and learn

[7:48] a skill or umn be able to accomplish

[7:52] something that maybe some people never

[7:53] thought they could accomplish Anna's 22

[7:56] years old she just graduated from Fair

[7:59] Haven School Anna's very good at sports

[8:03] she started out being very good at

[8:04] sports I can

[8:06] remember uh bo cuz she was so small she

[8:09] she was just so tiny and petite when she

[8:11] first

[8:12] started Bo kept telling her she had to

[8:14] grow a little bit before she can get on

[8:16] the basketball team even some of our

[8:18] athletes you know Win Lose or Draw

[8:20] they're happy they're just playing you

[8:22] know they're just happy it it's probably

[8:24] more of a confidence thing where they

[8:26] they get the feeling of belonging

[8:30] [Music]

[8:34] early intervention starts at Birth and

[8:37] continues to the age of three a child

[8:40] could be eligible for early intervention

[8:43] um based on a diagnosis um within our

[8:46] system that we have so some examples of

[8:48] a diagnosis would be a child coming in

[8:50] with severe brain injury cerebral pausy

[8:53] Down syndrome um autism diagnosis um

[8:57] another way to determine eligibility

[8:59] would would be using the Bailey uh

[9:01] developmental tool and that would show

[9:03] if there is a delay uh the child does

[9:06] need to have a delay of 1.5 standard

[9:09] deviations below the means or uh 2.0 um

[9:13] and then that would give us an kind of

[9:15] an age range of where the child Falls at

[9:17] for the delay early intervention is a a

[9:21] support and a

[9:23] coaching model for families to help them

[9:27] um just learn how to do things best for

[9:31] their family they whatever they want to

[9:33] work on that's what we're going to work

[9:35] on um and then we can help them you know

[9:38] we can maybe refer them to other outside

[9:41] therapies if they need that we can hook

[9:43] them up with other families if they want

[9:45] that and then we can help their them

[9:48] transition into preschool and you know

[9:51] later life if if need be early

[9:55] intervention is doing so much to support

[9:59] Z

[9:59] and our

[10:01] family it has actually been really

[10:05] astounding we've been amazed at the way

[10:08] that early

[10:10] intervention has been able to integrate

[10:14] Zeke's care and really see him as a

[10:18] whole

[10:26] person the purpose of the voice program

[10:28] is to

[10:29] educate our individuals on the rights

[10:31] and responsibilities that they have that

[10:33] they might not be aware of um get

[10:35] involved with the community other

[10:37] like-minded people like ourselves and

[10:39] educate each other and learn from each

[10:40] other about um having a voice in the

[10:43] voice program the acronym itself is

[10:46] valued options Independence choices and

[10:49] education that's what the voice stands

[10:51] for so that's our acronym the voice

[10:54] program is where our individuals are

[10:56] able to meet up with each other

[10:59] um spend time learn about different

[11:03] things like bullying friendship Healthy

[11:06] Lifestyles and a lot of other cool

[11:09] activities that the individuals actually

[11:11] come up with their

[11:12] selves so I have actually seen people

[11:15] who have totally blossomed and come out

[11:17] of their shells and really really truly

[11:20] learned their voice um so much so that

[11:22] they've been a little bit sassy and a

[11:23] little you know ready to stick up for

[11:26] themselves and stick up for others

[11:29] oh marot she's a very sweet girl um

[11:32] she's always happy she works hard and um

[11:37] and she voices her

[11:40] opinion

[11:42] yes

[11:47] yes service and support Administration

[11:51] is the creation of service and support

[11:55] plans which help individuals receive the

[11:58] support s that they need to be able to

[12:01] thrive in the community our service and

[12:04] support administrators serve kids from

[12:06] basically 3 years old through uh

[12:09] adulthood and retirement they do provide

[12:12] supports for all different levels all

[12:14] different age groups and can be involved

[12:17] throughout the time the person's in

[12:19] their educational program we have the

[12:21] eligibility ssas intake and referral

[12:24] ssas an SSA that focuses on nursing

[12:28] tasks and M Navigators behavioral

[12:31] Consultants waiver

[12:33] coordinators my job as a service and

[12:36] support administrator supervisor is to

[12:38] review the service plans that ssas

[12:41] provide and I'm looking to make sure

[12:44] that any health and safety needs that

[12:46] stick out for individuals are

[12:47] appropriately addressed and if they're

[12:49] not then I talk with ssas about ways

[12:52] that we can make that happen for them

[12:54] and that they could get not only the

[12:56] things that they need but also the

[12:57] things that they want out of their plan

[13:01] as an intake coordinator I play a

[13:03] crucial role in determining someone's

[13:05] eligibility for County Board Services

[13:08] depending on their eligibility then we

[13:10] would request an SSA if that is what is

[13:14] requested of them um we would also look

[13:17] at Adult Day programs if appropriate

[13:20] Community like referrals for Community

[13:22] employment if they're just looking for

[13:24] Community

[13:26] Resources possibly some financial

[13:28] support as well from from the fa Haven

[13:30] Foundation I monitor services and

[13:32] supports so what that entails is that we

[13:35] go out to the workshops uh we can go to

[13:38] the homes uh residential providers and

[13:42] we just ensure that they are following

[13:44] the ISP an Ohio ISP is an individual

[13:48] service plan and the individual service

[13:51] plan truly just highlights the

[13:53] individual the servic and supports they

[13:55] need um any goals or outcomes um and

[13:59] really just helps the providers be able

[14:02] to provide services and supports to the

[14:05] individuals based on their

[14:13] needs so we support providers by helping

[14:16] them identify emerging gaps in services

[14:19] and providing training and support needs

[14:22] we try to work with providers to help

[14:24] develop capacity so that they can

[14:26] provide quality services to the

[14:28] individuals in Trum coun we work

[14:30] together a lot on the waiver match

[14:32] projections waiver cost projections I

[14:35] also track the uh agency's contracts I

[14:39] let the other department heads know when

[14:41] those contracts are coming due as a

[14:43] reminder so that they can kind of get

[14:45] their their eyes dotted and te's crossed

[14:47] also go ahead and serve support to the

[14:50] SSA Department the uh accounts payables

[14:53] roles uh as employees are to receive

[14:57] those purchase wrecks from outs Outside

[14:59] Agency outside departments really not

[15:01] agencies within our program they process

[15:04] those all day long we are a largely

[15:07] supporting Department we want to make

[15:08] sure everybody that's in this program is

[15:10] follows the orc is compliant uh and

[15:13] we're here to help make everybody's life

[15:15] happy but it's really important to note

[15:18] that our budget process comes from

[15:20] federal state and local funds so that

[15:22] means 75% of our funding comes from

[15:25] local levies it's very important that we

[15:29] won survive without it my department is

[15:31] responsible for uh recruiting screening

[15:36] interviewing uh and onboarding uh new

[15:39] employees here at the tro County Board

[15:40] of DD we are involved with every

[15:43] department whether they need a hiring

[15:45] and they need training and and we're

[15:47] here to help individuals communicate

[15:48] with each other we're here to help the

[15:50] morale we want to make sure that

[15:52] everyone uh feels comfortable walking in

[15:54] the door this is a a healthy safe place

[15:56] to work and people felt heard and uh

[16:01] seen within the organization enjoy

[16:05] seeing uh the individuals in in in in a

[16:08] atmosphere where they can thrive in um

[16:11] the it is just a small portion of it I I

[16:14] like I want to make sure that everything

[16:16] is taken care of but uh I just feel good

[16:18] about being able to work with them and

[16:21] seeing them grow and maybe providing

[16:23] things that will help them overcome

[16:26] something that they don't typically uh

[16:29] would have the opportunity to get like

[16:30] uh the iPads and the classrooms and

[16:33] things like that as a facility director

[16:35] I take care of the internal um things

[16:39] within the building uh such as the

[16:41] boilers the hbac systems the electrical

[16:45] as well as the plowing I also run a

[16:49] custodial crew who managed the board

[16:51] office as well as the school I'm very

[16:53] passionate about what I do as a facility

[16:57] manager I go out to make sure that the

[17:00] houses are maintained and that we're

[17:02] looking to try to improve them when we

[17:05] can and looking to catch those things

[17:07] that maybe somebody else's eye didn't

[17:09] see a lot of times they're working with

[17:12] the residential providers in the homes

[17:14] and they find out that that maybe

[17:16] somebody has moved out and that there is

[17:19] an opening and so then the ssas will

[17:22] work to try to find a good match for the

[17:24] roommates that are there

[17:27] [Music]

[17:31] so our Investigative Services Department

[17:33] um really does work very closely with

[17:36] our SSA Department as you mentioned and

[17:38] their task is really to find out if

[17:40] somebody if something happens to

[17:42] somebody and you know unfortunately it

[17:44] does happen on occasion uh where they

[17:46] have to investigate you know a serious

[17:49] incident um they will work then very

[17:52] closely with the SSA to develop a plan

[17:55] to ensure that that doesn't happen again

[17:58] we do the investigations which includes

[18:01] starting an investigation I'm working on

[18:04] current

[18:05] investigations um so that's really just

[18:08] going out we get the incident

[18:10] notification form we review that we go

[18:12] and talk with the providers and the uh

[18:15] staff that work with our individuals

[18:17] sometimes we work with the police

[18:19] department Children's

[18:21] Services um and then we go out and we

[18:23] complete the interviews and sometimes we

[18:27] have to go and get photos of where an

[18:29] incident

[18:30] occurred their primary goal is to find

[18:33] out what happened uh who maybe the

[18:37] primary person was that was involved um

[18:39] and then develop a plan a prevention

[18:41] plan so that um that situation does not

[18:45] reoccur for that individual that can

[18:47] include anything from you know the

[18:50] provider not following the service plan

[18:52] as identified regarding um supervision

[18:56] levels or even uh specialized diet or

[18:59] things like that something that might

[19:00] impact the health and safety of that

[19:03] individual um they're there really to

[19:05] investigate and to make sure that it

[19:07] doesn't happen again so we uh work

[19:09] closely with many agencies uh very close

[19:12] with the SSA Department um our Fair

[19:15] Haven School Fair Haven

[19:18] Transportation also work very closely

[19:21] with the local law enforcement

[19:23] Children's Services uh our residential

[19:25] providers we interact with them every

[19:28] day the goal of our

[19:30] investigations is truly to create a plan

[19:34] of prevention um so any time something

[19:37] happens it just gives us an opportunity

[19:40] to change things and make them better

[19:41] for the

[19:49] individual Fair Haven Foundation exists

[19:52] through the hard work of fundraising and

[19:55] grant writing we are not funded by the

[19:57] state or government

[19:59] we are a 501c3 that works really hard um

[20:02] to raise what we do to make sure that we

[20:04] can not only provide experiences for

[20:07] people but provide financial support

[20:09] when needed the SSA Department relies

[20:11] heavily on the Fair Haven Foundation

[20:14] there are a lot of services that maybe

[20:16] an individual can't gain access to

[20:19] because there are different um rule

[20:22] requirements for certain things that

[20:23] have to be paid for for the waiver and

[20:26] sometimes there are some outlier things

[20:28] that fall out outside of that and a

[20:29] person might need some ancillary

[20:31] services or some other needs that can't

[20:33] be met through the waiver and then

[20:35] that's where the Fair Haven Foundation

[20:37] steps in the Fair Haven Foundation can

[20:40] assist our families like if say they are

[20:43] at risk for having maybe their electric

[20:45] or gas shut off or if they're really

[20:47] struggling or there's some kind of um

[20:51] situation that comes up that maybe we've

[20:53] exhausted all of the Community Resources

[20:56] um that like I said in turn the Fair

[20:58] Haven found foundation will say okay

[21:00] let's help there are so many families

[21:03] out there that we serve that um maybe

[21:07] they need help with their rent maybe

[21:09] they need help with a backpack for

[21:12] school maybe they need equipment to help

[21:15] uh with their children but they just

[21:17] don't have the financial means to do it

[21:19] that support could be anything from

[21:22] providing financial assistance for

[21:24] summer enrichment programs medical

[21:27] equipment adaptive clothing sometimes we

[21:31] provide assistance to families that are

[21:32] in a pinch with rent and utilities

[21:35] that's where the Fair Haven Foundation

[21:36] steps in and we rely on donations the

[21:40] events that we create are also designed

[21:42] to give people experiences that may not

[21:45] otherwise be possible without the

[21:46] assistance of the foundation many of the

[21:48] events showcase the abilities of people

[21:52] uh with disabilities U rather than

[21:54] focusing on what um you know they might

[21:57] need or the sports that they need it

[21:59] really uh highlights that they're just

[22:02] like everybody else they love to have a

[22:04] great time I think this event is

[22:06] wonderful I love the theme of it the

[22:09] colors and I love how they have the

[22:10] tickets and the balloons everywhere and

[22:12] I think it's a good way to express

[22:14] things for the uh the kids here

[22:16] especially they like the colors and

[22:18] stuff oh yeah he loves the basketball

[22:20] cuz he's always been a fan of basketball

[22:22] games so Eric likes playing the

[22:23] basketball or the football as well

[22:25] knowing that there's other people out

[22:27] there that he could meet and communicate

[22:29] with because there's not you know

[22:30] there's not a lot of people you see

[22:32] every day outside so when you come up

[22:33] here and combine each other makes good

[22:36] memories and you know he needs different

[22:38] people one of the many wonderful things

[22:41] is that they have these events that are

[22:44] not just in school activities but also

[22:48] activities such as you know a winter uh

[22:52] Wonderland and um you know just these

[22:57] activities that bring the community

[22:59] together well this jacket here of course

[23:02] came from the Fair Haven Foundation this

[23:05] is what we were gifted at

[23:07] graduation this year the whole team so

[23:11] it was an awesome thing it's really cool

[23:13] to see the the cool things you know when

[23:16] you put some effort into stuff when the

[23:18] people put effort into it there's such a

[23:21] a wonderful reward at the end of the

[23:23] effort we have D awareness night that

[23:26] celebrates the many abilities of those

[23:28] serve it's a really fun night for our

[23:30] families they get to go out and

[23:32] experience the Field of Dreams we raffle

[23:34] off Scrappers jerseys for a fundraiser

[23:36] for the foundation and this year we had

[23:39] a a picnic for over 1500 people at the

[23:41] Ballpark so it was a really wonderful

[23:43] experience we've partnered together on a

[23:46] number of ways um the first being a

[23:49] specialty Jersey night that uh the

[23:51] proceeds were auctioned off for the Fair

[23:53] Haven Foundation um and that also

[23:56] involved uh game tickets

[23:59] and uh you know a lot of exposure for

[24:01] the Fair Haven foundations and the uh

[24:03] the people that they serve my Scout

[24:06] Troop has been given the opportunity to

[24:08] work with The Fair Haven Foundation

[24:10] during the um ability Walkin roll so I

[24:15] was able I'm able to bring out the Boy

[24:16] Scout Troop and support the foundation

[24:19] by um uh providing help with the

[24:23] different stations it's great to to show

[24:25] see the inclusiveness

[24:37] and then this past year we partnered

[24:39] together on Scrappy Safe Haven which is

[24:42] the first of its kind in minor league

[24:44] baseball uh quiet space uh that is

[24:47] designed um exclusively for people who

[24:50] need a chance to get away from the game

[24:52] action at a lot of times it's it can get

[24:54] really loud Winter Wonderland is another

[24:58] new event that we created and it was

[25:00] really designed to give our families a

[25:02] special experience at the holiday time

[25:04] and our event is really designed to give

[25:06] our families a safe place to celebrate

[25:09] all the fun things that um we all

[25:11] celebrate around the

[25:13] holidays the foundation Services

[25:15] continue to to grow and expand and the

[25:18] foundation itself does look different

[25:20] than it did even five years ago with the

[25:23] amount of fundraising and activities and

[25:25] then the Partnerships that have formed I

[25:28] think the partnership is a natural fit

[25:30] where we provide unique events and

[25:32] opportunities for people who the Fair

[25:36] Haven Foundation serves to experience

[25:38] baseball games concerts community events

[25:40] in a nice relaxing environment that they

[25:43] can feel safe and

[25:48] secure I see the impact that it has on

[25:51] the people that we serve and I'm just so

[25:55] blessed and honored uh that I was asked

[25:57] to be a part of this

Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities

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