#sertoma

[evanguthrielawfirm]

Evan Guthrie Law Firm volunteered for the 2018 Sertoma Football Classic at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, SC on Thursday August 9, 2018. #sertoma #football #classic #highschool #sports #teams #game #Charleston #fundraiser #raise #money #donate #time #money #lawyer #southcarolina #attorney #lawfirm #business (at Johnson Hagood Stadium)

[aleighmay]

fuck me. if i could live outside, i would

[miss-shiloh]

We’re at the #matsupolarplunge today for a good cause #canyouhearme #sertoma 💖💖💖 (at Mat-Su Resort)

[tuckscostumes]

#WFC knows #bowtiesarecool! Announcing at the #Fight For Angelica last weekend in #Owasso at the #Sertoma Center! #Wrestling #prowrestling #rasslin #localwrestling #show #indywrestlingmatters #indiewrestlingmatters #indy #indyscum #SupportLocal #oklahoma #wrasslin #WrestlingForACause #nerd #nerdlife #nerds #bowtie (at Owasso Sertoma Club)

[tndda]

Rights Restoration Success

This is the second installment in this ongoing series on Rights Restoration.  You can read the first Rights Restoration Success Story at this link on our Tumblr blog.

Imagine decreasing the amount of restrictions within an organization by more than 50% for more than 100 people.  How would an organization even begin the process of such a large reduction in restrictions?  What resources could be utilized within this process?  And what would be the ultimate impact of the changes?  Over the past few years, Sertoma has done just what is described above and developed a system to restore rights.  This month, we are highlighting the work that Sertoma Center in Knoxville has done in supporting people to exercise their rights as fully as possible.

In 2010, Sertoma Center began a journey to restore rights to people that they support.  Efforts began as a response to changes in regulatory requirements that allowed them to restore 80 of people’s rights that had previously been restricted.  Over the next few years, they were open to the discussion of restoring rights, but there wasn’t a formal system to promote this.  As a result, two years passed, and there was no drastic change in the number of restrictive measures used to support people.  In 2012, they supported 113 people with 217 restrictions across the organization, an average of nearly 2 restrictions per person.

In 2014, the HCBS Self-Assessment and Transition Plan process presented itself as a large external motivator.  Sertoma knew they needed an effective system to assure all restrictions were implemented and monitored effectively.  They began using a formal internal review mechanism with their Human Rights & Quality Assurance Committee (HRQA Committee).  This Committee reviews restrictions from a systemic perspective in terms of applicable rules and best practice principles and makes recommendations to the Circle of Support as necessary.  The HRQA Committee is made up of a wide array of people from a person supported to Program Directors.  Throughout 2015 and 2016, Sertoma worked to develop their current system for restoring the rights of the people that they support.

This system begins with assessing the need of the person.  The HRC Information Gathering Tool assesses: positive interventions that have been used, less restrictive interventions that have been tried and have not worked, purposed data that will be collected to monitor the restriction, establishment of time limits for periodic review of the restriction, and assurance of informed consent and that there is not assessed harm that will come from implementing the restriction.

Sertoma’s HRQA Committee meets quarterly, and they review all restrictions that are currently in place.  Discussion occurs that prompts needed reductions or restoration of rights.  This committee discusses issues like: What will happen if the restriction is not in place?  What training is needed to restore the restriction?  What recent events have occurred that validate continuing the restriction?  Once there is internal agreement the recommendations are made to the person’s Circle of Support to assure that there are no external concerns with removing the restriction.

A great deal of effort was needed to change the processes and understanding of Sertoma Center’s support network.  They increased training to include a full understanding of rights across all aspects of the support network.  The change in philosophy required leaders to encourage people to think of less restrictive modifications and supports.  And it required an expectation that people supported understand their restrictions and attend the HRC when their rights are being reviewed.

Over time, the greater benefit of this process has been the empowerment of people by not having restrictions in their lives.  In 2016, with the support of the HRQA Committee and people’s COS, Sertoma restored the ability to exercise 96 rights to the people they support.  This was a reduction of 55% of the total number of restrictions for the 117 people the support from the end of 2015.  Currently, there are 79 rights restrictions in place for the people supported.  That is 0.67 restrictions per person at Sertoma.

How we support people to fully exercise their rights is critical to assuring that people have the opportunity to live a fulfilling and rewarding life.  Personal Outcome Measures data shows us that when people exercise their rights they are more likely to have intimate relationships, choose personal goals, choose where and with whom they live, choose services as well as to be respected.  For more information, see CQL Data Brief #4 How Did Rights Get So Wrong at this link.