Transcript - slide 11

Interviewer:  I am wondering how parents have responded to this type of programming?

Danny Cowart:  At first they were very apprehensive. They were concerned with the safety of their individuals. They were concerned on how the public in general would accept them in a new environment. On the flip side of that, they have been very excited when the successes have come in. We have had more success than we have [failures]. I don't know what would be termed a failure, but we have had a lot of success.

When someone gets a job and that individual goes home excited, a parent likes that. I would like that. We've had a trust-building time. We report a lot to the parents, if not daily, then weekly, where we just talk to them in general conversation, or we send documentation home. One of the neat things that we did in supported employment is that we built a pictorial portfolio [of the individual working in his job]. They get to see their daughters and sons in a positive light. This is what they can do, because I am sure they have heard for a long time what they couldn't do. It was just opposite from what they had been used to [hearing], and it was all positive terms. We can't lump parents together. Each one is different. They have a lot of common concerns. Each one is at a different level of forward thinking. I don't want to say risk-taking, but at least allowing for some things they thought could never happen.

Interviewer:  I think you have given us some really outstanding information. If you were going to talk to another agency that wanted to know how they could begin the transition from facility-based services to community-based services, do you have any advice you could offer?

Danny Cowart:  I think that if you are in the decision-making role, you need to become well informed. I would go through courses and training. I would read and study other programs. Then, I would begin by taking my manager-level people training them and getting feedback to them to see if their core values, their attitude toward the individuals they are serving, is consistent with what you want to do.

If it is not, then can they be developed? If they can't be developed in your determination, find a place where their decisions won't adversely affect the transition. You are not going to be able to do hands-on with everybody. You need that level of management that believes in what you are doing. The next thing I would say is don't do contract work or sub-minimum wage-type work, just divorce it from your thinking.

I told one of our managers today, “If I told you that you are going to Jackson today to do some work, but it is only going to be training, and I was not going to pay you, you wouldn't be real excited about going.” Make sure that your people believe that the folks that are going to work should be paid, and that they are of value.

I would start off with what I could handle. The worst thing in the world, especially in paperwork, is to get inundated and feel like you are drowning in it. Get a system in place so your documentation is in good order. Other than that, don't ease into it, just do it. You are not going to make it if you are going out to see if it is going to work and always have your foot back in the other.

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