 Ableton On Air is sponsored by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to be home in the community. Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support comes together. Media sponsors for Ableton On Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, WWW, This Is The Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps, Domestic and International, Anchor FM, and Spotify. Partners for Ableton On Air include The Hard New York and New England, where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Vermont Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Montpelier Sustainable Coalition. Ableton On Air has been seen in the following publications. Park Chester Times, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, WWW, This Is The Bronx.info, and www.h.com. Ableton On Air is a member of the National Academy for Television Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter. Welcome to this edition of Ableton On Air, the one and only program that focuses on the needs, concerns and achievements of the differently able. I've always been your host, Lauren Siler. On this edition, we go into part two of what is a DSP, direct support professional, for working for people with disabilities. On the phone that we are talking to today, we're going to talk to Green Mountain Support Services. But before we get to that, we would like to thank our sponsors, Green Mountain Support Services, Washington County Mental Health, Muslim Media Corporation, and many others, including the partners of the Vermont Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Montpelier Sustainable, the Sustainable Montpelier Coalition, and Muslim Media Corporation, and many, many, many others. We would like to welcome Karen Perry, the Human Resources Director of Green Mountain Support Services. Welcome to the show. Thank you for joining us on this edition of Ableton On Air. Thank you for inviting me, Laurence. It's so nice to be here. Excited to have this time with you today. Okay, so what exactly is your job with Green Mountain Support Services and how has that impacted the world of staffing? Because I know during COVID, it has really been a problem. Yes, no. Go ahead. Well, my function is the Human Resources Director for the agency. And with that, I oversee all aspects of human resources. So that would include everything from hiring, recruiting, employment, benefits, compensation, risk management, safety, and a multitude of other things. And yes, it has been a very complicated time for us because of COVID for the last year and a half or so. I would say. So how has COVID impacted the field of disabilities on your end being Human Resource Director? I can tell you from my own viewpoint and my own personal stance, I was hired for Green Mountain during COVID. So I've been with the agency about a year and a half now. And I'm actually, I work remotely for the agency and I'm in Michigan. So due to the COVID constraints that were going on, I interviewed from here in Michigan and I've done this job for the last year, year and a half or so from my home office here in the state. I will be making trips out there to spend a week every quarter with the staff and the group at Green Mountain. So I'm just coming back from last week in which I spent out there and had a fantastic time. But you know, some of these things are due to the situation of COVID. And as you brought up, hiring, this is not a friendly hiring climate that we're in right now due to COVID. There are so many folks who, in not every state, and we're a little bit more fortunate in Vermont than here in my home state of Michigan, so many folks have become so reliant on these unemployment monies that in many situations they're getting more money from that than they were taking a regular job. So that's a fight for all of us as employers right now. As far as, because I want to talk a little bit more about the people who work in the trenches. In other words, the direct support professionals, the people that work with people with disabilities. Had those positions of DSPs been really impacted during COVID? Very much so. And it's really exciting and I love talking about our DSPs and in fact Green Mountain Support Services has had, in the last, I believe, five years we have had three DSPs of the year for the state of Vermont. And that means we're doing something right and I, you know, as an HR director, that's just so exciting for me to talk about with others. But yes, they were very much impacted in these two. Right at the onset of COVID with the social distancing, it was making it increasingly more difficult to interact because, you know, working with the most vulnerable population in society, the last thing we wanted to do was have any, any one of our clients or employees in trend COVID because of the work that we were doing. So we were so fortunate in that our DSPs were so creative in ways to support the folks that we support. They came up with, this is just one small example, they came up with over 21 hours a week of Zoom programming. And this consisted of everything from karaoke to cooking classes to Roomba classes to Zoom tours, museum tours, anything you could think of to do with an audience on Zoom, we were, we were doing it and we had fantastic turnout. It, our DSPs took turns arranging it and facilitating and I just felt so lucky that we have this fantastic crew of people that we do. We, we made a difficult situation the best that we possibly could for everyone involved. Okay, go ahead. Yeah. How has COVID affected Green Mountain Support Group? How has it really affected? Even though people come up with different schedules and different changes, has, has more DSPs have been, have been able to do like, have they been doing more overtime than normal? Yeah, how has turnover been, it has turnover been a problem? No. What is that being, being a human, human resource director, what, what does that mean furlough for those that don't know? Oh, okay. See, during my last interview that I had done with somebody from New York, New York is a completely different situation than Vermont. I mean, if there's no, yeah, in terms of keeping people. So, but do you find as a human resource directors in, let me ask you this question. In terms of the, the living wage over DSP. Okay. Do you find that, that people in Vermont, that people in Vermont stay more than any other place or it, this goes back to turnover as well. Go ahead. You know, I can't say that the turnover, the lack of turnover that we have is due to the wages that we're able to pay because you and I both know DSPs are not paid anywhere near the money that, that they're working. Yes. And it's a labor, it's a labor of love too, that people stay for. Absolutely. That's, yeah, that's where I was going with that. Folks who have stayed with us for a second then are here because they love what they do. They love the folks they're working with and it speaks to their heart. It's, it's not about the money although, you know, we're certainly advocating for always more money, virtual services, but it's involved. It's not about the money. Okay, go ahead. Have you seen more men going to this field? I hope you don't mind these questions. Go ahead. It's nursing where people think, well, we're seeing that for female doctors as far as that goes. Epithetic as women, I believe, just many. Do you think more, yeah, since we, since we said that, do you think men are more, are more compassionate than women or vice versa for this field? Okay, now, is there a percentage or, and what is the percentage if you know, is there a percentage of people with, with special needs that are becoming DSPs? Okay. Go ahead. DSPs train in to treat some, let's say somebody has old times. Are they, are they trained for that? DSPs go through a multitude of training. We have several different platforms that they go through. So, we typically put them all when they start working for us with, with the training platform. So, do other trainings, but yes, trainings including, trainings including the NADSP, correct? Is that part of it? Yeah, that's correct. Yeah, that's correct. Now, you're human resource director. So, what is the difference between, so people can know, difference between a director of human resources for an agency and a coordinator. Is it, is it one person coordinating departments? How does that work with a non-profit agency such as yours? Dispositions, a coordinator typically is the person within the agency who does all the recruiting for positions. They post all the jobs. They will do all the screening, setting up the interviews, usually take care of all of the paperwork that's required with having employees. If, if you would say, for example, need to change your address or need to add a spouse. Or benefits or something like that. Yes. No. Um, is there a percentage of people that leave the field of DSPs because they can't handle it? Or because, you know, or, or is it mainly the reason they leave because of the fact that um, the wages are so low and they have to go work at a place called Amazon or a big box store? For some reason. Go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah. We're supporting. We don't, we never had anyone leave because of that situation where they're, you know, just like anywhere else in a job, you might have a personality conflict. So in those situations, if, if it's, you know, the situation is serious enough, we'll always figure out a way to bring in a different DSP and integrate that person. Yeah. What is meant by, okay, I'm sorry, what is meant by a personality conflict in this case? Well, there will, there will always be times when, you know, the person that we're trying to support for some reason doesn't, you know, just maybe you have a different, about different things just, just like anywhere else, you're not going to like everyone who you work with. True. Okay, continue with the, the other part of the question. You said a couple parts. Maybe because we really, like I said, we haven't had turnover. So we haven't had anyone leaving as I think we have such a robust and strong benefits plan with so many additional perks to working for Green Mountain Support Services. Between that and the, and the family healing that we have for the employees, I, I believe that's why folks are not meeting us. But you know, I am in conversations with my peers from around the state in Vermont. And most of the time when they talk about their turnover rate, it is due to the wages being lower than what someone could get, say, going out to a Walmart or a Rite Aid or a Walgreens or something like that. What are the misconceptions around people with special needs and why some people won't work with people with disabilities? There are so many and it's really sad. And until people actually get in that position, they don't know the difference. But you know, personally, in my own observations, many times misconceptions have been that folks with disabilities are chronically ill or always in pain or, you know, can't leave a full productive life and there's nothing to be further from the truth. Or, or can't, or another misconception can't get married. And that's not true. Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm sorry. I have to put that in there. Go ahead. Yes. Well, that is a big misconception. It is. It is. Yeah, a lot of very close-minded people. If a little bit of what we can do is enlighten folks to be a little more observant and open-minded to their neighbors, then we're all going to be better off for it. So, all right, is there anything that I did not cover that you might want to put into the conversation? I mean, thank you. It's okay. Just being edited, so if you stop, it's fine. Yeah. I did watch some of your other shows. So, you probably have already touched on this, what the difference was between a personal carry as opposed to a DSP? Yes. What is the, I'm sorry. Yeah. What is the difference between, okay, now the titles have changed over the years. Okay. From institutional living to, to living on one's own. So, what is the difference between a DSP, from your, from your perspective, DSP needs a personal carry to aid, you know. A DSP can give somebody a bath or shower if they need, if they need to, depending on the situation. Just to break this down, a DSP is a direct support professional. A PCA is a personal care aid. And while a DSP certainly hours required at times to personal care, that's not what their entire job is about. It's more to support the life of the individual that they're working with. And that can mean a variety of different things. You know, providing support in someone's life. Yes, it can mean anything from, you know, assisting, finding a job, helping to figure out transportation to that job. Or helping if somebody wants to learn media, helping somebody learn photography or video stuff. Correct? Really neat example that we have. We've got a couple of individuals who we support, who are, and it's not that this matters, but they're male. And they are super interested in cooking and want to publish cookbooks. And so our DSPs are working together with these two gentlemen in putting, you know, getting the recipes. It's a long process. I mean, it's not a simple thing to publish a book, let alone a cookbook. So this is something that they're, they're, you know, doing trials of these different recipes using different foods, testing out the recipes. They did a lot of this over Zoom, in fact, during COVID. But now, thankfully, they're back in and doing this in person. But that's just an example of it. Our DSPs are helping them to, to actually publish and put out a book. There's so many things that a DSP can, can be involved with and do that, that, you know, are not the same as a personal care age. So, well, not quickly, because we do have time, but what's, explain some of the training that you do with the DSPs. Well, we have all sorts of different training. We have training that they are required to take before they can even begin with, with us, working with any clients. And those are, those are going to be pretty much the typical trainings that you would go through for any job. That's going to be, you know, blood-worn pathogens and emergency first aid. And any, any number of emergency medical type situations where they might be in, that they, we don't want anyone to go out into the field and feel like they're unprepared. But along with that, no one can be prepared for anything. So, we do have nurses on staff that are a phone call away when anything ever comes up. And we also have on-call folks that can answer questions like that as well. But med delegation is a training that all of our folks take. And, you know, sometimes there will be trainings that might be lifting. But, you know, as, as of course, as you know, that's not going to be required in every situation. Because yeah, for example, my, myself, for example, myself, I can't lift too much. I mean, I, I do a lot despite my cerebral palsy and my visual impairment, you know. But I, I can't lift only but so much. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, we, when our folks do need to help, you know, assist with personal peer or actually lift someone, we want to make sure that that the employee is not in a position where they're going to hurt themselves either. So, they need to be trained for that as well. How does the NADSP help you guys? Or is that like, is that a different type of training? It is a different type of training. And I, you know, right off the top of my head, I can't even think of any good examples for you. So, I should have been more well-versed on that one. What is the future of Green Mountain Support Services and DSPs? Education that is, that is being put out there about the job that's entailed with being a direct support professional. I really think this future is looking up for all of us in human services because especially with the COVID situation that we're still going through not quite as harsh as it was last year, I think that it's, you know, the plight of what DSPs are actually doing, what the actual work is, they are a necessary part of life in every state. And I think that that's finally starting to come full circle and starting to hit home with a lot of people realizing this is a difficult job. So, basically, along the short of it or the nuts and bolts, they're soldiers, they're soldiers in the trenches helping people because, because DSPs, if you take a look at Florence Nightingale, for example, who is a loving person who cared about people in hospitals, you know, and the treatment that people would get because she would see like people bleeding or people not using the proper tools because they weren't, they weren't sanitized because, you know, that's a big thing during COVID. You got to sanitize everywhere. You got to, you know, use soap, use sanitation. So, yeah, so you can say DSPs are more like soldiers in the trenches helping people who really need them. Yes, yeah. You're spot on, Lawrence. You really are. Yep. Well, we would like to thank Karen Perry for joining us on this edition of Ableton on Air for Green Mountain Support Services. For more information on Green Mountain Support Services, you can, if you want services from them or need information, you can contact Green Mountain Support Services. They're at 93 James Road, Morrisville, Vermont, 05-661. Their number is 802-888-7602. That number again is 802-888-7602. For more information, their website is www.gmssi.org. That's www.gmssi.org. Well, thank you, Green Mountain Support Services. I'm Lawrence Seiler. See you next time. Ableton on Air is sponsored by Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to be home in the community. Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support comes together. Media sponsors for Ableton on Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, www.thisisthebranch.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps, Domestic and International, Anchor FM, and Spotify. Partners for Ableton on Air include Yohad New York and New England, where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Vermont Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Montpelier Sustainable Coalition. Ableton on Air has been seen in the following publications. Park Chester Times, New York Parrot Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, www.thisisthebranch.info, and www.h.com. Ableton on Air is a member of the National Academy for Television Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter.