POSSIBILITIES
commitment is best exemplified in their willingness to guide themselves and 60 support staff including Program Managers, IT specialists, and Direct Support Professionals through an intensive Technology First accreditation training course, all while navigating the pandemic. KenCrest is now one of only two organizations accredited in Pennsylvania. (Nationally, there are 15 accredited organizations, including providers in Illinois, Tennessee, Washington DC, and Missouri.) With 60+ credentialed Technology First team members, KenCrest is able to reach across the breadth of the organization with new technology-driven solutions and push the organization to remain in the vanguard of the ‘tech first’ movement. Ultimately the adoption of a Technology First approach helps lessen the impact of the nation-wide Direct Support Professional crisis within the human services industry, and enhances new opportunities for natural supports for the IDD community. Furthermore, ET creates opportunities for people to engage in their community with greater confidence and a sense of belonging. This is what true inclusion is all about. Considerations for creating a technology solution start with simple questions; what kind of support does this person need to have success in the community, and what are their goals? Once these questions are answered, additional steps for completing an assistive technology plan might include conducting an evaluation of the person’s technological needs; selecting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing or
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devices); pen readers (reading technologies); a range of home sensors (motion detectors, door sensors); video doorbells (Ring); medication dispensers; and a virtual job coach app called Life SherpaTM. Facilitating the greatest degree of independent living possible for every person KenCrest serves is the driving force behind the Agency’s work. The Lending Library provides a real-time opportunity (instead of having to wait for a special order) to borrow the items and/or to see what the capabilities are; rather than having to make a costly and perhaps unnecessary purchase. This is just the beginning of KenCrest’s Enabling Technology support integration. The Agency is in the midst of dedicating resources to the creation of a Smart Home that will serve as a community model for greater Technology First design and implementation throughout its 170+ residential homes. For those navigating natural age-related impairments such as limited mobility, eyesight, or hearing, the Smart Home will help them maintain greater independence longer with more confidence. While Enabling Technology cannot resolve every challenge faced by the KenCrest community, it offers great hope and so many new opportunities for those we support to live out their lives more fully, and their dreams as empowered as possible.
“ This is what true inclusion is all about.”
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PHOTOS: RAE HEARTS DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHY
replacing the ET device; coordinating other therapies, interventions, or services alongside ET devices; and providing training or technical assistance to the user as well as to their family or other support team members on how to use the device. New assistive technologies are coming out every day; KenCrest is fortunate to have access to the latest innovations in part to the generous support of a grant through the Truist Foundation (formerly BB&T Bank Foundation), which funded the creation of the ET lending library. Currently, the inventory features a variety tablets, smart devices (Amazon Echo); adaptive switches (connected to ‘TECH FIRST’ MOVEMENT