IMPACT REPORT 2018
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Following my first full year as Executive Director, I’m proud to share many exciting changes and developments. We were introduced to 827 new families in Early Intervention (EI), 12 new students in the Day School and Preschool, and worked with 156 four year-olds through a new partnership with Lowell Public Schools preschool expansion program. We welcomed 24 new teammates to support our mission, renovated our Andover building to create new spaces for kids to play and learn, and developed a strategic plan to bring focus to our work. While much has changed, the best part of PCCD still remains our ability to connect with families on a personal level, to provide the individualized support they need. I met Johannie, a parent in our EI Program, whose daughter was diagnosed with a rare chromosome disorder. This made Johannie afraid that she could hurt or lose her. The EI team helped Johannie understand that it was OK to hold, love, and care for her daughter. While it is impossible for us to share every story from the past year, we hope stories like this and those that follow in the report provide a little insight to the wonderful work done by PCCD staff. With that I’m excited to share our first annual impact report—a highlight of the work completed over the past year, the lives we have touched, and how we are able to support families in our community. All of this would not have been possible without your support and generosity—Thank you!
Chris Hunt Executive Director
PCCD BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS BRIAN LATINA Chairman
SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM CHRIS HUNT Executive Director KIM BRIGGS, M.ED., CCC-SLP Director, Pediatric Therapy Program
NEAL BESWICK Vice Chairman
CHERYL BRUK, MS, CCC-SLP, CEIS Director, Early Intervention
JOHN DECOURCY Treasurer
RACHEL DANIELS, MS, OTR/L, ATP Director, Regional Consultation Program (Northeast Region)
MIKE RZESZUTEK Clerk
MEMBERS JULIE PALMACCIO, ESQ MARK PASCARELLA
LINDSEY MAYO, M.ED Director of Development CHRISTY MURRAY, MSED, CEIS, ATP Director, Developmental Day School SHERYL RUDIS Associate Director & CFO KAITLIN SORENSEN, PHR Human Resources Manager
CORE PROGRAMS
MISSION
EARLY INTERVENTION
Our Mission is to provide educational and therapeutic services for children of all abilities and their families, working with each child to develop to his or her full potential. We strive to eliminate barriers to growth and development for children with disabilities and families coping with health issues and challenges.
• Home Visiting • Toddler Groups • Evaluations & Assessments
CONSULTATION SERVICES • Northeast Regional Consultation Program • Public School/Preschool Consultation
PEDIATRIC THERAPY PROGRAM • Therapeutic Preschool • Private Therapy
DEVELOPMENTAL DAY SCHOOL • Private Special Education School
STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS • All PCCD programs will provide high quality educational and therapeutic services for the children in their care. These programs will be innovative in their practices and assure a high level of impact and excellence. • PCCD will attract, retain and support a high quality, innovative and professional team.
FAMILY FIRST
Bridget Braverman, Conor Beswick, Nicole Gaudette, Pat Slattery and Rachel Daniels
Hosted by the Regional Consultation Program, Sibling Speak, featured a panel of individuals ranging in age from 14-50+ who have a sibling with a disability. The evening provided siblings the opportunity to discuss thoughts and feelings related to having a sibling with disabilities, in a supportive environment.
Ellen Waddill, Parent Liaison, moderator of the panel said: “It was with powerful, heartwarming and funny memories the siblings expressed intense emotion and often conflicted feelings about having a sister or brother with complex health care and/or developmental needs. The audience and I came away with an understanding that each family member is special and hearing from the siblings themselves gave us an impactful and frequently overlooked point of view.”
THE SPIRIT OF GIVING
PCCD has a very special place in the heart of Everett Chase and his family. Everett is a graduate of our Developmental Day School. Unfortunately, Everett’s grandmother Sandra Piccolo passed away last November. Everett’s family made the choice to have donations sent to PCCD, specifically the Developmental Day School. Everett’s mom, Michele explained, “It was obvious, my mother and father Sandra and Al Piccolo celebrate Everett’s Graduation thought the staff were so caring and loving to the students. My mother would have been happy knowing children like Everett would benefit.” With the memorial donations, the Developmental Day School carefully chose to purchase a piece of equipment that Everett would have been able to use if he was still a student. Everett and several current students rely on eye gaze for communication. My Gaze, is a computer program that gives users the ability to control a device with their eyes – as they would by using the keyboard and mouse. Almost immediately upon receiving, it was put to use in the classroom and as a communication assessment tool benefitting several students and it will help future students as well.
PCCD PROGRAM PRIDE
SEVERAL OF OUR PROGRAMS WERE REVIEWED BY ACCREDITING AGENCIES THIS PAST YEAR.
EARLY INTERVENTION The Early Intervention Program received a ranking of “Exceptional Performance” from the Department of Public Health. This designation signifies 100% compliance in all six federal compliance indicators, at or above state target for all indicators. PCCD’s Early Intervention Program was only one of six programs (out of 60) in the Commonwealth to make this achievement!
DEVELOPMENTAL DAY SCHOOL Developmental Day School received a full approval status from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Developmental Day School also received a 100% compliance rating through their review.
PRESCHOOL PROGRAM The Preschool received a full license from the Department of Early Education and Care in December 2017.
FLOORTIME = FUN TIME When Juliet was nine months and was not yet crawling nor starting to move around, her mother Andrea grew concerned. At Juliet’s checkup, she expressed her concerns to their pediatrician, who recommended Juliet for Early Intervention services. After an evaluation, Juliet began seeing Lori, one of PCCD’s Early Intervention Physical Therapists to help encourage Juliet’s motor skill development. Soon enough, Andrea noticed Juliet making gains in her movement abilities. At Juliet’s one-year evaluation, speech therapy services were recommended in addition to the weekly physical therapy visits. Jordan, a developmental specialist, joined Juliet’s team and recommended a workshop PCCD was hosting. Through the generosity of the John W. Alden Trust, an interactive workshop using Stanley Greenspan’s DIR/Floortime method, was offered at no cost to parents. Andrea jumped at the opportunity to sign up in hopes of learning some new tools to provide more support for Juliet at home. Despite some initial nerves, Andrea began to look forward to each week’s class, as she added more tools to her tool belt. One of the most important things she learned was that it was important to not focus on milestones, but to let Juliet lead their play. Since the course ended, Andrea commented that Juliet is a different kid! Now, she engages Andrea to play. This newfound engagement has also led to Juliet communicating her needs and wants, which she had not previously done. They are now looking to enroll Juliet in one of PCCD’s upcoming music therapy groups to continue to foster Juliet’s development.
GIVING CHILDREN A VOICE “We wondered if we would ever see our grandson smile or hear his voice and with your hard work we witnessed both”- A grateful grandmother
• Because of donor support, the Preschool Program was able to purchase 2 iPads equipped with a communication system called Proloquo2go. With help of one of our Speech Language Pathologists, who is also a certified Assistive Technology professional, children were able to have a voice. Students who arrived at the Preschool without speaking, were soon able to use single words, short phrases and eventually sentences! With this monumental achievement, we saw the children engaging more with their peers. Instead of playing by themselves, they were right in the middle of a play schema and chasing their peers on the playground. Being able to communicate allowed these children to be more active members of their community.
• Through the support of the Boston Bruins Foundation, PCCD was able to develop a new communication program for children who use Alternative and Augmentative Communication devices. AAC Adventure week, was held during several school vacation periods. AAC Adventure Week offers parents a specially designed program by a speech language pathologist around a weekly theme incorporating interactive activities. Learners participate in fun and motivating activities in 1:1 and small group settings. Children participating were able to improve vocabulary and language concepts at their own pace and address social skills during group activities and peer interactions. By combining fun and therapy techniques in a natural setting, participants at AAC Adventure Weeks developed skills that they could generalize to everyday life. Nearly 20 children have been able to participate in the program. • The Northeast Regional Consultation Program through PCCD, specializes in helping children with complex medical and developmental needs. Through the Lending Program, nearly 100 families were able to borrow assistive technology equipment. The Lending Program allows families to borrow equipment for a period time helping to eliminate the financial burden of purchasing equipment that a child may grow out of soon.
DEDICATION MAKES A DIFFERENCE
“You have to love working at a place that offers you the daily chance to see pure joy in a child’s face or hear laughter throughout the day. No matter where you go something will make you smile. “ -Rhonda Boudreau Special Education Teacher
Our professional staff are always working to hone their professional competencies and develop additional skills to provide the best care and services to families. Some highlights of professional development this year include: Jennifer Hawkes (MSCCC-SLP/ATP), was a speaker at the ATiA (Assistive Technology Industry Association) National Conference in February. ATiA’s mission is to serve as a collective voice for the assistive technology (AT) industry to help ensure that the best products and services are delivered to persons with disabilities. This conference provides a forum for education and communication amongst professionals, people with disabilities as well as their caregivers and family members. Jenn presented with Susan Cantos, “Making Collaboration Work for Students with Multiple Disabilities across Disciplines,” which, discussed the importance and effectiveness of collaboration between specialists and teachers when creating education materials and during times of assessment.
Nicole Gaudette and Lindsay Burgess (Occupational Therapists) became certified in the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding program, developed by Dr. Kay Toomey. The SOS approach is an effective way to address problematic feeding behaviors in a variety of settings and populations.
Wendy Fernandez, Dahlia Khankan, Rose Sullivan and Jordan Taylor have completed the first phase in becoming certified in the DIR/Floortime method through the Astra Foundation and Lesley University. DIR/Floortime helps to support quality interactions for children on the Autism Spectrum.
INCLUDES
PROFESSIONAL WORKFORCE 122 TOTAL STAFF
INTERPRETERS REGISTERED NURSES PHYSICAL THERAPISTS OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS SOCIAL WORKERS SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS DEVELOPMENTAL SPECIALISTS SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS NUTRITIONISTS LACTATION CONSULTANTS MUSIC THERAPIST
1/3 OF STAFF
10+
YEARS
OF SERVICE
Touch A Truck
CONNECTING WITH THE COMMUNITY Thank you to everyone who attended an event this year!
Passport to Possibilities Gala
Flag Day
Trot for Special Tots
Community Guest Reader Adam Grossman, Red Sox Chief Marketing Officer
YOU MAKE AN IMPACT! Through the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations PCCD is able to: • Enhance center-based programming including increased group programs and parent workshops • Procure, maintain, and replace equipment in our classrooms • Offer professional development opportunities to our staff that promotes the use of best practices and the most current and effective interventions • Implement state of the art technology across the organization
FY 2018 OPERATING REVENUE $6,962,054.29
Program Service Fees $6,750,613.04 Fundraising $132,511.56 Other Income $12,105.18
FY 2018 OPERATING EXPENSES $6,897,700.29
Program Services $5,939,241.00 Fundraising, Marketing & Public Relations $130,371.29 Administration $828,088.00
32 Osgood Steet Andover, MA 01810 978.475.3806 439 S. Union Street So. Lawrence, MA 01843 978.688.5070 www.theprofessionalcenter.org