WELCOME TO COMPASS UT

Support coordinators have a myriad of duties. The most obvious duties are organizing the annual “Person Centered Service Planning Meeting” to review and set goals for the upcoming year and visit individuals to monitor their health and safety. Some of the behind the scenes duties are to summarize and report back to DSPD each month on all services provided, validate payments for services rendered, monitor budgets, serve as a resource specialist, advocate for additional funds as needs arise, assist and train those wanting to provide “Self-Administered Services”, participate in assessments, maintain accurate records, inform individuals and families of all their options, attend school meetings and medical appointments as requested, and last but not least provide encouragement to individuals and families.

David obtained his Special Education Certification from Brigham Young University. Susan obtained her Bachelors Degree from Brigham Young University, majoring in Psychology. For many years we provided direct in-home care for over fifty foster teens. Our fifth child was born with a disability. We both had extensive experience with behavior problems, mental health issues, and disabilities. We had a strong desire to use the knowledge we had gleaned from our personal experience and study to help others improve their quality of life. Helping others has become our passion. Susan began Support Coordination August 1, 2009 and was soon followed by David. We now team up and combine our expertise. We are committed to give exceptional attention to the individuals we serve.

"Quality of life” strikes at the core of support coordination. Everything we do as support coordinators is to ensure the individual’s quality of life. We assess each individual’s situation from the perspective of having a daughter with a disability. We ask ourselves, “Would this quality of life be acceptable for my loved one?” If so, then we seek to maintain that quality. If not, we make a personal assessment and consult with the individual and their guardian to come up with a plan and follow through with it. Ensuring quality of life for the individuals we serve has included making sure individuals know they have options and what those options are, changing providers as needed, implementing goals that address needed change, responding quickly to needs, and contributing to behavior plans. We have attended diabetic clinics, written diet plans approved by the clinic, made picture grocery lists, trained provider staff on cooking methods, taught nutrition to individuals and staff, sponsored tasting parties, attend school planning meetings, attend doctor visits, advocated for additional funding and reunited individuals with loved ones.

COMPASS UT belongs to the Utah County Emergency Coalition. The coalition consists of several Support Coordination companies [Gold Supports, Timpanogos Advocates, Sunrise Supports, and Compass UT] with an agreement to provide short-term coverage (up to 3 months) for one another. All of the members of this coalition worked together and have remained friends in spite of being "business competitors." This is the spirit of cooperation that typically exists in the field of Support Coordination.

There are no real advantages to a large versus a small Support Coordination company. One issue of controversy is regarding the way large companies assign and transfer clients between support coordinators. Technically, a large company can transfer you to another support coordinator without your permission. This may be done to even out caseloads among employees and is considered a “business” decision. Two of Susan’s clients sought her services after such a transfer within another company. This is not a good practice as you may risk losing clients and it is certainly not the norm. When you interview, make sure you know if the person you talk to will be your permanent Support Coordinator or if they intend to transfer your case at some point. You should choose the support coordinator that you feel will best serve your needs. If at any time you desire to choose a different company the process is easy. You simply call DSPD and tell them you would like a change. Large companies may boast of their combined experience. However, this becomes a moot point when you consider that most support coordinators knew each other well before support coordination became privatized. We freely phone and email one another with suggestions, questions, and resource information.

David’s previous background in Special Education familiarized him with the IEP process, and managing goals and plans. Susan’s previous employment working for an accounting firm has been valuable in teaching attention to detail, managing paperwork, and acquiring organizational skills. Self-employment allows one to set your own schedule, which translates into better concentration and higher productivity. These are critical skills that translate into the ability to advocate with DSPD.

We are absolutely confident in our ability to advocate for your needs with DSPD. Susan worked for DSPD as the intake worker for one year prior to becoming a private Support Coordinator. She left on very good terms. Since that time, we have worked closely with DSPD and there is a mutual respect between us. One of the things that are required to advocate for your needs is good record keeping. When the treatment team feels the individual needs more funding and submits a request, one of the first things DSPD does is check the log notes to see if there is a history of documentation supporting the request. We are able to advocate for your needs because our detailed record keeping supports your needed requests.

Aside from basic Support Coordination duties our role is flexible depending on individual need. We look for cue’s that help us discern what kind of involvement is desired and needed. For example we have several individuals who we are required to visit on a bi-monthly basis in their homes. Because they have State Guardians and very little family involvement we are inclined to drop by and see them more frequently. We see them at the grocery store and other community places and have frequent phone contact with them that are not considered as required contact. Our role is also as a friend because they need that. On the other extreme, we serve individuals who may live at home with family members who have very busy lives. We keep our visits short and to the point out of respect for their time. We have also worked with individuals who cannot communicate, but whose primary caretaker is more isolated and desires monthly visits when only quarterly visits are required. We are happy to know they feel comfortable enough to express this need to us and adjust our visitation accordingly.

Because we provided a licensed DCFS structured foster home for 19 years, we have had extensive training related to CPS – Child Protective Services, DCFS – Division of Child and Family Services, and APS – Adult Protective Services. We have personally been through the guardianship process, which protects individual rights of those with disabilities. We have attended many IEP – Individual Education Plan Meetings with multiple school districts. Making sure that individual rights are protected is one of the things that we monitor.

The minimum frequency of visitation is dictated by DSPD. It is dependent on the service code the individual is using. For instance the code RP1 is used for respite with individuals living with their families. The visitation schedule requires a face to face in the home every 90 days. Any visits that occur beyond that are based on our professional judgment or at your request. It is important to keep in mind that we respect your time and that often home visits occur during a hectic time of day for families when other school children are coming and going and need your attention. Meeting the individual’s needs should not mean long drawn out meetings that infringe on your family time. That does not mean that we would not attend an IEP meeting or attend a medical appointment because the minimum requirement had already been met. Good Support Coordinators are willing to assist families where their expertise and encouragement are needed.

During visits we monitor for health and safety issues of the individuals we serve. This monitoring is less intrusive for individuals who live in the homes of their family and more so when care is provided by a paid professional. For example, one day Susan went to visit someone living in a group home. She went in the bedroom and noticed that the metal bed frame was backwards. The box spring and mattress had been placed on the frame with the frame protruding about 8 inches into the aisle where the individual was walking to work the television set. It looked like a potential injury. She pointed this out to the provider and asked them to correct it while we went on another visit. We came back to the home to document that the correction had been made to ensure safety. We also audit records while on visits. For individuals living with their family this usually occurs annually, but for service providers this usually occurs throughout the year. We also visit with the individual and get to know them. This is very important in helping them articulate their wants and needs at the planning meeting. There may be something very important to them that they forget to bring up at a critical moment.