UCP of the North Bay
Adult Day Program Update
July 3, 2020
Helping Participants through Personal Connection
“UCP of the North Bay would like to reassure our participants, family members, and the community that we are doing everything possible to stay socially connected by providing online training and education programs that support the continued health and well-being of the children and adults that we serve.”
Our UCP of the North Bay Outreach Program Metrics are a strong indication of the effectiveness of distance learning and online program activities. We review and analyze the metrics weekly during our online meeting with Administrators, Directors, Managers, and Coordinators. For the week of June 25 through July 1, we presented 85 online classes with a total attendance total of 1,871 averaging 22 participants per class. Our Adult Employment Programs including Gone for Good, WineBev Services, and OADS averaged 121 participants attending classes daily. Our actual online presence is greater than the classes we present, with private Facebook pages for each program that allow for small group discussions, social gatherings, and message boards for sharing class and activity information and questions.
We continue to plan for reopening by putting up signs notifying everyone that masks are to be worn at all times when entering the building. We are stocking our vehicles with extra gloves, masks, hand sanitizers, and no touch thermometers. Our survey results have shown that most of our participants are ready to return to work whenever it is safe to do so. Participants who are not comfortable returning to our site-based program may continue with remote learning or consider entirely community-based activities that still require transportation. Our staff members continue to visit participant homes to deliver art supplies and educational materials. We have received numerous requests from participants for additional Amazon Fire Tablets.
We continue to add new participants to our online classes, reaching 52% participation last week for the first time. One of our participants returned home from a rehabilitation facility and continued their participation in our online classes. We now have two Senior Adult Program staff members working with our participants as part-time residential care providers.
Cooking was added as a new class to our schedule. In our first class, participants learned how to make a hamburger and accompanying side salad. The participants also received all the recipes. In Social Skills, we discussed social distancing using different scenarios at public and private places. With Independence Day approaching, our History Class discussed the Founders of our Country, the Revolutionary War, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We continue to provide staffing for our Petaluma Recycling Center and are looking into restarting some of our work contracts with staff members only.
Our unduplicated weekly online class attendance reached 89% of our enrolled participants. We hosted our third Family Night on Wednesday, July 1 with 21 families, 25 participants, and 6 staff members in attendance. We discussed what a typical day will look like once we are able to return to onsite program and production. Several families had questions about transportation and safety, and we were able to alleviate some of their concerns. At the close of the meeting, we awarded a prize to our top Zoom participant for attending 145 classes in the month of June.
We continue to stockpile needed personal protective equipment in preparation for our eventual reopening. Recycling paper and electronics and sorting Thrift Center donations continue with staff members at Gone for Good in order to meet our contractual obligations. We have been collecting our Participant Surveys, which help us better understand the needs of our participants and to plan for those participants wanting to be the first to return to site-based activities. We have planned an online 4th of July Spectacular at 5:00 p.m. for our families and participants with Fireworks Shows from around the world.
Group Supported Employment Participants will begin integrating back into the community at various work locations on July 6. Safety precautions will be implemented with staff members trained on minimizing risk and recognizing potential problems. Face shields and masks will be worn by staff members and participants when in vehicles. We will be monitoring each work crew and making modifications for additional work crews based upon what we learn in the initial weeks of operation. Individuals interested in Supported Employment should contact Tony Montoya, Supported Employment Manager, at 707-763-9807.
