Trust, but verify, a politician once said, and I can report with great satisfaction that our national accrediting organization, CARF, has done that for us with its recent survey.
We received formal notification that ProAct was issued a Three-Year CARF Accreditation that will extend through April 30, 2021. The report stated that our collective achievement is an indication of our organization’s dedication and commitment to improving the lives of the persons served.
Further, ProAct provides outstanding services in employment planning, employee development, organizational employment, community employment and community integration. There were also a few minor recommendations that we will address. More importantly, there were two pages of “areas of strength” presented in the report that we are proud of as an organization.
I know that many of you receiving this newsletter may have been contacted as part of the survey from February 26-28, and I thank you. The successful delivery of person-centered outcomes for the individuals we serve is dependent on more than the efforts of our staff.
Family members, guardians, board members, employers, business partners, residential providers, funders, and the communities in which we operate are also important. I believe the results of this recent CARF survey were a reflection of the combined efforts of everyone involved. I thank all of you. Your relationship with ProAct is greatly appreciated.
In our current state legislative session, we are working with our primary industry association, MOHR, to correct what will amount to a 7 percent reduction in reimbursement rates for most of our services, if we are not successful with corrective legislation this session. MOHR is working collaboratively with other impacted groups to collectively deal with this issue. I believe most, if not all, of our local elected officials are supportive of our work, so I am hopeful we will have a positive outcome.
On January 1, ProAct took over the provision of day services for adults with disabilities in Shakopee provided through a program called “New Options.” It had been operated by Scott County since 1968. A few weeks ago, we had a meeting with the county to review how things were going. I am pleased to report that those present said their expectations were met or exceeded so far. We discussed some tasks to be completed and some ideas to pursue.
Lastly, it is with sadness that I inform you that a former employee, Dale Klette, passed away in February. Besides his role leading our Information Technology function, Dale served as our first “Corporate Compliance” officer. More importantly, he was a very caring, compassionate, and positive person who added to our environment beyond his formal position. Dale joined ProAct after retiring from a long, successful career in technology. We were glad that he did. Dale is missed.