Updates from the housing sector.
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Housing Resources
Useful resources in the housing sector.
Housing Events
Upcoming events in the housing sector.
DSOER Management Update
We are happy to inform you that Marie-Josée Samson has accepted the role of Operations Supervisor with DSOER.
Marie-Josee has been an important member of the DSOER team since our launch in 2011. She has worked as a DSOER Service Navigator for several years and as an Assessor prior to then.
We are very happy to have her join our management group!
We also want to take this opportunity to introduce you (or re-introduce you) to our DSOER management group:
- Director: Christine Gougeon (cgougeon@dsoer.ca) – Overseeing the DSOER program, Main Community Contact, and member of the SCS Senior Leadership Team
- Clinical Supervisor: Leila Karam (lkaram@dsoer.ca) – Overseeing all Assessor group functions (e.g. Scheduling, Productivity and Quality of DSO application packages, Assessor Training, Certification, etc…)
- Operations Supervisor: Marie-Josee Samson (MJSamson@dsoer.ca) – Overseeing all Service Navigation group functions (i.e. Intake, Eligibility, Matching and Linking, Housing Navigation, etc…)
We encourage you to connect with DSOER at Admin@dsoer.ca. From there we can triage emails to the appropriate person and DSOER group. Should you want to connect directly with someone from our management group, our emails are listed above.
Together with our team of navigators, scheduler, assessors and matching & linking coordinator, we want to thank you for your continued support and collaboration in providing support to those we serve.
Meetings with SCS
Thank you for your patience in this time of pandemic. We are still here to support you.
In addition to being able to meet you by phone or video, it may now be possible to meet you in person if you are unable to meet by phone or video.
Click here for Video Conferencing Security Risks & Best Practices
For in-person meetings, your worker will inform you of some instructions to be followed in order to ensure your safety and the safety of our employees.
Please speak to your worker to discuss your options to meet.
Thank you for continuing to work with us.
SCS Team
SCS Board of Directors appoints Mitchell Bellman as Executive Director
OTTAWA, Ontario – August 18, 2021 – The Service Coordination Support (SCS) Board is pleased to announce that, effective August 30, 2021, Mitchell Bellman will become the new Executive Director for the organization. Until that date, Ms. Janet Babalola will continue in the interim Executive Director role.
“Mitchell is an accomplished executive with over 20 years of experience in leadership positions. He believes in success through vision, strategy, partnerships, and transparency. With proficiency in both private and public sectors, he brings to the organization a well-rounded approach for the future growth and development of the organization,” said André Lagacé, Chairman of the SCS Board. “We welcome Mitchell to SCS and look forward to working with him and the Ministry to empower families and individuals to make informed choices about the supports they seek.”
Mr. Bellman most recently served as the President and CEO for The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health. Previously, he held leadership positions at Nylene Canada and The Jewish Federation of Ottawa.
Mr. Bellman holds a Masters of Public Administration from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University. He is a recipient of both the Gilbert Greenberg Distinguished Service Award and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
“The SCS Board would like to take this opportunity to thank Janet Babalola for managing the organization and serving our clients as the interim Executive Director over the last several months,” said André Lagacé, Chairman of the SCS Board. “Due to her commitment and dedication, SCS has continued to meet the expectations of our community and stakeholders.”
About SCS
Service Coordination Support (SCS) is the initial contact for people who have a developmental disability or autism in Ottawa and the Eastern Region. We help people find available resources in the community that are needed to assist them in their daily lives. One of our important goals is to empower families/individuals to make informed choices about the supports they seek.
Now Available: SCS Annual Report 2020-2021
Our annual report is now available at this link:
https://dev.scsonline.ca/en/about-us/annual-reports/
You can read messages from our President and Interim Executive Director, reviewing events of the past year and how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the people we support, their support networks, and SCS.
You will also find information on our projects and initiatives which aim is to empower the persons we support to plan for the future of their choice. Great progress was made on the following projects:
- Case Management Implementation: we have enhanced our communications about how our case management services can support individuals.
- My Search Tool, a search tool to enable families to independently explore available resources in their community (https://search.scsonline.ca/).
- We started developing a self-serve website where the people we support can access and update information and documents in their SCS file.
- We partially implemented our mobile workforce strategy, to increase our presence and visibility in the community.
You can also find information about our services, with an evaluation of their performance over the past year, as well as positive and constructive testimonials.
Case Management Update
Moving forward our focus is what is important to people, their strengths, and what support is required for people to be successful
Service Coordination Support (SCS) for People with Developmental Disabilities is continuously improving our case management services to ensure that the people we support are engaged in planning for the future of their choice.
Case management at SCS is a collaborative, inclusive, and individualized process. We work towards goal setting, planning, advocating, and exploring available community resources to support the achievement of personal outcomes.
We are pleased to share how we can support you to achieve your goals and develop a plan for the future of your choice.
A case manager will help you:
‣ Focus on goals that are important to you
‣ Include the people who are important to you
‣ Identify your strengths and interests
‣ Build and strengthen your relationships and support network
‣ Plan for life transitions
‣ Coordinate meetings with other service providers by:
‣ Include the people who are important to you
‣ Identify your strengths and interests
‣ Build and strengthen your relationships and support network
‣ Plan for life transitions
‣ Coordinate meetings with other service providers by:
◦ Assisting you with preparing for the meeting
◦ Supporting you at the meeting
◦ Understanding roles and responsibilities
◦ Supporting you at the meeting
◦ Understanding roles and responsibilities
‣ Support problem solving and group facilitation
‣ Coordinate community resources, such as:
‣ Coordinate community resources, such as:
◦ Skills development or education programs
◦ Social and recreational programs
◦ Child care programs
◦ Support workers or respite programs
◦ Volunteering or work opportunities
◦ Support groups
◦ Financial programs
◦ Housing services
◦ Transportation services
◦ Specialized services, such as counselling, behaviour management, medical, therapy, equipment …
◦ Social and recreational programs
◦ Child care programs
◦ Support workers or respite programs
◦ Volunteering or work opportunities
◦ Support groups
◦ Financial programs
◦ Housing services
◦ Transportation services
◦ Specialized services, such as counselling, behaviour management, medical, therapy, equipment …
We will be hosting information sessions for individuals, families and our partner agencies to share our role as communicated above.
We are developing a short animated video to explain how are our case management services at SCS can support you. This video will be available at all times on our website and we will use it during our information sessions, in addition to sharing it in our communications.
About Service Coordination Support (SCS) for People with Developmental Disabilities
SCS is the initial contact for individuals who have a developmental disability or autism in Ottawa and the Eastern Region. We help people find the supports and services in the community that are needed to assist them in their daily lives. One of our important goals is to empower families and individuals to make informed choices about the supports they seek.
Contact us
Service Coordination Support (SCS) for People with Developmental Disabilities
200-150 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1L 8H2
Tel: 613-748-1788
TTY: 1-855-777-5787
E-mail: admin@scsonline.ca
Now Available: My Search Tool
Service Coordination Support (SCS) for People with Developmental Disabilities is pleased to announce the launch of My Search Tool now available at search.scsonline.ca.
My Search Tool
My Search Tool was developed in collaboration with Community Navigation of Eastern Ontario (CNEO), also known as 211 Eastern Region. It offers a library of useful resources and services in the Ottawa area that are selected for the people we support at SCS. We are currently working on adding the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, and Renfrew County.
“We are proud to have provided SCS with the tools to launch My Search Tool, which we believe will be very helpful to people with developmental disabilities who want to find resources or services in their community,” said John Hoyles, Executive Director of CNEO.
When using My Search Tool, the person has the options to complete a search by topic, location, age or distance from their place. Topics were chosen based on areas where demand for resources and services may be greater for an individual with a developmental disability or autism: education, employment/volunteering, finance/funding, health, housing, legal and advocacy, recreation/camp/social, respite, special support care, transition life phase and transportation.
My Search Tool greatly contributes to the progress of SCS’s mission to support people with developmental disabilities and children with autism in finding available resources and planning for the future of their choice.
Coming Together 2020 Virtual Series: Materials From Keynote Presentation
To access COVID resources from CAMH and H-CARDD:
www.hcarddcovid.com/info.
To access videos mentioned during the keynote presentation:
- From victims to advocates: People with developmental disabilities are changing the health-care system:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whitecoat/from-victims-to-advocates-people-with-developmental-disabilities-are-changing-the-health-care-system-1.5360851 - Better Practice, Better Health: Listening and learning from patients and families
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gRmdbEe65c&list=PLNuPQneaGMwCgYIDHdawgSQQA9AYoe8hx&index=1&t=4s
More resources:
- Family Matters Toolkit offers tools and resources for family caregivers; this page of the toolkit offers a list of resources available to families and self-advocates:
https://familymatters.ddtoolkits.com/resources.html -
Sibling study, “Exploring the experiences of siblings of adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic”. More information for adult sibs can be found at:
www.sibcollab.ca - A Family Guide to Dual Diagnosis (this guide written pre-covid but may have some helpful information):
https://www.camh.ca/-/media/files/guides-and-publications/dual-diagnosis-guide-en.pdf -
It’s national caregivers month! Ottawa resident Donna Thomson wrote this piece last week:
https://www.donnathomson.com/
Invitation to a mindfulness group for autistic adults and their caregivers
Some of you seemed to enjoy the mindfulness activity. CAMH are offering a mindfulness group for autistic adults and their caregivers group starting November 14th (there are still a few spots). You can find more information about this group and other mindfulness groups for families, and for people with disabilities, by emailing us at mindfulness.research@camh.ca.
