Highlighting Four of Our DSPs During DSP Recognition Week

Starting on September 8th, we will be observing Direct Support Professional (DSP) Recognition Week, a nationwide celebration to acknowledge and highlight the dedicated direct support workforce that is the heart and soul of supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).

Nationwide, the DSP retention rate is still at an anemic 50%. But at Penn-Mar ours is an impressive 86%.

One of the best decisions we made was to appoint Kelly Baker our Career Ladders Program Coordinator, which has certainly impacted this statistic. She is our Chief Cheerleader when it comes to ensuring success for everyone enrolled in the program. We always knew WHY the program was valuable; Kelly’s great leadership helped to create HOW to make it work.

And Career Ladders is only one of several ways we are supporting our team members. Training, commitment and an alignment of our resources have also contributed to our retention of 94% of our DSPs who have been credentialed in Career Ladders and 82% of our DSPs who have not.

So, it would seem the perfect time for me to highlight four of our DSPs who by being the best they can be are the very definition of what a great DSP should be.

Kas Jasinski, who manages a residential home in Whitehall, has been a tremendous leader in our organization for nearly 18 years. She is the role model that our DSPs aspire to be. Kas believes that God has put her on this earth to help other people. She currently supports two aging gentlemen with dementia and is an incredible advocate for them and the services of Penn-Mar. When you spend time with Kas you can’t help but notice how settled and peaceful she makes you feel. She shows amazing compassion with the people she supports and is truly one of our star performers. Kas has earned her DSP-I Certification through our Career Ladders Program, adding yet another dimension to her learning and understanding of her critical role.

Patrick Sgro is our Residential Supervisor at a home in Hampstead. He has been with Penn-Mar for almost 17 years and supports two incredible gentlemen. Near and dear to my heart, these gentlemen lived in a residential home with my wife Terri and I many years ago when they were kids, as we started our careers as DSPs. Patrick has developed a tremendous rapport with these men and serves as a stabilizing force of calm in the many challenges that emerge each day. He definitely has a go with-the-flow mentality towards his job but when things need to get done he makes sure they get done, cohesively managing the people and teams he works with. I was Patrick’s mentor when he started in our original Career Ladders training program in 2016. I always say that once I got out of his way, Patrick found his groove and managed to work his way up to a DSP-III certification!

Sue Thorpe has been a DSP at Penn-Mar for an incredible 29 years! She was one of the first people I hired to work in our residential home program in 1989 and I’m sure she remembers the days when our entire staff could fit into one room for a meeting! Sue left us in 2005 when she married and started a family, but we happily welcomed her back in 2011. Sue is a remarkable person who has grown as a professional in her three decades here. Her history with Penn-Mar is rich and deep and her heart of gold is filled with great compassion for the ladies she supports in a PA residential home. They are truly part of her “family” and Sue always gives them encouragement and direction in a way that is both respectful and caring. A tireless advocate for our Career Ladders Program, Sue was part of our Class 2 in 2017 and achieved a DSP-III certification.

Kellie Spies, with Penn-Mar for nearly 23 years, is one of those individuals that you always know has everything under control. She is a remarkably stable team member who is currently supporting four gentlemen at their home in Seven Valleys. During her time with us, Kellie has seen and experienced it all – the loss of people she has supported, the transition of new people into homes, the ever-evolving delivery of services – and she has approached each challenge with grace and compassion. When team members look for guidance on how to manage a residential home, they talk to Kellie. She is not extroverted or flamboyant and is more comfortable operating under the radar. And while not a participant in the Career Ladders Program, Kellie’s job performance is consistently outstanding and speaks to her many years of acquiring valuable lessons on the job.

These remarkable DSPs represent a combined total of 87 years of service at Penn-Mar! Please join me in congratulating them – and all of our DSPs – during their much-deserved Recognition Week!