Posted on June 25, 2018
Penn-Mar is among five organizations to be honored at the Reinventing Quality Conference in Baltimore, July 31
Penn-Mar Human Services is proud to announce that it has received the prestigious national Moving Mountains Award from the partnership of the National Alliance of Direct Support Professionals (NADSP), the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota (ICI), and the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR).
NADSP with its partners ICI and ANCOR established the Moving Mountains Award in order to recognize organizations using leading practices in direct support workforce development that result in improved outcomes for people with disabilities. Organizations applying are required to illustrate how their direct support workforce practices and philosophy align with the principles of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals.
Nonprofit Penn-Mar, a recognized leader in providing innovative, quality supports and services to hundreds of men and women with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Maryland and Pennsylvania, was honored with the Moving Mountains Award for its Career Ladders Program that improves staff retention by developing a credentialed workforce with professional standards. Elevating the direct support profession by expanding the knowledge and thinking of the staff will result in improved lives of the individuals they support, their families, and the staff providing it.
NADSP is a national non-profit whose mission is to elevate the status of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) by improving practice standards, promoting system reform, and advancing their knowledge, skills and values.
“We are truly honored to receive the Moving Mountains Award,” said Gregory T. Miller, Penn-Mar president and CEO. “And to be recognized for our successful Career Ladders professional development program and our ongoing retention and recruitment efforts. This effort is designed to better equip our vital Direct Support Professionals who are dedicated to “transforming life into living” for the many individuals we support.”
The Award also recognizes Penn-Mar for improving the perception of professional opportunities in the industry, which expands the labor pool as the need for DSPs remains a national crisis.
“Penn-Mar is advancing this goal through a commitment of both time and resources to support [DSPs] interested in pursuing certification,” read a statement from NADSP. “The commitment for credentialing staff is prevalent throughout the organization at all levels of management and leadership through the Board of Directors.”
On July 31, Penn-Mar will be honored with the Moving Mountains Award at the 2018 Reinventing Quality Conference, to be held in Baltimore, Md., at the Baltimore Renaissance Harborplace Hotel.
For more information about the Moving Mountains Award, visit www.nadsp.org/moving-mountains.
About Penn-Mar Human Services
Penn-Mar Human Services, founded in 1981, serves nearly 500 adults with intellectual disabilities through its residential, respite, educational, vocational and supported employment programs in northern Baltimore, Carroll and Harford Counties in Maryland, and in southern York County in Pennsylvania.