History
This Week, Oregon Brokerage Association Celebrates Five Years
This weekend, the Oregon Support Services Association celebrates its 5 year anniversary! We formed the association in 2010 just as Oregon brokerages were about to celebrate a decade of services to the Intellectual and Developmental Disability (I/DD) community. The past five years have been filled with successes, challenges, and more twists and turns than anyone could have predicted. As many of you know, today’s terrain is significantly different. I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the work of OSSA’s Executive Director, Katie Rose. Katie has been on the job for just about a year now and having her as a full-time leader has made a huge impact for brokerage...
Read MoreA Diversity of Services Requires A Diversity of Providers
Community-based services are different. In 2001, Oregon made a deep investment in community supports when it began to develop Support Services Brokerages. This style of service, which seeks to serve people where and how they wish to live, is very different from the institutional settings of the past. People make different choices when you let them, they express different needs than you might have anticipated–they surprise you. Oregon found that community-based services demanded a wider diversity of providers. People inviting workers into their homes expected different things from those providers: willingness to take direction directly from the individual as...
Read MoreChoosing Between Vital Parts is a Losing Proposition for I/DD
When it comes to full lives for Oregonians with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we want it all. As a member of the Oregon I/DD Coalition, OSSA helped to identify four top priorities for the 2015 legislative budgeting session. These four priorities, together, represent a pathway to richer lives for Oregonians with I/DD. The four priorities are: DSP Wages: Raise the wage for Direct Support Professionals. Brokerage and CDDP Workload Model Budget: Fund workload model at proposed 95% equity for CDDPs and Brokerages. Fairview Trust: Keep the promise of community housing opportunities for people with IDD and restore the Fairview Trust. Employment: Continue...
Read MoreOSSA’s Vision for the Future of Disability Services in Oregon
Sometimes, in the midst of change, it is hard to see the way forward. Oregon’s system of services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities once felt like it had a clear identity as a national leader for progressive, community-based service. We closed down institutions. We gave control to the people using the services. We showed that giving people self-determination can not only be right, it can also be cost-effective, good business. Somewhere, in the crush of change and hurtling, forward momentum, we have lost the clarity of that identity. Now is the time to work to reclaim that pioneering spirit at the heart of our state. Make no mistake,...
Read MoreAn Interview with Brokerage Association Leader Kathryn Weit (Part One)
By Larry Deal Executive Director, Independence Northwest Communications Director, Oregon Support Services Association I recently sat down with newly-appointed Oregon Support Services Association Executive Director Kathryn Weit to discuss her history, her thoughts on the brokerage system, the implementation of the K Plan, and where she sees brokerage services headed. Kathryn has been a hugely influential player in services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities both in the northwest and nationally. She played an integral role in the development of brokerage services in Oregon and brokerages statewide could not be more pleased that she’s signed on to...
Read MoreOSSA Announces Kathryn Weit as Association Executive Director
By Margaret Theisen Oregon Support Services Association President The Oregon Support Services Association (OSSA) is pleased to announce the hiring of Kathryn Weit as our Executive Director. Kathryn is well known as an advocate and leader for services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her extensive history in our State includes participating in launching the Oregon Support Services Brokerage system, leading the Oregon Developmental Disabilities Coalition and serving as the Executive Director of the Oregon Council on Developmental Disabilities. Her primary roles are advisory to OSSA regarding advocacy needs on major policy, budget and customer...
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