Maryland Regional Direct Services Collaborative 2nd Summit
The Maryland Regional Direct Services Collaborative convened its first annual meeting on September 27, 2018. Guided by the information and views shared by educators, provider and public agency administrators and other stakeholders at the Area Wide Workforce Summit in 2017, the Collaborative shaped this first meeting’s goal to set forth its action agenda that would assure the availability of a well-trained direct services workforce throughout the Maryland region. Ron Carlson, Executive of the Collaborative welcomed key representatives from across Maryland and the District of Columbia. More than 70 professionals attended this “invitations only” meeting. Those who were invited were those who had expressed interest in lending their support to work on issues affecting measurable changes on specific training and workforce development goals and objectives. Key materials from the Summit are available to download below.
Announcing a New Partnership!
Rodham Institute and Maryland Regional Direct Services Workforce Collaborative Partnership
Maryland Regional Direct Services Workforce Collaborative with a mission compassing both the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia was formally established in March 2018 by the Collaborative Steering Committee and placed with the Rodham Institute.
The Rodham Institute will now serve as the organizational home for the Maryland Regional Direct Services Collaborative. We will host their information on our website, and serve as the 501©3 home. The Collaborative's workforce development efforts support individuals working in direct care and para-professional careers, such as certified nursing assistants and home health aides. The Rodham Institute has negotiated the inclusion of the D.C. metropolitan area so that members of our local community will benefit from a workforce development program.
Next steps for this partnership include a press release, a needs assessment to be conducted by our counterparts in Maryland and their staff, development of membership criteria for the Collaborative, solicitation of funds, and development of a budget.
Our participation in this collaborative will not only support our own Pathways for All to Health Careers (PATH-C), but also support the shared vision of both GW leadership and the community towards workforce development.
The MD Regional Direct Services Collaborative’s first of a three series.
These webinar series will be facilitated by the Rodham Institute, GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Webinar Series #1, September 10, 2020, 10-11:30 am
Frontline Direct Services Workers – Confronting the Pandemic
Information to describe the webinar:
Its session’s learning objective is to describe the frontline direct services workforce experience during the pandemic covering the problems, threats and barriers confronted by CANs, GNAs and home care workers across the region. An outstanding faculty will present and discuss the challenges being faced from their individual perspectives. Conducted as an interactive session and moderated by Dr. Charlene Brown, CEO of “Caregiver Jobs Now”. Wayne Turnage, Deputy Mayor for D.C.’s Health and Human Services Department will introduce the session as the Keynote Speaker. Four speakers make up the panel offering their individual perspectives:
- Ms. Charlene Thomas, GNA – Genesis Multi-Medical Center
- Kevin Heffner – CEO/President of LifeSpanNetwork
- Ms. Sharnette Morris – Home Care Worker
- Allison Ciborowski – CEO/President of LeadingAgeMaryland
- Senator Clarence Lam, M.D. who serves as a member of Maryland Governor Hogan’s COVID-Working Group will offer concluding remarks.
