Merakey Pennsylvania (NHS)

Merakey Pennsylvania continued to focus on maintaining the health and safety of the individuals served while delivering services via in-person and virtual delivery in fy23. Community and clinic-based programs adapted to hybrid service delivery and connected individuals with increasing needs to community and other resources. Guiding Merakey are the following:our purpose: putting our heart and soul into exceptional care.our vision: to be a nationally recognized provider of the highest quality health and human services.our core values: compassion, diversity, integrity, safety, trust, and qualityeducational programs and schools operated by Merakey Pennsylvania successfully resumed in-person education in many areas with great excitement. Virtual instruction for high-needs students was also provided when necessary and lesson plans were developed and implemented that met the needs of students while protecting their health and that of the community. Residential sites for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and individuals with behavioral health needs prioritized the health and safety of residents. In places where programming was affected due to distancing requirements, the programs adopted technology to ensure that the residents remained connected via a hybrid of virtual and in-person interactions with their families, support networks, and communities. Merakey participated in, and served as a sponsor of, the pocono pride festival for the first time ever in stroudsburg, pa in early june 2023. Recruiting and program staff members were stationed at Merakey's table promoting our services, job opportunities, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. They spoke to scores of attendees, gave away Merakey promotional items, shared marketing materials, and even held a raffle at the event. Merakey continues its commitment to the prevention of abuse through all areas of operations including policies, screening, hiring, training, supervision and monitoring, administrative policies, and consumer participation through our praesidium accreditation. Providing the highest quality services and a zero-tolerance environment for abuse of any kind for those within our care is the highest priority. Lehigh/northampton county completed sanctuary certification in october 2022 and received full certification. Verbal feedback was very complementary of the internal collaboration and caring, and the trauma informed environment. Community participation supports (cps) are being utilized by many individuals in the sunbury area. The on-call rotation that our team has been doing for a few months has been a success and has given managers an improved life/work balance.merakey's capital region held several activities for the individuals, including a sensory halloween trunk or treat, a christmas party at a local church including a visit from santa, and gifts donated by staff at crums mill road and the staff of capital region. The consumer advocacy group has resumed in allegheny county after a long hiatus due to covid. All new members and organizers of the group have been busy doing outreach events such as putting together cookie & treat baskets for some local fire and police departments.beaver county is now participating in the county's fellows program which will encourage staff to remain in place for 2 years in exchange for tuition reimbursement. This will offer increased training and pay, as well as create a pipeline for long term Merakey careers.the commission on accreditation of rehabilitation facilities (carf) helps service providers improve the quality of their services and meet internationally recognized standards. Merakey's community housing programs for adults with autism are carf accredited and are recognized for their commitment to improving the lives of the people served.merakey is proud to have our dual diagnosis treatment teams (ddtt) accredited by nadd. The national association for persons with disabilities and mental health needs (nadd) was developed to improve the effectiveness of services provided to individuals with a dual diagnosis.