DDS Commissioner Sarah Peterson Visits Riverside
Department of Disability Services (DDS) Acting Commissioner Peterson and regional leaders toured Riverside and met with program participants.
Riverside’s program directors and direct support staff have always maintained wonderful working relationships with representatives of the Department of Disability Services (DDS). Our team works collaboratively with regional and area DDS representatives to manage the care of Riverside’s program participants. In fact, DDS is one of Riverside’s primary state agency partners providing funding, participant referrals, and quality guidelines for one of our core programs - Community Based Day Services and Employment.
However, it’s not every day the Acting Commissioner of DDS visits our facility simply to gain a better understanding of our programs, our people, and our place. On January 13, Acting Commissioner Sarah Peterson and several regional leaders of DDS toured Riverside and met with program participants. It’s quite a unique opportunity for us to share our successes, and the challenges our staff face, directly with the leadership of the commonwealth’s statewide agency tasked with supporting individuals living with disabilities.
During their visit, Commissioner Peterson and her team visited participants in our Life Enrichment program, the Sensory Gym, Community Based Day Services, Production Department, and the newly renovated Riverside Arts Studio and Gallery. Their tour and the conversation that followed was wide-ranging and inclusive of programs that reached beyond just the scope of their partnership with Riverside. This only underscores their commitment to truly understanding Riverside as a service provider.
One by one, program participants introduced themselves to the visitors during the tour. In the name of self-advocacy, they spoke directly with DDS representatives about their experience at Riverside, the struggles they face each day, and their hopes for the future. As it turns out, that is exactly what the visitors were hoping to observe. This was an opportunity for Riverside program participants to be seen and heard.
Markus Jones
Sr. Director of Development & Strategic Operations