UPDATE ON SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES DURING PANDEMIC

Dear Families and Care Providers of The Arc Jefferson – St. Lawrence:

I thought I would provide an update on what the organization is doing during this period of uncertainty related to COVID-19. Based on an Executive Order from Governor Cuomo, our preschool and day service programs are closed until at least the end of April. We continue to provide supports to families in St. Lawrence County with our Respite and Supplemental Day Habilitation services. If families in Jefferson County are in need of any supports, please contact our Qualified Intellectual Disabilities Professionals at 315-836-1333 and for St. Lawrence, if additional support is required; please call 315-379-9531. If you have any questions or concerns after business hours or on the weekends, you may call our Administrator on Duty at 315-778-4878.

We continue to promote regular sanitizing of all locations on a regular basis. Cloth face masks are being provided to all residential sites, as well as surgical masks. We have adequate supplies of personal protective equipment, if needed. This stock is being maintained by our nursing staff until needing to be deployed. We have limited community activities to medical appointments, only.

So far, none of the people we support in our residences have received a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. We continue to follow the guidance from the Dept. of Health for possible exposures. As of April 14th, we have had one staff member in St. Lawrence County with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. I can assure you that there was no exposure to the people we support and we followed the direction of the local health department in quarantining a small group of staff.

Our Day Habilitation staff are working in the residences to assist residential staff in meeting the needs of those we support. Activity packets are being provided to the sites to keep people engaged and to assist with maintaining some degree of normalcy in their lives. We also continue to have access for support from our clinical and nursing staff. We still provide therapeutic services to people in our Article 16 clinic, as long as they are not ill or medically compromised.

We appreciate all that our staff is doing during this stressful time! Their dedication to the people we support is evident in all they do to provide services each and every day. We continue to discourage families from visits to the sites or taking their family members home during this time to reduce the possibility of exposure and transmission of the virus. Thank you for the continued support and understanding.

Sincerely,
Howard Ganter
Chief Executive Officer