Do you feel like the word inclusion is popping up more in schools, the news and within your own circle of friends? Well, you’re right. Inclusion is all around us in classrooms, workplaces, community events! We are just starting to see the many ways we can embrace the abilities of every person. While we have made progress in being more accepting, it’s important to keep pushing forward. Inclusion affects everyone, not just children and adults with developmental disabilities. Find out what one early educational professional thinks we have to gain from making inclusion a priority. Read More ›
Author Archives: Tricia Perduk
Virtual Community Launches to Encourage Dialog and Collaboration
You spoke and the state listened. That’s why on Monday, July 11, the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) launched a new virtual community. The site, called Loop Ohio, is meant to help individuals with disabilities and their families learn more about system changes and encourage dialog. Loop Ohio is user-friendly and features message boards, webinars and mentors to help answer questions. Read More ›
Security Update for Families
Earlier this week a family member of an individual we support left a threatening message on a Summit DD employee’s voicemail. The Summit County Sheriff and local police jurisdictions responded immediately and placed the individual under arrest and worked with our internal safety team to further secure the building and implement precautionary measures.
Our primary concern is always with our employees, individuals we support, and the community. In an abundance of caution, we have further limited our entrance and exit points to the buildings to the main entrance only for both employees and visitors. We have no reason to believe that there is an imminent threat and have taken these steps simply as a precautionary measure.
As we have more information, we will share it with you.
Update on Precautionary Security Measures
The health and safety of our employees, those we support and the community is always our primary concern. Earlier this week one of our employees received a threatening voicemail. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office and local police jurisdictions took immediate action to make an arrest and help secure our buildings. While we believe there is not an imminent threat, we have taken precautionary actions to further secure our buildings. We will continue to practice extra vigilance during this time and will continue to work with local police jurisdictions to ensure that Summit DD is a safe place for people of all abilities.