Many industries across the country and in Ohio have felt the impact of staffing shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The disability service industry has certainly felt this impact, as many provider Agencies are struggling to hire and retain Direct Service Professional (DSP) staff. Read the letter from many statewide partners about the impact of this workforce shortage across the state. Read More ›
Category Archives: Agency Updates
Welcoming New Staff: September 2021
Join us in welcoming the newest members of the Summit DD team! Be on the lookout for future job openings on our Careers page. Read More ›
Summer Youth Work Experience Program A Big Success
We all remember our very first summer job. We learned teamwork, time management, plus we made friends and felt the excitement of cashing that first paycheck. It was an essential part of our professional and personal development into adulthood. For the past several years, Summit DD has understood the importance of providing a Summer Youth Work Experience Program to teens and young adults throughout Summit County. Read More ›
Summit DD Superintendent to Retire, Board Names Successor
Summit County Developmental Disabilities Board today named current Assistant Superintendent, Lisa Kamlowsky, as the Agency’s top executive effective January 1, 2022. Today’s announcement comes after Summit DD Superintendent, John Trunk, last month announced his retirement effective December 31, 2021.
“There is no one more prepared to build on the successes of the past and to guide this amazing team into the future than Lisa,” said Tom Quade, Summit DD Board President. “She has the full confidence of the Board and of her leadership team,” Quade added. The move was made with a unanimous vote at Summit DD’s August Board Meeting.
Kamlowsky, the first woman to head the Agency, brings more than 25 years of experience at Summit DD as Chief Legal Counsel and Assistant Superintendent. As part of her role on the leadership team, Summit DD has eliminated the waiting lists for residential and day services, transitioned school-age kids to their local school districts, constructed buildings in Cuyahoga Falls and Barberton which will be used as the future administrative hubs for the Agency, successfully transitioned adult day and transportation services to private providers, passed multiple operating levies, and built a provider network that provides community integrated services that meet the individual choices and needs of those the Agency serves and their families.
Kamlowsky also served as an Assistant Prosecutor at the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office. Kamlowsky is a life-long Summit County resident, with an undergraduate degree from the University of Akron and a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law.
Lisa Kamlowsky
“I am honored to be selected by Summit DD’s Board to serve our employees, individuals and families as Superintendent,” commented Kamlowsky. “I am thrilled for the opportunity to continue to advance the work of our Board and make meaningful connections for those we serve in the community,” Kamlowsky added.
In July, after nearly eight years as Superintendent of Summit DD, Trunk announced his retirement effective December 2021. “I am grateful for all the opportunities I have had throughout my career. But, I am most thankful for having had the privilege to work with thousands of individuals with disabilities and their families,” remarked Trunk.
Trunk said during his retirement announcement, “My life has been forever changed for the better. There is no other place I would choose to finish my career than here in Summit County. The spirit of cooperation, collaboration and innovation is unlike anywhere else in Ohio.”
Trunk served the disability community for more than 40 years, including 8 years in Illinois and 33 year in Ohio as the Superintendent of Summit County, Lucas County and Williams County Boards of DD. “John has navigated multiple industry changing transition periods during his tenure in Summit County,” commented Quade. “The fact that he [John] was able to meet federal mandates to move more than 2,000 adults, one person at a time, from the Board as a service provider to private providers of their choice with compassion and care surprised no one.”
Under Trunk’s leadership Summit DD was able to provide thousands of individuals with developmental disabilities and direct service providers two doses of the COVID vaccine, to provide PPE to individuals and service providers, and to redistribute additional federal COVID relief funding to assist hundreds of service providers to ensure services to individuals with disabilities could be maintained in unprecedented times.
Also during the global pandemic, Trunk worked with local and county officials to relocate Summit DD’s administrative hub to newly renovated, smaller offices in Cuyahoga Falls and Barberton which increases access to the community and results in operational costs saving for years to come.
Kamlowsky’s contract will begin on January 1, 2022 and runs through December 31, 2024.
Summit DD is the community resource that makes meaningful connections for more than 5,000 adults and children with developmental disabilities and their families. It is the Agency’s mission to help people of all abilities reach their full potential, one person at a time. More information regarding the Agency is available online at SummitDD.org.
