Did you know that 83% of all houses built before 1978 contain lead? And did you know that 69% of Summit County housing units were built before 1980? Why does this matter? It means your home could contain lead-based products and pose a hazard to your family if you don’t have all the facts. Lead is harmful to humans, especially young children whose brains and bodies are still developing. Find out how you can protect you child from lead exposure and some of the resources available to help support your family. Read More ›
Archives by Month: June 2021
Welcoming New Staff: June 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 ›
3 Simple Tips: Protect yourself from phishing emails
We conduct a lot of our lives online. Digital platforms offer us more options to connect and do business. They also open us up to cyber criminals. Email phishing schemes have been on the rise. But there are some things you can do to protect yourself. Summit DD’s Director of IT offers some helpful email safety tips to help you avoid becoming a victim. Read More ›
Return to the Community Driven by Individual Choice
A Message from Superintendent John Trunk
Over the past 15 months, Summit DD has been supporting individuals and families in new and innovative ways. We’ve connected to you in your homes virtually, stayed in touch over the phone, and helped support health and safety efforts with PPE and vaccines.
Summit DD will keep our Mission of supporting your needs, one person at a time, as more and more people return to the community.
What to Expect from Summit DD Staff
As vaccine rates increase and community spread of COVID-19 decreases, our staff are ready to resume in-person visits for individuals and families. If you would prefer to keep the visits virtual, we will respect your choices. We also will respect your wishes for masking. We have provided safety guidelines to our team, consistent with recommendations from the CDC, to ensure your health and safety. Your Summit DD point of contact will ask you about your preferences when scheduling visits. We have asked our staff to reschedule meetings if they are not feeling well and ask you to do the same to keep everyone safe.
Our staff have also been supporting providers, schools, camps, and employers as more organizations slowly open to full capacity. There are more opportunities for those we serve to fully engage in the community and we encourage you to talk with your Summit DD point of contact about your wishes to return to community-based activities.
We are also excited about the progress on renovations to our Barberton and Cuyahoga Falls location and can’t wait to welcome you there when they open later this year.
What to Expect from Service Providers
Each service provider will set their own guidelines that follow CDC guidance, including social distancing and masking, to keep you safe. Providers approaches may vary, we encourage you to talk with your team about the approach your provider is taking to ensure it meets your needs.
Over the next few months programs will slowly work towards opening at full capacity. The same staffing issues that impact many businesses right now also impact the provider community. Summit DD continues to support providers and is working to help them with the reopening.
If you have not yet been vaccinated and want to, we are here to help connect you to a provider.
As always, talk to your Developmental Specialist, RSS or SSA about your needs and desires so we can help build a circle of support that meets your individual needs.