As you are aware, individual providers (IPs) must take training through the SEIU Healthcare NW Training Partnership.  If they missed the required training deadlines, they are considered “out of compliance”, have been terminated as an individual provider and now must make up this CE training in order to be reinstated as an IP.  These IPs are no longer eligible to take this training from the Training Partnership; thus they may take the training from a community instructor. 

There were around 2,066 individual providers who did not complete their continuing education training requirements for 2010.  Thus, the department’s field offices and the Training Partnership are suggesting that those individuals contact a DSHS approved instructor to sign up for a continuing education class. 

We realize that not all approved community instructors offer continuing education classes.  However, at this point, we do not have a way to identify which community instructors offer continuing education classes.  As a result, you may receive calls from these individuals who need to take continuing education classes through your training program.  If you offer CE classes, you are not restricted from providing those classes to those individuals (since they are no longer IPs) since they are considered out of compliance and thus must take this training outside of the training partnership. 

You may want to ask the individual (who is contacting you to take CE classes) for evidence that they are out of compliance.  All IPs who are out of compliance with the training requirements should have a letter written to them or their client saying they were going to be terminated by 12/31/10 if they did not complete the CE training by that date.  Thus, you could ask for this type of documentation prior to allowing the individual to take the CE class from you. 

We hope that this provides clarification to you.  Please contact us at (360) 725-2550 if you have questions.

Nancy Brubaker,  Department of Social and Health Services  Program Manager

Here's a great post from my Linked In Group - full of wisdom that can be applied to Adult Family Homes as well as other businesses.  An AFH is a local business - but everyone's looking online first - so creating a web presence is important - but so is being personable in your community. 

LinkedIn Groups

• Group: LDS Professionals
• Subject: New comment (4) on "Need some advice in regard to online marketing."

"What does your market research show? who is your real potential client? what is the likelyhood that they even know that you or your industry exist? If you are just trying to compete in affiliate marketing then all of the above are fine directions to go, but if, as I imagine, you are forge a new industry then no one will be searching for you. If you need to target successful business people, they rarely waste time aimlessly wandering the internet stumbling upon things to implement in their business. Not that they aren't on the net, but that would be leisure, if they are focused on their business, they ignore all the ads and get to the meat that they are directly looking for. You have almost no chance of getting an audience through an ad. Sure, you can claim that a million ads have at least one chance while you could only make 100 phone calls during that time. But I'd bank on having 100 chances of "ME talking to a real person" getting closer to a sale than a million 35 character catch phrases being popped in front of average joe websurfer.

Publishing has value. But that takes work, just like phone calls. I mean real publishing, not mass posting of meaningless rehashings of nothing on many publishing sites, but meaningful detailed explanations, and unique content.

It took about 4 years of doing that before we saw ANY results from it, but now we are getting results. That was a long term investment that we could not have sustained as a start up if that was our only revenue source. 

So, cultivating leads is a great and fulfilling hobby while you "work" but don't expect it to pay off in the near term.

Payoff comes from making sales, so go do that. Make calls, talk directly to the people who are your potential clients. 

If after 100 face to face discussions with your target market you come up blank, then maybe this is not a great market. Wouldn't you rather know that at the end of the week than fond it out after 3 years. Consider what you would have invested.

Not trying to harsh anybodies mellow, but wouldn't it be better to go 100% for a week and find out what the reality is rather than spend months babying up on it?

Now if you are uncomfortable with outbound sales calls, I have 2 suggestions. First get over it and quick, second. Don't make it a sales call.

Why not do a market analysis? Have a survey in hand, ask for the business owners help, and explain what you perceive to be a problem. . . how you think you can solve the problem. . . and ask if they think (because of their wisdom and experience) if it has any traction as a business? Ask for their help in tweeking the model. Ask to see if they think it would be valuable as an online video conference model? Ask them if they could help their employees to overcome accent barriers if that would have an impact on their bottom line, and if so what would it be worth?

You see, most people get into business (I stand firmly in the majority) thinking they know what is good for the market. They don't spend any effort trying to find out what the market would like to see in the market.

Now if you did the survey right, you have gotten real lead (name, address, phone, email) you have personally introduced yourself and they will remember you. You have send them a hand written thank you card. You have all the details that you need to target a marketing effort directly to them. If you asked them what publications they read, so you can determine. . . if you were going to publish informational articles where they would be most effective. You also asked that if you decide to do this would it be okay if you send them an anouncement, and if you do roll it out, would they be willing to attend a free open house?

Start local, because in spite of the fable of the green grass, it is generally not true. There is grass all around us." 
Posted by Richard Fritzler

"February 16, 2010
Dear Providers:
Recently the Seattle Times newspaper published a series of articles on Adult Family Homes. (You can find the articles at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seniorsforsale/2010963980_seniors03.html.) From what we understand, there may be more follow‐up articles in the future. The series of articles were not favorable to our industry. They depicted some serious and heart‐wrenching cases of abuse by Adult Family Home (AFH) providers. The stories were awful, horrific and unacceptable practices of certain providers. WSRCC takes these issues seriously. However, the AFHs portrayed in these newspaper articles are not reflective of the entire AFH community. The majority of the homes do a good job and hold themselves to high standards of quality care. AFHs offer positive
solutions for the care of fragile adults and they are a vital component of Home and Community based settings. WSRCC understands the concerns and fears that you may have as a result of the articles. How do these articles affect the future of AFHs and our image? What are we doing to address these issues? We want you to know that
WSRCC is doing their part to be proactive and responsive to these issues. We plan to work collaboratively with the State of Washington to ensure protection for residents of AFHs, while we also support quality inspections of AFHs. And we continue to expand our provider education endeavors. Below is a list of actions we have already
accomplished in response to these articles and we continue to do more for Adult Family Homes: 
 WSRCC immediately engaged in conversation with the Governor’s Office, the Secretary of Department of Social and Health Services, the Assistant Secretary of Aging and Disability Services, as well as the WA Association of Realtors. We will also be meeting with the State Long Term Care Ombudsman to discuss how these problems will be addressed in the future and how we can work together to protect the residents in AFHs.
 WSRCC has formed a stakeholder group with DSHS for rule‐making, for instance the WAC’s.
 WSRCC is talking with a public relations firm to help improve and create a positive image of AFHs.
 WSRCC is hosting a series of educational courses (for more details go to www.wsrcc.org):
 WAC training classes will be offered beginning in March throughout the State of Washington;
 AFH Business Conference will be held in May in Spokane;
 14th Annual educational conference in October in Tacoma;
 Caregiving trainings specifically geared for your staff;
 Geriatric Specialty Certification through the University of Washington’s NW Geriatric School offers
52 on‐line credit courses;
 WSRCC is partnering with Highline Community College to offer business courses specific to AFHs.
 WSRCC has made improvements to our website (www.wsrcc.org) to include more corporate sponsors to offer more resources for providers to help them in their businesses.
523 Pear Street SE • Olympia Washington 98501 • Toll‐free (888) 439‐8999 • Facsimile (360) 943‐6653
 WSRCC’s two (2) full‐time lobbyists continue to advocate on our behalf with legislators.
Being an AFH provider is a privilege. With this calling, come the challenges and responsibilities of running an AFH. As we embark an aging society, known as the “silver tsunami”, consumers are becoming more educated and proactive in their care or loved ones’ care. There is more demand to transform our AFH system to a more caring system. As an AFH professional, we encourage you to be prepared to accept these responsibilities and do your part to ensure our residents are protected and that they continue to live a meaningful quality of life. It is up to you to change our industry for the better and embrace improvements that may be necessary to your standard of care or business practices. With this said, we want to remind everyone of your responsibility and duty to protect the vulnerable adults and seniors entrusted in your care. It is our responsibility to continue to get education and keep learning the skills as an AFH professional. We can always learn more and improve as this industry continues to grow and we become more regulated. You can “stay out of trouble” by educating yourself in this industry and prevent these kind of things from
happening. Obtain a copy of your current WAC’s, read and follow them. Learn, understand and know your WAC’s. Maintain an open communication with your licensors by asking questions, clarifications or suggestions. Seek assistance from your chapters and WSRCC as there is a huge resource base and a wealth of knowledgeable experts who have been running adult family homes for years. Make sure you do the things to keep yourself out of trouble. Be sure to honor resident rights, keep your
assessments and care plans updated. Engage in dialogue with resident family members or their representative by keeping them informed of the resident’s care, address their concerns and don’t take clients that are over your scope of practice or care ability. We encourage you to develop your skills with training, continue to get education, continue to be more knowledgeable, attend the educational trainings and your chapter meetings, and obtain your geriatric certification. WSRCC is dedicated to educate providers and become prepared to handle the on‐going challenges and demands of running an AFH and our residents care needs. As we move forward and face the issues ahead of us, continuing education is vitally important to your success. We ask you to join us in being positive and proactive, and engage in making a difference to our AFH community. Thank you for your continual commitment and dedication for the care of your residents!
To your success and best wishes,
Tammy Stimach, WSRCC Board Chair