Assigned to Utility Services located at 3210 Labore Road in Vadnais Heights. Our Direct Support Professionals working in the vocational programs support, train, and supervise adults with intellectual disabilities who are interested in performing facility-based work contracts and/or community-based work opportunities. Specific duties include:
Supporting and supervising individuals with intellectual disabilities while they are engaged in a variety of work/vocational tasks and occasional rec/leisure activities;
Overseeing the work performed by the individuals to ensure that they are performing their duties in a manner that meets/exceeds business expectations;
Implementing a variety of person-centered planning goals;
Documenting on service delivery, progress on goals, outcomes, relevant events, activities, and payroll;
Assisting with personal cares as needed; and
Driving company vehicles as assigned.
Qualified candidates must possess the following:
A minimum of a high school diploma or GED. A community college AA degree, technical school degree, Human Service degree, or a four year Bachelor of Arts/Sciences is preferred;
A minimum of six to 12 months of work experience supporting individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities is preferred;
A sincere and passionate desire to work with persons with disabilities;
Committed to self-advocacy and person-centered planning principles;
Basic computer and data entry skills;
Comfortable and respectful when assisting individuals with personal cares;
Focused on the quality of work at all times; and
Meet the physical demands of the position, with or without a reasonable accommodation, including regularly standing, walking, and bending, occasionally lifting up to 50 pounds, and assisting persons with personal cares, ambulation, etc.
Candidate must able to pass a criminal background check, a motor vehicle record check, and a drug screen.
The position is part-time (27.5 hours per week, M-F day hours, is not benefit eligible) with the hourly rate of pay starting at $15.00. Position includes paid time off and paid holidays.
Individual golfer and sponsor registration is now open for Merrick’s 25th Annual Charity Golf Scramble on Monday, May 18, 2020, at Troy Burne Golf Club in Hudson, WI. Registration is $175 per golfer. Sponsorship levels range from $100 to $5000. Additional information can be found on our event webpage.
We look forward to seeing you out there on the golf course.
Registration is now open for Merrick’s 18th Annual Bowl-A-Thon on Sunday, April 19, 2020. Join us as a bowler, sponsor, or volunteer for a fabulously fun morning of donuts, door prizes, games, bowling, pizza, and raffles. All ages and bowling abilities are welcome. Visit our event page for more details.
Mark your calendar for the most fun you can have on a Sunday morning in Minnesota! The annual Bowl-A-Thon on April 19, 2020, presented by IPS Cranes promises lots of fun for everyone. Join us for bowling, games, face painting, a pizza lunch, and raffles. To sponsor a team, volunteer on the planning committee, or help the day of the event, please contact Development and Communications Director, Karen Herrera at KarenH@MerrickInc.org or (651) 789-6202.
In late 2019, it came to my attention that Arc Minnesota was actively building a coalition of stakeholders to develop a 2020 legislative plan to phase out the commensurate wage regulation, known as 14(c), which permits a special minimum wage. After hearing strong opposition from many stakeholders this plan has been shelved for the time being. Still, there are several efforts at the federal level to eliminate the 14(c) regulation, and the Minnesota Disability Services Division (DSD) is moving forward with its plan to redesign Day Training & Habilitation (DT&H) services and impose a 36-month limit on prevocational services (with a possible 12-month extension) for anyone enrolled after 12/31/20.
It is my view that this DSD plan will eliminate the center-based work option for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD) even if the 14(c) regulation is retained. To explain my reasoning I wrote a document entitled “Smoke & Fire” that is formatted in the style of a 2015 document entitled “Myths & Realities” written by the RTC on Community Living at the University of Minnesota. My hope is that a reader will better understand the issue if explained in a similar format and structure.
Both documents are attached as a pdf to this editorial and I suggest that the reader print both and read the same section of each before moving onto the next section. In this manner, the contrasting views may be clearer to the reader by the time they finish reading the documents.
At Merrick we have more than 200 clients that earned more than $750,000 last year through our 14(c) center-based work option who either can’t or don’t want to work in a competitive integrated work environment. It is my hope that others will strive to convince DHS to reconsider its DT&H redesign plan and proposed limit on prevocational services so that people with I/DD can make meaningful decisions about how to live, work, and interact with the community as promised in the Olmstead Plan.
Merrick, Inc. was honored to be the recipient of the 2019 VHEDC Community Partnership Award, and looks forward to continuing to grow its partnerships across the Northeastern Twin Cities.
Merrick, Inc. is licensed in the state of Minnesota to provide day programs and work options for 375 adults with disabilities. We choose to do more than that.
