It is easy to assume everyone understands the disabilities world, and specifically those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but the truth is most do not.

I’d like to invite you to take a simple journey with me and ponder a question: If something is present but you don’t see it, is it invisible?  Much in the world of disabilities and services provided is unknown, unless you live in that world.

Let me shine a light and provide some simple insight about this world and how supports occur every day for people, where they live and work based on their needs. These routine supports can often occur around us, in our neighborhoods and they go without notice. I have heard the response, “I had no idea that is what you did (in our services)”.

The goal of each staff member at Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas (DSNWK) is to provide meaningful supports and services to people with disabilities in their community; the type that you and I would desire if we were the recipient of those services. My reference is to all staff, but my focus here is on those staff members who are commonly known across our nation as Direct Support Professionals (DSPs).

DSNWK, now in its 51st year, engages with these Direct Support Professionals to provide services and supports to people with disabilities to be involved in their community just like the rest of us. Those seamless, every-day services, do not happen automatically. They originate from the heart and through the hands and feet of dedicated staff who walk life’s journey with people just like you and me, only difference – these people just happen to require extra support to be successful. These amazing staff, in doing their work, make the lives of others’ better.

Something many of us may not fully realize is these same support people wear many hats in the course of their work day. They are schedulers, teachers, shoppers, planners and skill builders. They provide medication and transportation supports as well as help problem-solve many times in any typical day. With a wide range of needs of persons served, the staff might be assisting a person as they prepare a meal at one moment and the next be involved in lifting and transferring another who may have mobility support needs. In society, these wonderful people ‘participate’ and ‘contribute’ continually pouring their efforts into the lives of persons served and the community in general.

The President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities called attention to these workers noting they represent one of the highest workforces in demand.  For those closely involved, we know the turnover rates and vacancy rates in this profession are high, and the resources available have historically been lacking. Another citation from the report included that the national average starting wage for this career field is low, starting from $8.66 to $13.67 (average $10.23) per/hr.  This low-wage reality, along with low unemployment rates (particularly here in NW Kansas), and a growing demand for these valuable workers (as our population ages – and will be needing similar supports), begets the workforce crisis noted in the report. The challenge is upon us, and frankly, has been for a while.

There is much work in this arena and I believe there are two important take-a-ways worthy of calling out.  First, recognizing the importance of these service professionals and the value they bring to the lives of others each and every day is a vital first step to achieve consistent quality supports that people with disabilities need and deserve. Secondly, responding to the workforce crisis, stemming from the growing demand requires direction, resources and renewed action. National Direct Support Professionals week, September 9th – 15th, 2018, affords us an opportunity to recognize these staff. Please join us in expressing gratitude to all those who serve others in any of the many varied roles of these direct support professionals. They deserve our thanks for the value they are in the lives of others and the value they bring to our communities.

Gerard L. Michaud
President and CEO
Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas, Inc.

Having grown up on a farm I’ve been a part of many livestock tagging adventures. These escapades always took place in a barn or corral and involved smelly cattle, sheep or hogs, manure, dust and flies.  For years the University of Kansas has studied monarch butterfly migration attempting to understand how they navigate, whether by the sun, the earth’s magnetic field or if their actions are simply instinctual. A tagging program began in 1992 where monarch butterflies are caught and actually tagged with an adhesive tag on one wing; quite different than any other animal tagging event I’ve been a part of.  Each year KU prints 100,000 of the tiny 3/8 inch diameter adhesive tags and mails them to a myriad of locations east of the Rocky Mountains. Each tag contains the words “MONARCH WATCH,” a KU website and a toll free phone number plus the number assigned to that butterfly. Formerly known as “Monarch Mania,” the event now known as a Butterfly Festival will happen on September 15 from 9 AM till noon at Kansas Wetlands Education Center (KWEC) near Great Bend. Besides allowing both kids and adults to help capture and tag butterflies, this year’s festival will include puppet shows for the kiddos and a working bee hive, weather permitting. The event is free of charge and nets & helpers will be available for capturing and tagging butterflies. For more info, call KWEC at 1-877-243-9268 or visit their website at www.wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu.

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It was 5:45 AM and still pitch black as we trekked through the McPherson Valley Wetlands on our way to the small waterhole my exuberant teenage guide had found the day before. We trade experiences and knowledge; I teach him to trap and he takes me waterfowl hunting; that morning was opening day of the last year’s 2017 teal season in Kansas. Jared had set a waypoint on his phone’s GPS, and I lost track of the number of times he told me “It’s not much farther now!” Finally at his chosen pool, he let me get settled while he deployed the decoys in a tiny pond that in the dark looked no bigger than a backyard fish pond.

The same recent rains that ruined many good dove hunts last week have created very optimistic conditions for teal hunters this week. Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, Jamestown Wildlife Area, Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Area, McPherson Valley Wetlands and Neosho Wildlife Area all report good water and good numbers of teal, and both are improving every day since the much needed rain. Along with the additional water, cool weather, improved habitat and hunting seasons already open in northern states have combined to bring thousands of teal into Kansas. Early teal season runs September 8 – 23 in the Low Plains Duck Zone, and September 15 – 23 in the High Plains Duck Zone west of highway 283. The daily harvest limit is 6 teal, and hunters need to possess a Kansas Harvest Information Program (HIP) stamp, a Kansas State Waterfowl Habitat permit and a Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation stamp as well as a Kansas hunting license. Fall and winter waterfowl seasons in Kansas were looking rather bleak after a dry spring and summer, but it looks like God’s rain may salvage those prospects, so don’t sell your waders just yet.

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In 1981, the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), like all other outdoor, hunting and conservation organizations saw a need to get America’s youth outdoors, and Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship (JAKES) was born for the purpose of “informing, educating and involving youth in wildlife conservation and the wise stewardship of our natural resources.” On September 29 – 30, the 2018 Kansas State JAKES Camp will be held at White Memorial Camp 6 miles north of Council Grove, KS and is open to boys and girls 17 and younger.

Saturday’s events include fishing, arts and crafts, BB gun and trap shooting, target shooting, archery, canoeing and wild game calling. Saturday evening, participants can compete in the annual Kansas State JAKES turkey calling contest. Sunday will begin with a sun-rise worship service followed again by game calling and a program on trapping and fur harvesting. Cost is $25 for JAKES members, $35 for non-members which includes a JAKES membership and $25 for adults. Tent and RV camping spots are available, as well as cabins for an additional fee. Cost includes the evening meal on Saturday and Sunday morning breakfast. Contact Gib Rhodes for more info at 620-437-2012.

These three are merely a glimpse into the fall outdoor activities available in Kansas starting this month. Dove season is already here, more waterfowl seasons, deer archery season, mountain man rendezvous at Maxwell Wildlife Refuge and special youth hunts of various descriptions are all waiting in the wings, and that only takes us through October! So grab a kid and your gear and get outdoors to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].