Laradon Program Updates- Reopening in a Covid World - 8/5/2020
Our number one concern is the safety, health, and well-being of our staff, students and adult individuals on campus. In times like these, it takes a village, a community, and a team to come together and support one another. Following updated guidelines from State and national agencies, we monitor daily the data, those risks and directives that inform our decisions to re-introducing staff and individuals back to the campus. The following are program specific updates of re-opening:
Families, Infant and Toddlers (FIT) – The Team continues to be in communication with families, while they conduct telehealth visits. HIPPA and FERPA platforms have allowed us to completed many services with families virtually.
The Laradon School – Scheduled student classes begin August 12, with the staff returning August 10, following a summer break. From parent conversations, we estimate that 20-25 students will return to class, with 45-50 continuing with remote services. Over time, we expect more students to return to campus. Nevertheless, we are focused on preserving a safe campus, enforcing our protocols, tracking data daily, and listening to our many constituents.
Calabrese Youth Center (CYC) – Currently Open 24/7. The dedicated staff of the CYC has worked diligently over the past five months to keep this program running smoothly. The team has shown adaptability in welcoming new individuals.
Adult Day Programs – As of August 3rd, our programs are open and providing site-based services, community participation, and teleservices while following capacity limitations dictated by Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF).
Employment- We appreciate all the support that has continued with minimal interruption for individuals in their work settings.
Community Living Services, Nursing, Behavior Staff & Family Care Givers/Home Host Providers – The team continues to meet the needs our individuals by making visits to homes, providing remote interaction, and supporting our individuals as needed. Our behavioral team is collaborating with MHCD on clinical services, in order to provide crisis plans for our individuals. We are starting a new program—the Child Habilitation Residential Program (CHRP)--that will begin this Fall when a child from the CYC program could be placed with a foster family. Similar to the adult side, it is like a host home for children.
A Message of Hope from Laradon's CEO 6/4/2020
As your CEO, I am deeply troubled by the deaths of African- American men and women and the violence that has followed. In these turbulent times, I seek a sense of human decency, compassion and mercy. My default is to listen carefully and seek understanding, without judgment. It also makes me speak out and condemn racism and violence against black lives. As an organization, we will always support diversity, inclusion, and equality.
What brings me hope is the people of Laradon. You all live this sense of right and justice and respect for other human beings without judgment. You search inside and find good when others may find fault; you uncover gifts and beauty where others see flaws; you show love and mercy where others express hate. You appreciate the differences and find the common bond of humanity.
By living these values, we show our community that there is a way forward. And we need to shout this message loudly across all barriers. In the face of hate, we will live proudly the values of love, mercy and kindness. We recognize that we all came to this earth in different packages and through different paths—and we will embrace it. Through our actions and our words, we will speak out for justice and common humanity.
In this uncertain time, thank you for giving all of us hope. Let’s continue to lead this journey.
Doug McNeill
NEWEST COVID-19 Update 5/26/2020
As much of the state begins to re-open, Laradon programs continue to provide necessary supports to our individuals and their families. The Calabrese Youth Center, and our Residential Programs, including host home providers, have continued operating both on and off campus while practicing necessary safety precautions. Our Employment Programs are still supporting those in needed businesses like grocery stores. And The Laradon School keeps perfecting distance learning, earning plaudits from families and school districts. Although the curve of the COVID-19 slope is flattening, it is not trending downward yet,therefore we will not be re-opening Laradon's Adult Day Programs on June 1st as stated before. These programs will be closed until further notice later in June. Our Administrative departments are re-opening on campus this week in a phased approach, allowing ample time to practice safety guidelines and social distancing. As we continue to re-assess the ever changing situation and implement new safety measures on campus, we look forward to the day all of our staff and people we serve can be at Laradon together.
COVID-19 Update 4/27/2020
Laradon is constantly assessing public health guidelines to ensure a safe environment for us to reopen campus.
Last week, Governor Polis announced an easing of the stay at home restrictions for businesses, effective April 27, with required precautionary steps like wearing masks in public places. Denver Mayor Hancock also announced an extension of the stay at home order for non-essential workers until May 8. Since Laradon is Denver based, we must observe the Mayor’s order.
In fact, public health models and analysis suggest that human service organizations like Laradon serving high need/high health risk individuals should likely not reopen at least until the end of May. Therefore, Laradon has extended the closure until Monday, June 1st (with exception of CYC and Residential). In the meantime, we will closely monitor conditions that would allow us to reopen safely at some point in the future.
COVID-19 Update 3/31/2020
Laradon will be closed until April 30th in accordance with Colorado's social distancing guidelines. As always, the safety of the people we serve and our staff is our top priority. We are working hard to keep the lines of communication open by checking in daily with our staff, the people we serve, and their families. Our Calabrese Youth Center and Community Living Services are still open and operational. Please stay safe and healthy by practicing the recommended safety measures, including social distancing, so that we can continue to flatten the curve.
COVID-19 Update 3/25/2020
CYC – Currently Open 24/7. With the collaboration and dedication of this team, the transition has gone as planned. The team has shown adaptability in welcoming the new individuals. All of Laradon THANKS YOU for your dedication in coming in daily to meet the needs of this program and the commitments to your schedules.
School – The school staff continues to be on an extended Spring Break until April 3rd. Additionally, the school will be closed until April 17th at the mandate of the state. We want to give a special THANKS to the teams that are continuously reaching out to the students and their families offering support in a remote based environment.
FIT – The Team is in communication with families and have been completing telehealth visits. We plan to purchase a HIPPA and FERPA compliant platform this week and they will be completing all services with families virtually. THANK YOU for taking care of our Families, Infant and Toddlers (“FIT”).
Adult Day Programs –With the recent state and city mandates, the Adult Programs will continue to be closed until at least April 17th. Thank you to those teams that are continuing to reach out to our individuals to ensure their ease into an environment of isolation
Employment- These teams have front line staff that are working with individuals and supporting them through community efforts. We appreciate the efforts and working with individuals.
Community Living Services, Nursing, Behavior Staff & Family Care Givers/Home Host Providers – The team continues to meet the needs our individuals by making visits to homes, providing remote interaction, and supporting our individuals in needs. A very special THANKS to the team for being on the front line and driving your commitment to work on behalf of Laradon.
We recognize we are facing challenges by staying closed until at least April 17th. We remain focused and successful on our key priority of keeping staff gainfully employed. We understand you may have questions and want specific answers into each week. As more information is available, we will share with you.
COVID-19 Update 3/19/2020
We at Laradon are calm and collected, keeping our focus on what we can control. We encourage all to follow CDC guidelines to stay healthy by washing hands frequently, staying home, and avoiding public settings.
There are some areas we can't control, like the actions of the Department of Healthcare Policy and Finance and the Department of Education. But we are trying, and seeing some progress.
The Laradon School will now be closed until at least April 17th per direction from the Governor. Our Adult Day Programs were meant to open at the end of next week, however it appears that closure may last longer as well. We will remain in constant communication with our staff, families, and the community as circumstances evolve.
COVID-19 Update 3/19/2020
Unprecedented times like these remind us the importance of a strong community. The Calabrese family, who founded Laradon in 1948, faced challenging times when trying to find a place to educate their two sons Larry and Donald. So they created Laradon, a community that is inclusive and supportive in even the most difficult situations.
Right now we are dealing with a tough situation, but Laradon’s leadership team is working hard to make decisions, provide the services that we can, and keep the lines of communication open so everyone stays up to date. Laradon, as an organization, is banding together as this pandemic unfolds to continue fulfilling our mission of serving children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the ways currently available to us.
We will continue to update you all as things change, but if you have an urgent concern please contact our Chief People Officer, Jodi Erbe at Jodi.erbe@laradon.org or at 303-296-2400.
Laradon Volunteers Update 3/17/2020
Due to public health concerns, Laradon is taking an abundance of caution and canceling all upcoming events to the end of June (which includes Carnival).
Our programs serve children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities with compromised immune systems that puts them at a higher risk for disease, and we have to be incredibly careful with large group gatherings. We appreciate the continued commitment and support of our volunteers, vendors, and community members. We look forward to hosting community events later in the year. During this time we ARE still accepting new volunteer applications from individuals and groups. We will be postponing NEW Volunteer Orientations until we resume normal programming at Laradon. There will also be no posted volunteer activities to sign-up for until normal programming resumes. However, new applications will be reviewed and processed during this time and new applicants will receive information on next steps to becoming a Laradon volunteer.
Laradon Events Update 3/16/2020
Due to public health concerns, Laradon is taking an abundance of caution and canceling all upcoming events to the end of June. Our programs serve children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities with compromised immune systems, some of whom have a higher risk for disease, and we have to be incredibly careful with large group gatherings. We appreciate the continued commitment and support of our volunteers, vendors, and community members. We look forward to hosting community events later in the year.
General COVID-19 Update 3/13/2020
With Denver's recent announcement declaring a state of emergency, Laradon has made the difficult decision to close The Laradon School and our Adults Day Programs on campus for 2 weeks (with the exception of the Laradon School’s additional week for Spring Break through April 3rd). The Calabrese Youth Center and Community Living Services will continue operations as these programs provide direct 24/7 care to our individuals, but the Laradon campus will be closed to non-essential staff, visitors, and to the community for those two weeks. Laradon will continue to review our operational status on a daily basis, and communicate with weekly updates. Although these are difficult decisions, our commitment to our kids, adults, staff, and community never waivers. The health and safety of those we serve are our number one priority. Please be safe, and take care of one another.
