Visit us at www.ssg.org SSG Newsle er September - October 2016

C DAP Recovery’s 30th Anniversary

AP Recovery recently celebrated its 30th Anniversary - Growing with the Community held on August 25, 2016 with 50+ guests in attendence. Some of the special guests included Mrs. Un J Lee, owner of Adams Residen-tial Care and long-time supporter of AP Recovery, clients, community members and SSG family. The program included video interviews with Herbert Hatanaka, SSG Executive Director, Marilyn Noriega, APRTP’s fi rst Program Director, Tri Le who was a previous Director and Mrs. Lee. These honored guests were recorded and featured during the celebration, as well an AP Recovery client from whom we heard a powerful and personal story of recovery and success.

The reception was beautifully decorated with fl ower arrangements, balloons and a variety of food and beverages. The guests received a private tour of the new offi ces that were decorated with art pieces created by AP Recovery clients. MC and current Program Director Jae Son walked us down memory lane to honor and commemorate the rich history of AP Recovery. Marilyn Noriega and Tri Le shared their experiences with our guests, giving them a taste of the many eff orts put into buidling this program. John Eckman, President of SSG Board of Directors joined us to present a plaque in honor of the 30 years of service that all AP Recovery staff members have brought to the SSG family. Finally, Herbert refl ected about the past, present, and the future plans for AP Recovery. Congrats to AP Recovery on a wonderful celebration!

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APAIT

APIOPA

APIOPA is pleased to report on a successful 1st annual Farm To Chopsticks event on Thursday August 18, 2016 at 6pm at the SSG Core Offi ce! It was a fabulous evening, with nearly 100 people in attendance. The fun included yummy dishes created by Chef Jan and Chef Kyle, beer tastings from 3 local breweries (including Brewjeria Company, co-owned by R&E’s own Agustin Ruelas), awards for 3 very awesome APIOPA advocates (Ranko Fukuda, Jonathan Tran, and Youa Yang), and the opportunity for attendees to meet the farmer, Youa Yang, who provides all the produce for our programs!Thanks to some generous sponsors, as well as an amazing venue and staff support provided by Special Service for Groups, we were able to raise over $6,000. To put that in perspective, that is nearly 3 times the amount we raised at last year’s fundraiser! These funds will go a long way to support APIOPA’s eff orts to make healthy Asian produce more aff ordable and accessible for families across Los Angeles County. To learn more about APIOPA’s work visit: http://www.apiopa.org/

Mark your calendars! APAIT is proud to announce the return of our transgender advocacy pageant, QUEST.

For more information please visit: http://apaitonline.org/quest-2017/

Per SSG tradition, September is STAFF APPRECIATION MONTH. Across SSG many Divisions and Programs come up with creative ideas to say ‘Thank You’ to their staff for their contributions to serve our diverse communities. At the SSG Core Offi ce @ 905 8th St., Executive Director Herbert Hatanaka approved

a fun (and tasty) special event. For the week of 9/6/16–9/9/16 a portable

ice cream cart was set up in the SSG lobby and fi lled with frozen

treats. All staff and guests were welcome to come by at any time to

grab a favorite frozen treat (or two) and enjoy a sweet moment.

A ‘Thank You’ banner decorated the ice cream area and a variety of treats were provided so everyone could partake in this event. Getting into the full swing of things Executive Team members brought in some of their personal faves throughout the week to fi ll the cart. Who knew Herb’s favorite would be Nestle’s Krunch ice cream bars? Do you have a fun story to share on saying ‘Thank You’ to your staff members? Please send stories or pics to ssg@ssg.org. We’d love to hear from you and share your story!

Staff Appreciation 2016

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PADDP

PNYP

Welcome, PNYP students to the new school year!

Veterans Aff airs Committee on Rehabilitation (VACAOR) Appointment

This fall, Secretary Robert A. McDonald of the Dept. of Veterans Aff airs recently appointed Dr. Leonardo Pandac, Program Director, PAADP, as member of the Department of Veterans Aff airs Advisory Committee on Rehabilitation for 2016-2018. The Committee is charged with providing advice to the Secretary of Veterans Aff airs on the administration of Veterans rehabilitation programs. Congratulations!

On September 21, 2016 Jana Garrett, LCSW participated in the 16th Annual Conference on Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Traumatized Children. Jana was invited to be a presenter for the ‘Expert Panel and Discussion on Outreach.’ She discussed strategies for building a strong PCIT program, such as experience with gaining referrals, the importance of parent and child engagement, and community outreach. To learn more about OTTP-LA’s programs please visit: http://www.ottp.org/

OTTP-LA

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HOPICS

On August 19th, HOPICS, in collaboration with WLCAC and St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, hosted the fi rst in a series of Health Homes Stakeholders meetings. The convening focused on providing information about the State’s implementation of Health Homes, a new Medi-Cal benefi t designed to integrate and coordinate all primary, acute, behavioral health, and long-term services and supports (including housing) to treat individuals using the ‘whole person’

approach. Health Homes will target the most costly 3-5% of Medi-Cal benefi ciaries, typically those who have multiple chronic health and mental health conditions, as well as homelessness. The program will require close coordination between health, mental health, social service and housing agencies in order to deliver the comprehensive care outlined in the state’s 3 Health Homes concept papers. HOPICS brought together many of the key players in South Los Angeles to explore promising practices already in place and to begin planning for implementation in Service Area 6. For more information on Health Homes or to be added to the SPA 6 stakeholders list, please contact Veronica Lewis at vlewis@hopics.org or Dianna Malak Lopez at dmalaklopez@ssg.org

Health Homes Stakeholders Meeting

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Staff Retreat

OTTP-SF held their annual staff retreat at the home of Erika Moore in Alamo on Wednesday, August 17th. The day was spent reviewing the past year’s successes and

conducting strategic planning for the year ahead.

OTTP-SF

On September 29, 2016, the Western Addition/Fillmore District Wellness Coalition held a Family Empowerment Night to address issues related to the impact gun violence has on the community. The coalition of Western Addition/Fillmorecommunity members and service providers has been meeting over the past years to seek solutions to support those in the community who are most impacted by gun violence. An initial summit was held in April of 2016, which aimed to provide community members with a platform for voicing the impacts gun violence has had on the community. The summit also provided an outlet to discuss their needs from community providers. This event was attended by the district’s Board of Supervisor, community members, advocates and activists, and various representatives from city departments responsible for funding programs related to the issue. Community providers, including OTTP-SF’s Sean Cochrun (Social Work Supervisor), participated in a panel discussion about the services they provide and the limitations they face in meeting the community’s needs. One need the community asked for at the April summit was a “space to heal” and thus the Family Empowerment Night was created. For this event, OTTP-SF staff , in collaboration with other coalition members, provided a workshop on how to cope with trauma. Joe Spring (Occupational Therapist) led the group in an exercise to help alleviate trauma symptoms and Veronica Arjona (MFTi) facilitated a conversation on the impact of trauma and ways to cope with trauma symptoms. Other activities included traditional African grounding exercises, guided meditations, participation in creating a “healing quilt”, and receiving massages and acupuncture treatment. It was an emotional, powerful, and successful event.To learn more about OTTP-SF’s work in the community please visit: http://www.ottp-sf.org/

Family Empowerment Night

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Special Recognitionfor 30 Years of Service!

Judy Lawyer, LMFT, Safety Resources Coordinator for SSG’s Risk Management Department, celebrates 30 years of service. She has provided a wide range of services over the years, initially as the Director of the American Indian Housing Project, which provide emergency shelter and permanent housing services from1986-1999, until lack of funding closed its doors. From 2000-2003 she held a position with APCTC as their Housing Development Coordinator, where she worked with Shelter Plus Care applicants/tenants and managed APCTC’s rental properties. She then accepted a position at SSG’s Core Offi ce as a member of the Development Team. Her skills led to increased responsibilities with HR and Rick Management especially when SSG’s behavioral health system rose to the challenge of becoming nationally accredited through CARF in 2014.Preparations had begun some years before with a solid base system including Quarterly Saftey Meetings that Judy fi rst implemented back in 2007. SSG’s current system includes a full range of education, training and drills for multiple saftey and emergency situations. Staff saftey and preparedness remain a top priority of SSG with the agency’s success in this area due in large part to Judy’s eff otrs. Congrats!

APCTCAFFI Featured on LA Living with Juliette ShowOn September 25, 2016 APCTC held an informational session at Evangelical Formosan Church of Rowland Heights to promote the Asian Foster Family Initiative (AFFI). The AFFI initiative aims to bring awareness to the great need for Asian foster children to be placed in culturally and linguistically appropriate homes and to recruit Asian American families to become licensed foster care providers. APCTC AFFI Project Coordinator Celine Liao, Korean American Family Services (KFAM) AFFI staff Jane Lee and Jamie Yang, DCFS Placement and Recruitment Unit Supervisor Sai-Yuk Ho-Liang, Chinese foster parent Edie Huang, and former foster youth Mareny Sanchez spoke at the Information Session.

The event received a lot of support and coverage from local media, including the newspapers Pacifi c Times and Sing Tao. AFFI Project Coordinator, Celine Liao, was also interviewed about AFFI on the TV station LA-18 (LA Living with Juliette Show) and on Phoenix TV. For those interested in getting information on the process of becoming a foster parent, please contact the AFFI hotline # 626-265-9006.

L-R: Grace Ma, Karen Lim, Noriko Kajiwara, Jamie Yang, Mareny Sanchez, Sai-Yuk Ho-Liang, Jane Lee, Celine Liao, Sheila Wu, Larry Lue

Did you know that Special Service for Groups provides a comprehensive Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that is 100% free with no eligibility criteria? This is off ered to ALL staff whether you are full-time or part-time. Whether you have medical benefi ts through SSG or not. Please share this valuable resources with co-workers.

Here is the information directly from the website: Did you know you have 24-hour access to a range of free services that can help you with a variety of issues? That’s right, free benefi ts that you have as our employee. Better yet, your household dependents can also access these same services. All services are completely confi dential.

Services available include:• Face-to-face visits with a network provider for behavioral issues• Telephonic support for work/life concerns (e.g., child care, legal, elder care)• Crisis support Call 1-800-538-3543 anytime, day or night.

You must identify yourself as an employee of Special Service for Groups. www.cignabehavioral.com/cgi

Do You Know… About EAP Benefi ts?Available to 100% of SSG staff

(no eligibility criteria)

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SSG SAFETYP8

Following too closely. AKA - TAILGATINGOne of the most common types of crash - when one vehicle hits the rear of the vehicle in front of it.

• This happens when the vehicle behind is following too close to avoid a collision if the front vehicle changes speed unexpectedly, turns, or stops.

• Following too close to the motorist in front of you is called “tailgating”.• Tailgating is illegal.• Tailgating is recognized as a form of aggressive driving when impatience leads to driving too close to another vehicle’s

rear end.• Rear end crashes increase when tailgating behavior is combined with other factors like:

o being distracted o feeling tired o trying to drive faster than conditions permit

Use following distance techniques. • Measure 3 or 4 seconds to check the minimum safe distance.• Count how many seconds it takes for your vehicle to pass a fi xed point the vehicle ahead has already passed.• Based on the approximate size of your vehicle (i.e. 20 ft), at 60 mph, giving an estimated six or more vehicle lengths

of space [120 ft or 40 yds] could save a life.

Example: 20 mph with 2 vehicle lengths of space.Excerpt from SafetyFirst, September 2016

Ergonomics Guide for Laptop Users

• Short-term use (<2 hours/day)External mouse, laptop wedge

• Moderate use (2-4 hours/day)Laptop stand, external keyboard & mouse

• Long-term use (>4 hours/day)External monitor, keyboard & Mouse

Workstation AssessmentsSet-Up New Workstations

Product RecommendationsContact: Judy Lawyer, Safety Resources Coordinator

jlawyer@ssg.org | 213-553-1800 x9393