Shivoo -Digital Directory with Support Staff for People with Special Needs - Partners with CUNY on Training Program

Digital DSP Staffing Platform aims to further professionalize service provider/caregiver standards as hiring demand surges

BROOKLYN, NY, UNITED STATES, May 8, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Shivoo -Digital Directory with Support Staff for People with Special Needs - Partners with Kingsborough Community College to Develop Training Program that Raises Standard of Care

Brooklyn-based CUNY school and Shivoo create curriculum for Direct Support Professionals (DSP) working with individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities

Digital DSP staffing platform aims to further professionalize service provider/caregiver
standards as hiring demand surges nationwide

Shivoo, a first-of-its kind digital staffing platform helping families find caregivers for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (“IDD”), announces a partnership with Kingsborough Community College, a Brooklyn-based CUNY school, and its newly minted Direct Service Professional (DSP) training program. As a partner, Shivoo will share information about the CUNY program with the platform’s registered staff, currently comprising approximately 1,500 caregivers throughout New York State, including the greater New York Metro area.

“When Shivoo launched last year, we made a commitment to seek out training and educational opportunities for our Community Habitation ‘Comhab’ staff,” says Susan Golkin, Co-Founder of the digital caregiver directory and hiring platform. “Having worked for Self-Direction, a state-funded service delivery model that enables people with IDD to control their own Medicaid funds, our mission from the start was to provide greater access to quality care. This is a unique platform that enables individuals and their families to connect with Comhab staff who meet the highest standards of ‘best practices.’”

Adds Shivoo Co-Founder Chancy Blumenfrucht, “As former Self-Direction brokers, Susan and I understand how important it is for families to feel confident their loved ones are properly being helped, whether for an afternoon or every day. With CUNY’s new DSP training program, people using the Shivoo platform know they have a trusted resource for knowledgeable, experienced caregivers. And people aspiring to become caregiving staff will now have access to a fully vetted curriculum at a city college.”

The Direct Support Professional program at Kingsborough Community College is taught remotely in virtual sessions and requires a commitment of 60 hours for certification. Salaries for certified Comhab staff average up to $35-per-hour, with a starting range at $22-per-hour.

More information about Shivoo may be found at www.shivoony.com.
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About Shivoo

Launched in November 2023 by experienced New-Direction brokers Susan Golkin and Chancy Blumenfrucht as a trusted resource for finding caregivers dedicated to the special needs community, Shivoo is a digital platform that matches families of children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as Down Syndrome, autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, and other neurological impairments, with qualified caregivers and Direct Support Professionals (DSP). Whether families are seeking caregiving services for a few hours a day or for several days a week, the Shivoo platform provides access to multiple professionals whom the clients can interview and hire.

Shivoo works with the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) and the Self-Direction program to help families find funding through Medicaid and other agencies for caregiving services.

About Self-Direction

Self-Direction is a service delivery model where people control the funds available, rather than agencies. Self-Direction is principally funded by Medicaid. Clients who use the service decide what services are needed and how their Medicaid budgets are allocated. The program works in contrast to “traditional” services received from an agency, where the agency controls who provides the service and when, and in many cases, actually houses the individual. In order to effectively utilize the service, comprising state-funded budgets, self-directed people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (“IDD”), or their families, are required to the use the services of community habilitation staff (“Comhab staff”). The role of Comhab staff is to work with individuals and their families to identify life plan goals based on the capabilities and interests of the individual, and then they work together to achieve them. This type of social integration and inclusion is closely correlated with decreased isolation and improved quality of life.

Linda Alexander
Alexander Marketing Corp.
+1 917-881-5360
linda@alexandermktg.com