DDS - Today and Tomorrow Program

Valley Collaborative partners with local organizations to provide individuals with the opportunity to work and earn money in a fully integrated, small group setting where they are supported by a Valley Collaborative Direct Support Professional staff member. Individuals who work in Valley’s group supported model are considered worker trainees, and they complete worksite specific tasks while earning a stipend equivalent to the hourly minimum wage in Massachusetts.

Individuals generally work in a 1:5 ratio (1 staff member and 5 individuals) while they complete assigned job tasks specific to each worksite. While completing these work assignments, individuals are also supported and encouraged to be mindful of their own specific goals as each experience is another opportunity for personal growth.

Valley Collaborative currently partners with more than 10 organizations in the community, offering individuals group employment worker trainee experiences in the fields of manufacturing, food service, packaging and assembly, mail processing, and building maintenance.

Individuals are never just thrown into group employment opportunities against their wishes, but rather they are surveyed and get to choose which group employment sites they would like to be a part of their bi-weekly schedule.

Community Based Day Services (CBDS) are provided with respect to the six quality of life areas outlined by the Department of Developmental Services: 

• Respect and dignity
• Individual control
• Community membership
• Relationships
• Personal growth and accomplishment
• Personal well being

In CBDS, individuals are given opportunities to explore and connect with their surrounding communities. Valley Collaborative’s CBDS program is constructed in a way that gives the individuals daily choices in regards to how they want to engage in their programming. Valley’s CBDS model promotes volunteering in the community through a multitude of possibilities, from helping at local food pantries to keeping local wildlife refuges clean and protected. These volunteer placements give the individuals served by Valley continued opportunities in which they can hone their employment skills while also providing situations in which they can continue to develop and practice their social skills. Individuals are also provided with community-based activities and in-house recreational activities that help to grow their awareness of the resources in their community and the best ways to access them. Through these different community-based activities, individuals are enabled to enrich their lives and further enhance their interpersonal skills and awareness.

Many individuals served and supported through Valley Collaborative’s Adult Programming also strive for competitive, independent employment. Individual Supported Employment is a service that helps individuals identify, investigate, seek out, and secure independent employment by working with a Valley Collaborative Job Developer. This one to one service is instrumental in helping individuals achieve and maintain competitive, independent employment in the community.

Individuals in Individual Support Employment receive regular assistance, training, and support from their Job Developer with the purpose of developing, maintaining and improving employment skills while fostering career advancement opportunities.

Valley Collaborative Job Developers develop and highlight natural supports to help inclusion and independence of the individuals in a community setting. Job Developers are in regular contact with the individual’s co-workers, customers, and supervisors to ensure each individual is fully integrated into their work setting and are receiving the same opportunities and supports as all other employees of each organization.