Press Contact: Mark R. Klaus, (619) 938-2850 or markk@guidinghands.org

Supporting Alternative Solutions joins Home of Guiding Hands to Strengthen Services to Those with Developmental Disabilities and Their Families

San Diego, CA September 15, 2011— On November 1, 2011, Home of Guiding Hands (HGH), which provides quality services, training and advocacy for people with developmental disabilities, their families, and others who will benefit will assume the operations of Supporting Alternative Solutions (SAS), a local agency that serves developmentally and behaviorally challenged infants, children, adolescents, and adults through a variety of programs. Mark R. Klaus, HGH Executive Director, and Ana Parra, SAS Executive Director, announced the merger today. The Board of Directors of both agencies recently approved the acquisition, which will allow SAS to continue the outstanding care it has provided to children and adults with developmental disabilities since its founding in 1999 and to expand the scope and breadth of support services that HGH has been providing to San Diego County for over 40 years.

With this merger, Home of Guiding Hands will employ more than 550 staff and support over 800 individuals with developmental disabilities and their families in San Diego and Imperial County.

HGH Executive Director Klaus said, “Our goal is to make the transition as smooth and seamless as possible for the individuals and families supported by SAS and their employees. Given the challenges and devaluing of services by the State of California, it makes sense for us to partner with SAS. They have an exceptional reputation for providing quality support, and we are thrilled that Ana Parra will be joining the management team of HGH as the Director of Community Support Services. The SAS staff brings a wealth of expertise to HGH; providing excellent support to children and young adults in their residential program as well as respite services and early childhood developmental intervention services. Expanding educational, vocational and community based programs and support will be valuable for the people we serve.”

Ms. Parra states, “The entire SAS organization and our Board of Directors are thrilled with the opportunity to become a part of HGH and to work to enhance the services we have been proud to provide to our residents and their families for almost 12 years. This is a perfect fit for both SAS and HGH. It’s also a homecoming of sorts for me as I had the pleasure of working for HGH for a number of years when I first started my career; I am excited to be able to work with Mark Klaus and know that HGH is committed to providing person-centered support and creative solutions to meet the needs of our community.”

Also joining the HGH management team will be Stacey Brown, Residential Administrator, and Mary Moser-Cooper, Director of Early Childhood Developmental Services, both of Supporting Alternative Solutions.

The organizations will be combined and the programs will operate under the umbrella of the Home of Guiding Hands.

So exactly what is meant by “serve and return interaction” and “contingent reciprocity?” And perhaps more importantly, how can we be sure that babies experience this? Science made simple tells us that “serve and return interaction” is really another way of saying “give and receive.” An example of this is demonstrated with a basic evolutionary response and counter-response. We look upon the face of a baby, make eye contact and the baby smiles. In return, we maintain eye contact and smile back. The baby vocalizes a simple utterance, “guuhhh”. In return, to the best of our ability, we mimic that utterance, again while keeping a focused gaze on baby’s face. Baby gives, we get. Baby gets what we give. Stimulation is provided to baby via reciprocal interactions, neural connections are in the process of being developed and simultaneously bonding begins to occur between baby and parent or careprovider.

Because of the rapid development of neural connections in the early years, we must be attentive to the fact that we need to provide stability, secure attachment, appropriate stimulation and strong bonding so that baby’s brain creates a solid foundation for future healthy development. Research has produced evidence that babies who miss out on these early learning opportunities develop multiple risk factors for delays, disability, and impaired cognition. How do we do this? We become in tune with our babies. We listen to and follow their early signals and later communication in order to respond to and meet their basic needs. We nurture, we create safe and healthy environments, we read to them and play with them. We teach and model unconditional love and acceptance and we surround them (and ourselves) with others who are as clearly invested in our child as we are. It’s not rocket science but it assuredly effects brain science in lifelong, lasting ways.

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WHEN: April 21, 2011 6:00 PM

WHERE: 9575 Areo Dive San Diego, CA 92123

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