Dear Consumer and Family,

I would like to introduce you to Partnership for Community Supports, our new organization established to provide Supports Coordination citywide in Philadelphia. While Partnership for Community Supports is a new organization, the leadership of the organization has thirty years of experience providing case management/ supports coordination and Family-Driven Support Services for individuals who have mental retardation and their families. Our staff also has experience providing In-home Waiver services and has assisted more than 800 individuals and their families in all parts of the city to receive supports through the Person/Family Directed Support Waiver program.

Our mission is to “provide quality Supports Coordination assuring that individuals and their families have choice and control so they can lead a full and rich life in their community. Partnership for Community Supports will do this by utilizing a person centered planning approach consistent with the principles of Everyday Lives.”

You can expect well-trained and well-supervised Supports Coordinators to assist you and your family member. We promise to treat you with dignity and respect. The Supports Coordinators will help you locate supports and services, will monitor them to make sure that they continue to meet your needs, and will strongly advocate on your behalf for the services you tell us that you need. You can also expect that the Supports Coordinators will be responsive to you by returning your phone calls promptly and following up on your requests for information and assistance. To better meet your needs, our staff will have flexible working hours. We will work to retain excellent staff so that disruption to your working relationships will be minimized. If despite our best efforts you have concerns about our services, our supervisory staff will work with you to resolve these issues and concerns.

We will be good listeners and learn from you what is important to you in order to help you live the life that you choose. Our staff will be expected to learn your unique cultural practices and beliefs so that they can better support you. They will listen to your needs, your preferences, and your frustrations. We will employ staff that has a wide variety of skills, including staff who are bi-lingual and staff who have specialized knowledge of the needs of children and families, as well as staff who have experience in the needs of older adults and the needs of individuals with behavioral health concerns. Our goal is to develop a working relationship based upon mutual respect and understanding.

We invite you to participate in our Consumer/Family Advisory Committee to provide us with input and to assist us as we identify neighborhood resources from which our consumers and family members can benefit. Two individuals from this Committee will sit on our governing Board of Directors to further assist us as we develop our program. We look forward to working together to build a Partnership that will result in excellent Supports Coordination services that will help you and your family member reach your goals and realize your dreams.

Sincerely,

Carol Frangicetto,

Executive Director

Phone: 215-728-4637                                                                                    

E-Mail:  cfrangicetto@pfcsupports.org