ANCOR, the leading voice in Washington for community-based disability services providers, has announced that our very own Jessica Hammond, a program administrator and direct support professional at Uplift, Inc., has been named the recipient of the 2024 Maine DSP of the Year award. Jessica Hammond joins 54 other honorees nationwide in the 2024 edition of ANCOR’s annual Direct Support Professional of the Year Awards program, which garnered a record-breaking 492 nominations this year!
Since 2007, ANCOR’s annual DSP of the Year awards recognize outstanding direct support professionals (DSPs) who deliver long-term services and supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). The awards celebrate the important role DSPs play in ensuring people with I/DD have what they need to thrive and be included in the community. These awards also seek to raise awareness about a direct support workforce in crisis. Inadequate investments in this essential workforce have led to a decades-long severe shortage of DSPs, which has only been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and has accelerated into a crisis that threatens access to critically needed services.
Uplift nominated Jessica Hammond for a multitude of reasons. As a Program Administrator, instead of just managing one or two locations, she has been covering for three different residential locations in the past year after another administrator departed our organization. Somehow, she has kept each location running smoothly, and outside of her supervisory role she has picked up countless shifts at her residences as a Direct Support Professional. She has gone above and beyond in ensuring the people we support at those three locations have quality, around-the-clock care and advocacy.
Outside of taking on the workload of administration for three different locations, Jessica has simply done outstanding work for the people we support. Our nomination to ANCOR for her to be considered for the award highlighted four of her most important characteristics and strengths with explanations and examples for each of them: Person-Centeredness, Relationships, Leadership, and Innovation. Here is some of what we wrote for her nomination:
Person-Centeredness: This year, multiple doctors have deemed a supported person, who was diagnosed with dementia, not competent to make their own decisions based on their inability to comprehend information and respond with clear intent. This has led to reluctance by doctors to provide the needed treatment. Jessica has both advocated for this person to receive the treatment needed and fought the uphill battle of getting the right documentation from the right providers to get this person the support they need. Jessica ensured this person was brought to their guardianship hearing, was supported throughout the process, and had an advocate for their care. The person was granted state guardianship and is getting improved medical care, including testing and medication adjustments that the doctors were unwilling to facilitate without legal consent.
Relationships: Jessica knows relationships are important to living a meaningful life. She is always on the lookout to help support the building and improvement of relationships. During DSP Recognition Week, one supported person wanted to be part of the efforts to recognize the hard work DSP’s do. Jessica brought this individual out with her to hold a sign thanking DSP’s. They were able to show support for the work of the DSP’s that help them live a meaningful life, and also be part of a multi-organization effort across the state of Maine!
Leadership: Jessica is a hands-on leader; she sets the example for staff and inspires those around her to do better in all aspects of person-centered care. Jessica is always there for her team and attends to both their well-being and growth on a professional level but is also there for them when facing personal challenges. When the team was struggling to support one person having a particularly difficult day, she calmly stepped in, giving staff a chance to regroup mentally. Jessica continually shows how having an amazing rapport, in depth knowledge of people supported, and showing how advanced de-escalation skills can change one person’s whole day!
Innovation: Jessica continues to be our star collaborator through the HCBS settings rule transition. She is able to see ahead to the future of person-centered care and find her place in that world. She was the first to have her houses in order by gathering the required proof of compliance in a succinct and organized fashion. She stays ahead of training for her staff, spearheading and advocating for the use of a monthly tracking list to ensure everyone stays in compliance, reviewing documentation and ensuring HCBS setting components are truly integrated into practices and mindset, not just a change in the words we use. Jessica’s positivity though the whole process has been infectious, and she is able to refocus those who are overwhelmed with somewhat complex framework of policy to remembering HCBS is all about providing meaningful care, community participation and equal rights.
We are grateful for and proud of the enormous impact Jessica Hammond makes at Uplift, and we can think of no one more deserving of Maine’s DSP of the Year!