Murray Ridge Center employees are required to meet and maintain the professional education, continuing education and/or experience required for the position and maintain proper state certifications, licenses and registrations.

ODMRDD Certification

Our Program Specialists and Vocational Placement Specialists hold Bachelor’s degrees and are required to be Certified with the Ohio Department of  Developmental Disabilities (DODD) and complete the following five college level courses:

·         Intro to DD

·         Behavior Programming

·         Habilitation Programming

·         Individual Program Development or Principals of Team Process

·         Principals of Work

 Our Occupational, Physical, Speech and Music Therapists, as well as our nursing staff and Psyche Assistant, are required to maintain their continuing education, licenses and certifications.

Our supervisory staff (Habilitation Managers and Directors) all hold Master’s Degrees.  They are also Certified with the DODD in Management 2 and 3.  Several supervisors are also Licensed Social Workers.

Direct Care Staff (WSI, WSII and Job Coaches) are required to have a high school diploma and be Certified with the DODD.   Certification requires the successful completion of three classes:

·         Introduction to  Developmental Disabilities

·         Behavior Programming

·         Principals of Work or Principals of Habilitation Programming

Orientation Program:

All employees must complete 30 hours of Orientation prior to starting work with the day program.  The Orientation program includes training in: agency mission, organization, legislative acts and history of DD, overview of  Developmental Disabilities, behavior management and supports, Crisis Intervention Training (CPI), Universal Precautions, medical issues and conditions, delegated nursing task training, health and safety training, MUI and UI reporting procedures, client rights, abuse/neglect, communication, adaptive equipment and transferring, feeding and positioning. 

Following the successful completion of the initial orientation, an additional six days of on-the-job orientation training is provided. 

Annual and On-going Inservice Training

On-going Inservice Training Programs:

·         Each year, the Ohio Department of  Developmental Disabilities (DODD) requires staff to complete 10 hours of inservice training that has been approved by the DODD.   Murray Ridge Center ensures that this requirement is met by all staff.

·         In addition, the DODD and Murray Ridge Adult Services require mandatory Annual Training  in Communicable and Infection Diseases and Universal Precautions, Incident and Major Unusual Incident Report Training, First Aid and CPR and Drug Free Workplace.

·         Each of our facilities has an RN and an LPN present at all times.  Our nursing staff provide medical treatments and administration of medications as prescribed by the order of a physician.    To insure the Health and Safety of our program participants, our Nursing Department provides direct care staff with individualized Nursing Delegation Training (specific to the participant)  in the areas of  medication administration, tube feeding, and any other medical related tasks deemed delegable by the nurse in the facility.   In order to receive delegation from a nurse, staff must take educational courses and maintain the relevant DODD Medication Administration Certification.

Our nurses also provide annual training for all staff in the use of Vagal Nerve Stimulator, EPI pen, latex allergies, infection control, Influenza, First Aid and CPR training, AED use, TB testing, Hepatitis and other communicable diseases.

·         Our therapists provide our direct care staff with individualized training in areas that further enhance the quality of services to our consumers:

o      Our Occupational Therapist provides annual training on the use of mechanical lift and slings, as well as individualized training for sensory processing, upper body range of motion, splints, braces, and other adaptive equipment.

o      Our Physical Therapist provides individualized training for positioning, lower body range of motion, ambulation, splints, braces, and other adaptive equipment.

o      Our Speech Therapist provides annual training on feeding, swallowing, food consistencies, and the use of adaptive communication devices and other communication equipment.  Communication programs are frequently developed by the therapist for implementation by Direct Care Staff.

o      The LCBDD Behavior Support Specialist develops Behavior Support Plans.  Supervisors train staff in the implementation of these plans.

·         Murray Ridge Adult Services also provides annual training in the following areas:

Facility Emergency Procedures, Crisis Prevention Intervention Refresher CPI, Abuse Violence Education Recognition Training (AVERT),  Safety in the Workplace, Fire Suppression, (MSDS),  Customer Satisfaction, Team Building.

Our inservice topics will continue to grow based on the needs of the people we serve.