Musicians save riffs until their minds form a song around them. Chefs hold back new flavor combinations until the ingredients are in season. And muralists, like Max Gonzales, wait for walls. For years, he's eyed a more than 50-foot-long exterior wall on South Winebiddle Street in Garfield.
Twenty-three years later, most people with disabilities under age 60 no longer enter a nursing home as a permanent placement, and many states in the union no longer operate state-owned institutions for people with intellectual disabilities. Pennsylvania is behind the curve...
If you haven't yet contacted your state representative or state senator to advocate for sufficient funding for much-needed services and programs for people with disabilities, now is the time to do it.
Tuesday, May 17, is Pennsylvania's primary election day. If you or someone you know is at least 18, has a disability, and wants to vote, please check out the valuable information at the PA Department of State website.
Join The Arc Erie County (PA), for a Spring Conference on Friday, May 20, 2022, from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. This virtual event is geared towards families of children and adults with disabilities, educators, service and support coordinators, and home and community-based service providers.
This past week, the Pennsylvania Employment First Oversight Commission (EFOC)* held its second meeting of 2022. The EFOC spent a lot of time during its meeting discussing Benefits Counseling.
Achieva's biggest fundraising event, the Pittsburgh Promenade, raised more than $152,000 to support people with disabilities and their families. 230 guests were welcomed to "set sail with Achieva" during the tropical-themed event (the first in-person Promenade held since March 2019), hosted by WTAE'
March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. This is something politicians do every year, passing resolutions or signing proclamations that say all the right things but do they make much difference in the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families?
The "Pittsburgh Promenade" - Achieva's annual charity auction and gala - is returning this month as an "in-person" event at the downtown Pittsburgh Westin Hotel.
Low rates paid by state government and its failure to increase rates in a timely and consistent manner are nothing new, but this year things are different.
Achieva Compass Newsletter. A message from Steve Suroviec, President and CEO. In late December, the Pennsylvania Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) proposed new rates for all of its community-based services. In a macro-sense, the ODP proposal simply provides too little funding.
The Arc Erie County will operate as a subsidiary of The Arc of Greater Pittsburgh.
The Pennsylvania Capital-Star published an op-ed prepared and signed by 17 statewide CEOs and leaders (including Achieva's President and CEO, Stephen Suroviec) in the disability community calling on Governor Wolf and the PA General Assembly to take action.
Every year, Achieva holds its "Awards of Excellence" event to recognize citizens and organizations that are extraordinary, or have done or achieved extraordinary things, when it comes to helping people with disabilities lead lives of personal significance.
Achieva is pleased to welcome two new executives, LaToya Warren, MPA, MSW and Kurt R. Emmerling, M.Ed, NCC, LPC
Achieva, along with other members of the Provider Alliance (TPA), is fervently advocating for the funding needed to ensure people with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism (ID/A) can receive necessary services. TPA urges Governor Wolf and the General Assembly to use the funding available from...
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Achieva is known to many as a "go-to" organization when it comes to disability employment. If you're a person with a disability, you can get assistance by either contacting Achieva directly or working with someone from one of several...
As the economy continues to reemerge from the pandemic, many employers say they are having a hard time hiring enough workers for all their open positions. But one sector was already facing major staffing shortages prior to the coronavirus - providers for home and community-based services for...
Staffing Crisis Impacting CareDisability advocates are sounding the alarm over the funding and staffing crisis impacting care. They say the problem is so severe that the system risks an eventual collapse unless the state government takes immediate action.
Thank You Achieva DSPsEvery day, Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) impact the lives of the people they support. During Direct Support Professional Recognition Week (September 12-18, 2021), Intellectual and Developmental Disability (IDD) providers across the nation are given the opportunity to...
The end of August is a time when young people are heading back to college, moving into their dorms or off-campus apartments, and getting ready to participate in all that a college experience has to offer. In recent years, a movement to create college-based programs for adults with intellectual...
Person-centered planning has long been a priority of Achieva. Adopting the Charting the LifeCourse (CtLC) Framework as our official person-centered planning tool ensures each employee has access to the training needed to implement the model. This September, every Achieva employee will learn more...
Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services (DHS) received a 10 percent increase in the federal share it receives for services funded by Medicaid. So far, the state hasn't committed to directing any of those funds (which total in the hundreds of mi
Achieva's Awards of Excellence honors a group of extraordinary individuals and remarkable organizations who work hard on behalf of people with disabilities and exemplify Achieva's mission to advocate for, empower and support people with disabilities and their families throughout their lives.
Last Friday night, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 664, Optional Year of Education Due to COVID-19; and yesterday, Governor Wolf signed the bill into law. This bill allows an additional school year for students aging out (21 years old) of special education.