A Year of Progress: 2016 Highlights and 2017 Goal Preview

Each year, Search engages in a planning process where we examine the external environment for our services, review our progress from the prior year and engage our stakeholders to find out what is most important to them. Please take a look at a summary of highlights from the past year, along with a preview of goals for 2017. 

FY16 Annual Management Report Highlights

Organizational Highlights

• Technology:  Search has deployed desktops, iPads, Chromebooks and oversized tablets throughout its Adult Learning Programs.  All of its residential sites are fully equipped with wireless capacity, with new iPads on the way to several sites.
• Community Life:  Search has established 12+ new partnerships for community-based volunteer experiences, including with food banks, literacy organizations, pet therapy programs and community gardens, among others.
• Self-Advocacy:  The JJ’s List Disability Awareness Players have expanded their reach to over 20+ organizations annually, bringing their message of inclusion to over 1,800 audience members each year throughout the Chicagoland area and beyond.
• Visibility Arts:  With a renovation at Search’s flagship site in Mt. Prospect, Visibility Arts expanded its reach to over 150 individuals who can now participate in this popular program throughout the week.
• Ignite:  New specialty programs cater to individual interests, including Yoga, Cooking & the Kitchen, Books & Plays, Photography and Music Appreciation. 
• Physical/Fitness Activities:  Search recently added both Fitness Immersion Programs and Yoga classes at our Adult Learning sites.  In addition, we have added Sensory Rooms at each Adult Learning site.

• Highlights from the year include the addition of a second Shared Living Arrangement.  Two individuals who previously resided in a Search CILA are now living with a caring family in the city.
• Search’s SLP consumers continue to express extremely high satisfaction with the services and supports they receive.  A total of 97% of all responses to SLP consumer satisfaction survey questions were positive.
• SLP consumers also continued to make notable progress towards individual goals throughout the year.  A total of 60% of all SLP consumer goals were completely met, with 98% of goals showing progress.
• SLP consumers went on 3,629 community integration trips throughout the year, with a total of 75% of consumers going on an average of 8 or more outings each month throughout the year.  A total of 30% of SLP consumers went on an average of 15 or more community integration outings each month of the year.
• Search for Adventure took seventy individuals on nine trips throughout the year.  Trips included Branson, Disney, Santa Barbara, Wisconsin Dells (2 trips), Indiana Dunes and two canoe trips.
• A total of 99% of all medical services encounters were delivered as scheduled during the fiscal year.  An average of 170 SLP consumers received at least one medical service each month from Search clinics throughout the year.  Medical services include: physical and dental exams, labs, x-rays, podiatry, mammograms, emergency room visits and many more.

Adult Learning Program Highlights

• Highlights from the year include the renovation of an underutilized space at Search’s Mt. Prospect site to launch the significant expansion of Visibility Arts.  This expansion alleviated overcrowding in the original Visibility Arts space, provided additional capacity for full-time enrollments and added space for “a la carte” classes, which are now available to all individuals enrolled at the site.
• Search’s Adult Learning Program (ALP) consumers continue to express extremely high satisfaction with the services and supports they receive.  For the year, a total of 97% of all responses to ALP consumer satisfaction survey questions were positive.
• ALP consumers also continue to make important progress towards individual goals.  A total of 48% of all ALP consumer goals were completely met within the year, with 95% of goals showing progress.
• Ninety-eight Search consumers performed 16,950 hours of paid work throughout the year.  This was 122% of the annual goal, and an increase of 3,555 hours over FY15 results.

Goal: Provide a minimum of 25 Disability Awareness Trainings for businesses schools, trade associations, chambers of commerce and other groups.

Outcome: Provide meaningful opportunities for self-advocacy and practical tools to eliminate barriers to inclusion, service and employment.

Goal:  Continue to expand technology and training in programs, including iPads, desktops and laptops.

Outcome: Facilitate connections to natural support networks through use of the internet and social media.

Goal: Design and implement a gross motor program at Search’s flagship site in Mt. Prospect.

Outcome: Increase physical activity, improve fitness and increase mobility within the program.

Goal: Continue with the expansion of diverse Community Life Initiatives, including new immersion programs and additional community partnerships for volunteer experiences.

Outcome: Provide opportunities to connect with other people from outside of Search, build social capital and experience filling a variety of social roles.

Goal: Continue to grow competitive employment opportunities and double the number of individuals served in the program.

Outcome: Provide employment opportunities that match each person’s goals, desires, skills and aptitudes, including a variety of work, training, mentor and other employment related experiences.

Goal: Provide a minimum of 30 Hop on the Bus trainings on the use of fixed route public transportation in the community.

Outcome: Facilitate a greater level of choice and independence in the utilization of public transportation in the community.

Goal:  Develop a Senior Lifestyle Program at Search’s flagship site in Mt. Prospect to provide a greater array of options to best meet the needs of the site’s aging population.  The program will be available to individuals who have an interest in music, art, sensory and community-based volunteer and recreational opportunities tailored to older adults.

Outcome:  Increase the menu of program and support options from which people choose and make decisions.