Boggs Center, Lecture Series

 

Don't forget to register for the Fall 2025 Developmental Disabilities Lecture Series! All sessions will be held online using The Zoom Webinar platform.  View Fall 2025 Developmental Disabilities Lecture Series Brochure Visit The Boggs Center Online Registration System 

FALL 2025 SESSIONS

Friday, October 31, 2025  l  10:00 AM - 12:00 PM  l Webinar  Direct Support Workforce Solutions: Strategies for Individual and Collective Action Toward Workforce Stability

Finding, training, and retaining direct support professionals (DSPs) has been a challenge since the earliest days of community support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Nationally, turnover and vacancy rates are high. Many employers, including those who self-direct services, report that job applicants are often not well-matched to the demands of the role. Even though the problem is real, there are ways to make things better. For the last several decades, many people and organizations have been working to understand these problems and develop solutions. This session looks at why this workforce crisis is happening and shares solutions. Grounded in the experiences of DSPs, the presentation shares helpful tools, tips, and strategies to find and keep the right DSPs. These ideas can help employers and others build a stronger, more stable DSP workforce.

Amy Hewitt, PhD Director, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN Amy Hewitt has an extensive background in the disability field. She has worked in various positions over the past 40+ years to improve community inclusion and quality of life for children, youth, and adults with disabilities and their families. Her career began as a Direct Support Professional, and she currently employs DSPs to support her brother-in-law, who lives with autism, addiction, and other chronic conditions. She is the Director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration and conducts research, evaluation, and demonstration projects about community living and the direct support workforce. She is a well-known author of numerous journal articles, curriculum, technical reports, and books. Dr. Hewitt is the editor of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, a journal of the AAIDD. She is a Past President of the Association of University Centers on Disability (AUCD) and Past President of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD). Susan O’Nell, BA Director, DirectCourse  Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN

Susan O’Nell has an extensive background in direct support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), peer and family support in mental health, person-centered practices and workforce development interventions. Prior to starting her work at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota in 1995, Susan worked as a DSP in Indiana and Minnesota for over 12 years supporting people with IDD to live in their communities. At ICI, she has been integral to the workforce development activities of the Institute. She has served as a consultant, developed tools, and written or edited numerous publications. Susan currently serves as the Director of Digital Learning Strategy for DirectCourse, which is a national online training product for direct support professionals and other long-term services and support professionals. She is also a co-guardian for a friend with IDD who needs on-going assistance in navigating IDD, medical, and mental health systems.

Friday, November 7, 2025  l  10:00 AM - 12:00 PM  l Webinar  Remote Support Services and Other Technology Examples from the Smart Home Discovery Place

This presentation will provide an introduction to technology solutions, including remote support services and assistive technology. Strategies to promote a person-centered approach to technology selection, ways technology may enhance independence, and how technology may be a part of the solution to the Direct Support Professional (DSP) workforce crisis will be discussed. Examples of how technology is leveraged in Ohio with remote support services to support people with developmental disabilities and technology solutions demonstrated at the Smart Home Discovery Place will also be shared.

Jordan Wagner Project Manager, Technology Projects The Ohio State University Nisonger Center, Technology Project Columbus, OH

Jordan Wagner began his work in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) more than 15 years ago, working as a Direct Support Professional while a psychology student at The Ohio State University. In this role, he made many friends who had developmental disabilities and assisted them in areas where it was difficult for them to help themselves. He sought to encourage independence for those with whom he worked. After earning his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Mr. Wagner now works at OSU Nisonger Center, a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD), as Project Manager for Nisonger Center Technology Projects. In this role, Jordan incorporates his experience assisting individuals with IDD, his passion for promoting independence, and his enthusiasm for technology. With the collaborative effort of the Technology Projects team, Mr. Wagner has conducted research activities about technology-related services to support individuals with IDD and developed educational trainings and experiences, including virtual and in-person experiences with the Smart Home Discovery Place, Nisonger Center’s explorable smart home demonstration environment.

Friday, November 14, 2025  l  10:00 AM - 12:00 PM  l Webinar Safe, Connected, and In Control: Trauma Responsive Care for People with Dual Diagnosis

This presentation will focus on trauma, its causes and effects on people with dual diagnoses, and some of the barriers to diagnosis and treatment. The difference between stress and trauma, and when stress may become traumatic, will be discussed, along with the neurological processes of trauma, including hyper- and hypo-arousal. Information will also be shared about the major components of Trauma Responsive Care: feeling safe, connected, and in control, and how they can be implemented as a universal precaution.

Lara Palay, LISW-S Founding Partner Aldrige Palay Group Westerville, OH

Lara Palay is a psychotherapist with twenty-five years in private practice, specializing in trauma and loss. A co-founder of Aldridge Palay Consulting, Ms. Palay started her career as an hourly worker in the mental health field and went on to be a supervisor and clinical director for multiple mental health agencies. In addition to clinical practice, she taught social work graduate students for more than a decade. Ms. Palay served as the project manager for the Mental Illness and Developmental Disabilities Coordinating Center of Excellence for the state of Ohio, helping to advance trauma awareness in dual diagnosis. A graduate of Ohio State University, Ms. Palay lives in Westerville, Ohio with her husband and a random assortment of spoiled pets.

Friday, December 5, 2025  l  10:00 AM - 12:00 PM  l Webinar Spirituality and Belonging: Pathways Into Community

Across services and supports with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the core value and goal of community inclusion is not to merely go into the community, but to be a part of one’s community; to belong! Spirituality is at the heart of the human sense of identity, purpose, and belonging. How do we assess and utilize that dimension of life to build the relationships and connections that lead to authentic inclusion and belonging? This presentation will share a framework of spirituality involving identity, purpose, and belonging that ties directly to the core values and goals of independence, productivity, and inclusion. Participants will learn how staff at all levels of an organization can help build spiritual supports to help people achieve these goals.

 Bill Gaventa, MDiv Consultant, Educator, Author, Speaker Austin, TX

Bill Gaventa is an author, speaker, trainer, and consultant primarily in the arena of faith and disability. He is the founder and Director Emeritus of the Institute of Theology and Disability. Prior to relocating out of state, he was the Director of Community and Congregational Supports at The Boggs Center from 1995-2013. Primary areas of experience and expertise include spiritual and faith-based supports with people with disabilities, training for clergy, seminarians and community services staff, aging and end of life/grief issues in intellectual and developmental disabilities, cultural competence, and community building. He served as the President of American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the first President of the Disability Ministry Network. He was Editor of the Journal of Religion, Disability and Health for 14 years, and is author of Spirituality and Disability: Recovering Wholeness published by Baylor University Press in 2018. A new book on preaching and disability will be published in 2026.

REGISTRATION

The Fall 2025 Developmental Disabilities Lecture Series will be held on the Zoom Webinar platform. The webinars are free of charge. Space is limited for each of the sessions. Open to people who live or work in New Jersey.

To access the webinars, you must register in advance on The Boggs Center Online Registration System.

REGISTER NOW

For additional information about DDLS Webinars, please view Frequently Asked Questions.

CONTINUING EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATES OF ATTENDANCE

As part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, The Boggs Center offers this program for general social work continuing education credit per NJAC 13:44G6.4.c(5). The Boggs Center is a registered NJ Department of Education Professional Development Provider. The Fall 2025 sessions have been submitted to the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) for continuing education program approval. Each session is eligible for 2 hours of continuing education recognition. To demonstrate completion and receive a Certificate, you must be logged into the webinar from start to finish and complete a survey at the webinar’s completion. Certificates of Attendance will be emailed to all participants who meet these eligibility requirements the week following the event.

The Boggs Center on Disability and Human Development Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Liberty Plaza, 335 George Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901 732-235-9300 l boggscenter.rwjms.rutgers.edu