North Country Initiative utilized $175,000 in remaining funding from the NY State Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program to strategically invest in “Promising Practices” that continue the impactful projects implemented as part of the program before it ended in March 2020. Five projects were selected for funding and The Arc Jefferson – St. Lawrence was one of them! The project being funded is called, “Strengthening Access to Physical & Behavioral Healthcare for People with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities (IDD) through Remote Technology”. The program will use remote technology for nurses to provide more frequent physical and behavioral health services to people with IDD in supportive housing. This technology greatly reduces nurses’ travel time across Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, thereby maximizing their services for these individuals in both quantity and frequency.

A new long-term co-op internship program being piloted at SUNY Potsdam is covering the cost of in-state tuition. It’s also giving focused students a suite of skills, college credits and job experiences in human services work that go well beyond what they would take away from an average internship.   The Arc Co-Op Internship Program places students for three years with The Arc Jefferson - St. Lawrence, where they work with people with disabilities for a minimum of eight hours and up to 29 hours a week in residential, day habilitation and vocational services. A partnership of the SUNY Potsdam Lougheed Center for Applied Learning and The Arc, the initiative advances the College’s already significant commitment to applied learning and educational experiences tailored to the individual.