Special Webinars
Year-round, we host free, informative webinars for individuals, families, educators, and provider organizations. These presentations offer tools, strategies, and resources for navigating I/DD support and connections within our regional communities.
We’re your community resource.
Whenever possible, we record and archive these presentations to keep them available as a resource to you.
To receive notifications of upcoming webinars, please join our mailing list.
Do you have an idea for a webinar?
Get in touch with us! We will come to you and present specifically to your audience, or we can set up a presentation open to everyone.
Webinar Archive
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Life Skills Webinars
CollegeWorks
CollegeWorks is a two-year post-secondary program for young adults with developmental disabilities on the campus of Mohawk Valley Community College. The goal of the program is to provide the training necessary for students to obtain employment at the time of graduation while enjoying life on a college campus. This program is funded through the NYS Office of Persons with Developmental Disabilities Medicaid Waiver.
Employment & Volunteer Work
In this two-part series, eight agencies present information on their programs, coverage areas, how they can help members find a paying job or volunteer position that is right for them, and how they can continue to support them after they sign on.
Presenters in Session 1: Eastern Region included Delaware Opportunities, The ARC Otsego, Springbrook, and ACCESS-VR.
Presenters in Session 2: Wester Region included JM Murray, ACHIEVE, Community Options, and Challenge Workforce Solutions.
Transitions Education Programs
The Transitions program focuses on building academic skills, life skills, and general independence for high school graduates and young adults with autism and learning differences. Transitions specializes in teaching students how to study or learn a trade while showing students that they can live the life they choose and achieve their dreams.
Medicaid Answering Services / Medicaid Transport
Med Answering Services is contracted with the New York State Department of Health to authorize non-emergency Medicaid Transportation to Medicaid billable services.
CareerNext & the College Experience
The College Experience prepares students with intellectual disabilities for independent living and competitive employment. CareerNext is designed to support students with Autism or other learning differences to pursue an Associate’s Degree, Bachelor’s Degree, or Credited Career Certificate.
Effective Talk & Text Strategies
Do you wish you could easily…start a conversation? Keep talk flowing? Add your point of view? Politely disagree? Get more information? Make sure you understand what people mean? If this sounds like you, or someone you know, then check out this special online workshop with Lydia Dolch from Open the Lid, which explains the six simple strategies for effective talk and text – regardless of your personality, strengths, or past experiences.
InclusiveU at Syracuse University
Syracuse University is known all over the world as a leader in disability and higher education. At SU, we celebrate disability because it makes our campus stronger, more diverse, and much more interesting; until everyone is included, there is no real inclusion for anyone. InclusiveU is an initiative of the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education, committed to individualized and inclusive higher educational opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Public Housing/Section 8
Section 8 is a rental subsidy program funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development designed to help low-income, single people and families pay their rent, thus allowing them to live in safe, sanitary, and healthy conditions.
Prepaid Funeral Planning
This webinar will answer your questions about prepaid funeral planning, which includes pre-planning expanses and what the benefits of pre-planning are.
Disability Resource Coordinators and Supports – Presented by: CDO Workforce
Learn more about Disability Resource Coordinators and how they can assist with benefits counseling and understanding work incentives. Disability Coordinators can support you in becoming involved with Social Security, Ticket to Work, and more! You can find a disability coordinator in every workforce area in New York State.
General Support Webinars
Family Support Programs
Racker’s resource network is designed to provide supports for families and caregivers in Cortland, Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties. Families who are providing care for a loved one with a disability living full-time in the family home are eligible for a wide variety of services.
Housing Navigation
Representatives from three of our provider partners — Habitat from Humanity, Springbrook, and The Racker Center — discussed the non-certified housing opportunities available to STC members in our regional area. Eligibility requirements, referral processes, and types of housing options were just a few of the subjects we covered.
Summer Camps
We invited several summer camps to give mini-presentations on their programs, eligibility requirements, cost, and registration process in a special webinar so you can see which one is right for you! Guests included ARC Jefferson/St. Lawrence, ARISE, Arrowhead Bible Camp, Camp ARCO, Lion’s Camp, and Kelberman.
Supported Decision-Making
as an Alternative to Guardianship
Supported Decision-Making New York (SDMNY) is a six-year project initially funded by DDPC to pilot the use of SDM to divert persons at risk of guardianship and to restore rights to persons already subject to guardianship. It recently received a large grant from OPWDD to design a model for delivering SDM facilitation services state-wide.
Get There Transportation
Provides individual and group travel training. They also provide assistance for eligible individuals who need transportation to healthcare appointments, transportation to employment services and training on how to use public transportation. Serves: Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Tioga counties.
Racker Autism & Sensory Lending Library”
Learn more about Racker’s Lending Library which holds 1,000s of items to meet and explore sensory needs. Find innovative solutions and strategies to help support your loved one with a disability.
Guardianship
What is guardianship? Why is it important? Who can apply? Where do I begin? In this STC Special Webinar, the Honorable Judge David Guy and Principal Court Attorney Justin Harby-Conforti discussed the nuances of the guardianship process, what to expect, and the resources available to you.
Racker Programs Overview
For over 70 years, Racker has provided strength-based support for individuals with disabilities and their families in Tompkins, Cortland, and Tioga counties. Guided by the vision of a world where all people know they belong, Racker offers programs and services to more than 3,500 people, helping them to build lasting connections and lead fulfilling lives.
SDS & Fiscal Intermediaries
Self-Directed Services (SDS) gives you increased flexibility to choose the right supports for you, the staff you want to work with, and a schedule that works best for you. This gives you more control over how you want to structure your life. All participants who choose SDS services must choose a Fiscal Intermediary (FI) who will support them in managing their funds through the self-direction budget. We held a two-part series on FI’s to discuss the agencies available in our region and the differences between each to help you make an informed decision on your FI provider.
Springbrook Pooled Trust
A pooled trust is a type of special needs trust established by a non-profit for the benefit of people with disabilities. A trust is a legal arrangement in which a person (the trustee) owns property in the name of one or more beneficiaries. Learn more by clicking the below button.
Community Dispute Resolution Centers
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a variety of processes, such as mediation or arbitration, that help parties resolve disputes without a trial. Most services are offered free of charge and are available in every county in New York State!
Legal Services of CNY Presents topics on Legal Services
Legal Services of Central New York presents topics on legal support that include economic justice, housing justice, health justice, and cultural and community justice.
National Disability Employment Awareness Month!
We’re putting the spotlight on the remarkable people who work in the community as they take the stage to share their inspiring stories and showcase the incredible work they do.
Health-Related Webinars
Covid-19 Vaccine
At Southern Tier Connect, we strive to bring you verified knowledge about the virus and the vaccine from trusted sources to help you make informed and confident decisions. In this webinar, we hosted two local healthcare providers who answered questions about the vaccine: Betty Lee, Springbrook’s healthcare provider at The Wellness Clinic, and Dr. Gennaro Falco, a surgeon who has practiced medicine for over 40 years.
YAI – CSIDD Overview
YAI, one of New York State’s oldest and largest providers of support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, will begin implementing Crisis Services for Individuals with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities (CSIDD) in OPWDD’s Region 2 in April of 2022. Watch the webinar to learn more!
YAI – Supporting Individuals with Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorders
This webinar is presented by Region 2 Crisis Services for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (CSIDD), YAI. CSIDD is a short-term rehabilitative service targeted for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD) who have significant behavioral or mental health needs.
Presence Counseling & Developmental Services
Presence Developmental Services and Presence Counseling Services are clinician-owned and operated companies developed to provide physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, behavioral therapy, and social work services to people with developmental disabilities in the home, office, and other community locations.
Pariva Health- Lego Foundation Webinar
Learn more about Pariva and its partnership with the Lego Foundation. Their Family Support Program is a customized play-based program that empowers and enables families to engage intelligently with their child in the ease of their home using the right tools and techniques to enhance and speed up therapeutic support.
Mobile Counseling
Cornerstone Mobile Counseling proudly links individuals to local, licensed mental health professionals for free and immediate counseling in their homes or via telehealth, usually within just a few hours.
Genesight
Gain insight on how genetics may impact medications. Results can inform your doctor about how you may break down or respond to certain medications commonly prescribed to treat depression, anxiety, ADHD and other psychiatric conditions.
Mind Matters: Neurofeedback and Brain Mapping
Mind Matters specializes in the brain’s electrical behavior. They provide a service called neuro feedback, (essentially re-teaching the brain to function the way it did prior to injury, or other causes for change) to eventually improve the individual’s overall quality of life and potentially even eliminate the need for certain medications. They do this by mapping out behaviors in the brain using noninvasive techniques to understand how the brain works.
YAI Presents CSIDD Services and Referrals
YAI presents information on CSIDD Services. Learn more about crisis prevention and response services for persons with an intellectual or developmental disability and how to make a referral.
HCA Mental Health Services Webinar
Helping Celebrate Abilities (HCA) will present a webinar to discuss Article 16 Counseling Services and Family Support behavioral services. In this webinar, you will learn about the goal of Behavior Support to help identify the unmet needs of your family member and available Article 16 counseling services provided by HCA for individuals and their family members.