It is with great pleasure that we announce our new Training Specialist, Michelle Bautista. Michelle is responsible for conducting and coordinating new employee orientation training, as well as the ongoing training necessary for our seasoned staff.

Michelle brings a wealth of experience from her previous role as a county case worker, where she honed her skills working with the aging and disabled population. During this time, she learned about our agency and was excited by the opportunity to focus on working with the intellectually and developmentally disabled community.

A proud graduate of Penn State University, Michelle joined the regional center in December 2022 as our Generic Resource Specialist (GRS). Her decade-long experience with Medi-Cal and CalFresh offices in both Sacramento and Solano counties has proven invaluable. In her role as GRS, Michelle particularly enjoyed connecting with clients, their families, and NBRC employees, as well as collaborating with outside agencies such as community business organizations (CBOs).

Previously a health and wellness ambassador for Solano County, Michelle played a crucial role in promoting holistic well-being within the community where she advocated for a balanced approach to health that integrated mental, financial, and physical wellness. Her goals for participants included fostering a positive mindset, helping others to achieve their long-term financial goals, and providing guidance on maintaining a healthy lifestyle through regular exercise and nutrition education.

In her current role as our Training Specialist, Michelle continues to build strong connections with employees and CBOs to ensure our staff receives the most up-to-date training materials. She takes great joy in getting to know our new hires during the onboarding process, which she oversees twice a month. Her favorite part of orientation is learning about the new employees’ backgrounds and what inspires them to work with our population.

We are delighted to have Michelle Bautista as our Training Specialist and look forward to the positive impact she will continue to have on our staff and the individuals we serve!

We are excited to announce an important initiative aimed at supporting families of children with disabilities, especially those requiring constant care and supervision with challenging behaviors. The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) recognizes the complex needs of these children and the significant impact on their parents.
To better support these families, we have partnered with DDS to form Family Focus Groups. The goal of these groups is to gather input from families regarding their service experiences, including barriers in accessing services, and to identify additional services that may be needed to meet their child’s needs. Families selected to participate will receive a stipend.

Ideally, we would like to hear from families who:

• Have children and youth between the ages of 6 and 21 with complex/behavioral and/or high-support needs.
• Are advocating, struggling, and/or are fearful to come forward.

Families selected to participate will be culturally diverse, inclusive, and reflective of the local regional center community.

Families interested in sharing their experiences and ideas about unmet service needs will need to complete an interest form/application available in eight different languages by August 9, 2024.

Family Focus Group – Interest Forms:

• English
• Spanish
• Chinese
• Hmong
• Khmer
• Russian
• Tagalog
• Vietnamese

Please direct any questions regarding the interest form or submissions to SafetyNet@dds.ca.gov.

We thank you for your consideration!