Dear FCSN Families and Friends,

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! With COVID-19 cases continuing to stay low, most FCSN activities will be returning to normal starting in 2023, including our bi-weekly East Bay and South Bay Family Gathering. I look forward to seeing your familiar faces and meeting new members as well.

As you may know, we have been in the process of renovating the Osgood center, and our design has been approved by the city! We are now working on finding a contractor, and we hope to start the actual renovation in the first quarter of 2023, with the grand opening to be in the first half of 2024. 

FCSN continues to grow as the number of consumers rapidly increases. The chart below is from the California Department of Developmental Services. The total number of consumers (including active consumers and the early start program) has increased from 240,000 in 2010 to 350,000 in 2020. That’s an increase of over 45% in ten years. Asian Americans are the largest demographic we serve, and that percentage of consumers has increased by 66% in ten years.

As much as we try to prepare for this growth, unfortunately, we are still extremely short of staff. Over the past four years, we have increased our salary and benefits a substantial amount, yet we are currently still 20% understaffed. In 2022, we have added a $2,000 sign-on bonus for full-time employees and a $1,000 sign-on bonus for part-time. We also have a $1,000 referral bonus for full-time and $500 for part-time. If you or anyone you know is interested, please visit https://fcsn1996.org/employment/ for open positions and send your resume to jobs@fcsn1996.org.

I am very happy to report that we’ve made significant progress for the Adaptive Skill Training Program (Adult Day Program for high-needs clients) and Adaptive Supported Living Services (ASLS). We now have four clients in the Adaptive Skill Training Program, and we have done three clients’ intake for ASLS. In order to fully serve these clients, we will need to hire more staff, so we appreciate all the help we can get to make it happen.

We are also working on social recreation programs for both East Bay and South Bay. Once our program designs are approved by both regional centers, clients can use the regional center funds to participate in these programs. Social recreation programs will benefit clients in the Self-Determination Program as well. 

A new parents committee was formed in July 2022, with its main purpose being to connect FCSN families with similar interests through Special Interest Groups (SIGs). We currently have four SIGs: scouting, food business, severe autism, and housing options. If you are interested in joining any existing SIGs or creating a new SIG, please send an email to fcsn-parents-committee-ml@googlegroups.com.

Finally, I wish you all a great 2023, and hope to see you soon!