Welcome, Chaka Darden

Chaka Darden, B.S., has joined us as our new Contract and Compliance Manager.  Chaka has a Bachelors of Science in Organizational Communication and Human Resources Management from Western Michigan University.  She has been working in compliance addressing quality, policy and federal and state law issues for the past seven years.  In the past, she has worked with organizations such as Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health, Woodlands Behavioral Healthcare Network, Beacon Specialized Living, and Community Mental Health.

As Contract and Compliance Manager, Chaka will be responsible for managing our clinical contracts and making sure we are in compliance with all contracts for the Great Lakes Center for Autism Treatment and Research and Residential Opportunities, Inc.  She will also be in charge of reviewing and organizing any new clinical contracts that come our way.  Due to the nature of her job, Chaka will be working closely with our Program Directors, Human Resources, our Finance Team, and the directors at GLC.

We are excited to welcome Chaka Darden to the team, and hope you say “hello” and “congrats” to her as well!

Congratulations, Taylor Beaudoin!

Residential Opportunities, Inc., wants to extend a huge “Congratulations” to Taylor Beaudoin as she accepts a promotion and steps into the role of Clinical Supervisor of Licensed Settings.  In this role, Taylor will be supervising the clinicians working in the Great Lakes Center for Autism Treatment and Research – Intensive Residential program. Taylor has been with GLC since 2019.  We are very excited for Taylor to take on this new endeavor and cannot wait to see what the future holds. Congrats, Taylor!

Please Support Michigan’s Direct Care Workers

When a Michigan resident experiences a mental illness or developmental disability, they should be able to hire the help they need to ensure their safety and wellbeing. But right now, they can’t.  In today’s tight labor market, it is difficult to find a Direct Care Worker, whether you are looking for care for yourself, a loved one, or hiring an employee for your agency.  This leaves our state’s most vulnerable residents at risk.

Our coalition proposes a General Fund appropriation of $127.0 million in FY 23 which would increase the average starting wage rate in the behavioral health system to approximately $18.00 per hour. That’s what many entry-level jobs pay across the state right now and is the least we can do to compensate our Direct Care workforce.

With significant amounts of GF dollars and pandemic-related federal funding available to the state right now, Michigan has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address the long-standing direct care workforce crisis in a meaningful and sustained manner.

Let’s reach out and make it happen.  Click this link to take action.