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Special Smiles has many important partnerships with residential facilities, programs and agencies serving people with intellectual, developmental, psychological, and physical disabilities. We are pleased to introduce you to our partners through this newsletter.
Divine Providence Village is an Intermediate Care Facility with residential and day programs for women over 18 years of age who have intellectual or developmental disabilities and may also have physical disabilities, dementia or complex medical conditions. The facility is part of the Intellectual Disabilities Division of Catholic Social Services within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and is located on Old Marple Road in Springfield, PA.
We spoke with Angela Babcock, RN, Administrator of Divine Providence Village. She is pictured below with one of the residents she serves.
Both Special Smiles and Divine Providence Village serve a vulnerable special needs population. Are there other ways in which the two organizations are aligned? We are both person-centered. The services we provide are not one-size-fits-all. We take an individualized approach and tailor the services to the needs of the person.
Why does your staff bring residential clients to Special Smiles for dental care? Special Smiles makes every effort to be sure they can safely treat the person before they start. They are very specific in the information they request, and they make sure they have all the needed clearances. They also do a very good job of communicating with us, as well as the families, to give us all the information we need.
In what ways does Special Smiles try to make things easier for your facility or the families? Our work at Divine Providence involves a lot of scheduling. Occasionally one of our clients is sick on the day of the appointment, and we really appreciate that Special Smiles takes the initiative to follow up and reschedule as soon as possible. Also, we have some siblings in our care and Special Smiles will schedule siblings on same day to make things easier for the families.
What kind of feedback do you receive from the people who accompany your clients on a dental visit? The feedback from our medical drivers and from family members is always positive. Families tell us they are very impressed with the services provided, from start to finish.
What do you like best about Special Smiles? Serving people with intellectual or developmental disabilities is a specialty. You have to be committed to continually educating yourself on best practices. Both Divine Providence Village and Special Smiles share the commitment to the education and partnerships with other specialists in the field of I/DD to ensure best practice is in all we do.
What do you like best about working with the residents at Divine Providence? I receive more grace and lessons from our Individuals than I could ever give in return. It is an honor to work for them. I love them so much!
