A Letter From Tierra’s CEO: Remote Delivery of Services
To: Associates and their Families/Careproviders
From: Rebecca Lienhard
Re: Remote Delivery of Services
At Tierra, we believe in our mission to champion value and inclusion for all people through
creative pathways to employment, education, and the arts. We see a day where all people live
productive and personally meaningful lives. And we lead with our values of passion, respect,
honesty, full engagement, and person-centeredness. We know that productive and
personally-meaningful lives are not only person-centered, but also exist within inclusive
community-based settings such as college campuses and worksites. Tierra del Sol believes that
we do our best work, in partnership with each associate, when we are delivering services within
these contexts.
With that being said, on December 3, 2023, Tierra del Sol received the extension to the remote
delivery of services provision from the Department of Developmental Services (DDS). The
Directive is attached to this memo. Some may view this continuance in direct conflict with our
mission and vision and in some ways, it is. Therefore, we needed to not only review the memo
as well as the feasibility of continuing to provide quality services remotely, but also how these
services align with our values, mission, and vision – our belief system. In response, we have
developed a series of parameters to help guide us as we partner with you to make
person-centered choices for all of our programs and services.
First, I will start by saying that we will continue delivering some, not all, of our Adult Learning
Classes until further notice. These classes can be accessed via Zoom. In order to do so, we will
continue to employ our Adult Learning Instructors, who sit outside of our ratio-based services.
Examples of classes that may continue are:
PD-Healthy Living w/ Michael
PD- Getting to Know Important Employment Documentation
SI- On the Go with LA Transportation
SI-All Things Weather and Its Impact on Employment
FIT-Exercise and Socialize
FIT-🏃🏻🥗🥪Healthy Lifestyles w/ Jesse
CE-Money Management – How to Manage your Paycheck
CE-Workforce Development – Dress for Success, Managing Workplace Expectations
CA – Careers in the Arts – Poetry
CA – Careers in the Arts – Life Drawing
These are just examples. We will need to make adjustments to these schedules depending on
associate participation and staff availability.
Second, all decisions will be made person by person. Priority to these classes will be given to
those who are not physically or emotionally able, due to significant health/mental health
concerns, to participate in inclusive community settings. If you are able to physically and
emotionally participate, but choose not to, an IDT meeting will be held to make sure that
Tierra’s services are still the best match for you. You matter and so do the quality of your
services. There may be a provider who is better suited to meet your needs. We will explore all
options through a person-centered approach.
Third, in order to continue providing these services, Tierra will be committing close to, if not
more than, $300,000 in staff wages in the coming year to maintain the staffing needed to
provide quality online programming. It is important to understand that most of these classes
are not part of the funding that we get from the Regional Centers; therefore, we must ask that if
you are signed up for a class, please attend. Good attendance will be crucial to the
sustainability of these services.
