ACRE

Facilitated by Penn-Mar Human Services Consulting

DDA strongly recommends that all DDA

Provider DSPs complete the ACRE training

before taking the APSE CESP exam.

DSPs and other employment service

providers that successfully complete the

ACRE training will be reimbursed 100

percent of the registration fee by DDA

(*Conditions apply. Please see below for

further information*).

 

September and October 2026

 

September 15, September 16, September 17,

September 22, September 23, October 20,

October 21, October 22, October 27, October 28

 

All sessions are virtual from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Registration Fee: $500 Per Registrant

 

All registrants will receive access to the

course materials one week prior to the

first ACRE training session.

To receive a certificate an “ACRE Certificate of

Achievement”, participants must attend

all 10 sessions (40 hours of training) and

successfully complete all activities and field-

based assignments.

 

Several field assignments include leading an employment

seeker at your organization through the employment process

as taught in class.

Session 1 and 2 (9/15, 9/16)

 

Application of Core Values and Principles of Practice

This session focuses on the history, core values, and

principles of Supported Employment. This includes the

rights and responsibilities of people receiving services,

ethical guidelines, and philosophy of community

employment, as well as disability legislation, funding,

regulations, and policies impacting people with disabilities.

Session 3,4 and 5 (9/17, 9/22, 9/23)

Assessment & Career Planning

 

This 3-day session focuses on individualized assessment and

employment/career planning. Discovery is introduced as the foundation

of career planning and participants will learn how to design and

implement a discovery process for employment seekers. This includes

learning how to gather information about the employment seeker

(skills, interests, community connections, conditions for

success) while encouraging the employment seeker’s active

participation and decision-making throughout the career planning

process. Participants will have an opportunity to complete each step

of the discovery process with an employment seeker, learn how to facilitate

a customized employment planning meeting, and develop a vocational profile.

Trainees will learn the basics of self-employment/entrepreneurship, the

impact of wages on disability benefits, the availability of work

incentives, and how to make referrals to other agencies for assistance.

 

Session 6,7 and 8: (10/20, 10/21, 10/22)

 

Community Research & Job Development

This session provides an overview of customized employment

and uses the information obtained about the employment seeker

during the discovery process to create a Job Development plan.

Participants will learn how to develop relationships with

businesses, assist employment seekers with the job search

process, develop employment proposals, understand LEAN process

improvement, and negotiate a win-win job match based on the employment

seeker’s ideal conditions of employment and the needs of a business.

Participants will have an opportunity to complete each step

of the job development process with an employment seeker.

 

Session 9 and 10: (10/27, 10/28)

Workplace & Related Supports

This session focuses on developing workplace supports with

an overview of systematic instruction. Participants will learn

how to do an effective job analysis, and implement

job training, fading plans, and strategies for developing

comprehensive workplace supports. Participants will learn

creative strategies to ensure the employee enters the

job in the most inclusive manner possible and help them to

maximize their job performance and meet the expectations

of the workplace.

 

Facilitator: Kevin Walker has over 31 years of experience with

Penn-Mar Human Services, and served in various direct support,

managerial, and administrative ​roles before becoming the

Director of Business Development. Kevin spearheaded Penn-Mar’s

Employment 1st initiative in 2009, and for the past 8 years has provided

training and technical assistance to like-minded provider organizations.

In July of 2020, Kevin assisted with the development and launch of

Penn-Mar’s consulting division.

Kevin is a Certified Workforce Incentives Practitioner and a 2020 graduate

of Leadership Baltimore County. He is a certified

ACRE trainer and led

in the development of a Penn-Mar centric ACRE endorsed curriculum.

Kevin has been involved in ACRE projects in California, District of Columbia,

Maryland, Minnesota, and Oklahoma, and is also a curriculum reviewer for ACRE.

Kevin serves as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the U.S. Department of

Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy on the National Expansion of

Employment Opportunities Network (NEON) project and has provided

training and technical assistance to providers in Indiana,

Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Washington, for NEON.

Facilitator: Tricia Zeltwanger

has been employed with Penn-Mar Human Services

since 1991. Tricia held the position of Contract Manager until 2012 when she

took the position as a Job Developer. Tricia’s vital role is to connect

with our community through networking and developing employer

partnerships. Tricia is a 2014 graduate of Leadership York. She

created the York Business Networking Group and has served as its President

since 2015. Tricia is an Ambassador for the York County Economic Alliance

and serves on the Board of Southern York County Business Association.

Tricia trains Penn-Mar new hires on Customized Employment and is passionate

about the needs and goals of each employment seeker. Tricia has

demonstrated a high level of success in placing many employment seekers in

community employment.

*DDA ACRE Reimbursement*

The DDA has been committed to assisting service

providers during these transition years leading up to the full

implementation of the LTSS Maryland-

DDA

Module system and new employment services rates by reimbursing providers for

the DDA-approved employment training program or

certification competency test.

For any staff that a current and approved provider pays for and sends to a DDA

approved employment training program or certification competency test until

Employment Services become effective or a provider is fully billing the fee for

services in LTSS Maryland-DDA Module, the DDA will reimburse the provider

for the associated fees.

Providers will need to invoice DDA with the following information

and submit to your Regional Directors:

• Name and title of the employee

• Name of the provider organization

• Date(s) and location of the training

• Name of the training and training provider

• Supporting documentation that the employee has

completed the course successfully

• For reimbursement of fees for the Certified

Employment Support Professional (CESP) exam

through the Association of People Supporting

Employment First (APSE), provide supporting

documentation that the employee has

passed the exam.