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*).

 

March and April 2026

Wednesday 3/11, Thursday 3/12, Tuesday

3/17, Wednesday 3/18, Thursday 3/19, Tuesday 4/7,Wednesday 4/8, Thursday 4/9, Monday 4/13,

Tuesday 4/14

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 (3/11, 3/12)

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 (3/17, 3/18, 3/19)

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: (4/7, 4/8, 4/9)

 

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: (4/13, 4/14)

 

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.

• Training fees

Please remember that anyone delivering Discovery, Job Development

and Self-Employment Development supports after Employment

Services are effective must have proof of competency in the best

practices of Customized Employment as evidenced by completing

and passing the Certified Employment Support Professional exam

through the Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE).

The cost of both the ACRE training and the CESP exam

is reimbursable by DDA until the new Employment Services rates

become effective or the provider is fully billing in LTSS Maryland -DDA Module.