Pamela Cross of Arkansas

In the last ten years, under her leadership, the AR APSE chapter has worked to shift expectations regarding disability employment in Arkansas. President Cross and the AR APSE led the way for a cultural transformation with the state’s implementation of the Employment Frist initiative! Her dedication and under her leadership, AR APSE has strengthened the confidence of our donor partners, increased membership, and established sustaining relationships with partners.
Insight and vision often occurred under President Cross leadership, i.e. she identified employment support staff barriers in our state. She saw and promoted the need for training and retraining for Arkansas’ direct support professionals, who were also serving as job coaches or providing employment supports. She understood that often times our disability providers did not have the resources to hire both DSP’s and also employment support staff. So she suggested to the APSE Board of Directors the importance of investing in training. As a result, the board agreed and pay for Systematic instruction for fifteen providers/staff. APSE reached out to subject matter expert Pam Bossert. Mrs. Bossert trained DSP on how to identify natural supports, which reduces the potential of workers becoming dependent on the DSP. They also learned various teaching methods to support and train the worker to become more independent. Now these fifteen support professionals are skilled in systematic instruction and have demonstrated how people with disabilities can take on much more complex and varied task when they are properly trained, thereby increasing the opportunities for other to work in our state with limited employment support staff.

President Cross worked tirelessly to create a collaborative partnership between private entities, non-profit agencies and state government united in a common mission to advance diversity in the workplace through the employment of individuals with disabilities in competitive, integrated employment- customized to meet the needs of both the employer and employee.

Nominated by the Arkansas APSE Chapter