Founded in the mid-1970's, SPARC Enterprises and Stepping Stone Residential Services, Inc. were created as sister agencies with a similar mission: To provide outstanding service for people with developmental disabilities and their families in Southern Oregon. Sharing a common administrative structure in order to save financial resources, the agencies have earned a statewide reputation for professional excellence.

As agencies dedicated to supporting and improving individual lives, SPARC and Stepping Stone continuously improve the delivery of services in natural and synergistic manner. As partners with state organizations and community businesses, SPARC and Stepping Stone strive for excellence in services. Attention and response to customer needs and desires frames the success of all business relationships.

On one level, SPARC and Stepping Stone view the people they serve as customers of vocational and residential services. In this sense, the services performed by the agencies can be quantified and measured in the light of dollars spent. In essence, does the money spent maximize customer satisfaction? SPARC and Stepping Stone invest time and effort in order to listen to their customers. One example, person centered plans, represents a consistent feedback loop that gives voice to customer needs and wants. Another example, customer surveys and focus groups, are tools that lead to substantive and relevant change.

People with developmental disabilities have come a long way since the dark days of monolithic institutional living. With the advent of a movement known as "Self-Directed Supports," people with disabilities have become empowered with choice backed by the clout of the wallet. In other words, today people with disabilities can shop for the best services their money can buy. The days of one-size-fits-all service providers are over the dynamics of the free market has begun. By acknowledging that the financial landscape has changed for all service providers, SPARC and Stepping Stone places the customer first by innovating ways to maintain superior service while building relationships based on accountability and performance.

In addition, SPARC and Stepping Stone recognize that their employees are the ultimate source of quality services. In essence, any human service organization is only as good as the people on the front line who deliver those services. In a process known as Information Loop Groups, employees use an open forum to voice opinions, perceptions, and identify improvement opportunities as well as potential solutions to operating problems. Active participation in the decision-making process is an expectation of all employees in both organizations. This format allows management to view their employees as customers (a group of people who have requirements and expectations of management) and employees to view each other as customers at different times as circumstances change. This concept of customer driven and customer-defined quality is central to the culture of both organizations and provides the compass for all quality improvement projects.

Employee feedback from these Information Loop Groups become a necessary perspective as management struggles with the daily challenges of re-inventing the organization in response to all its customers' needs. The end result supports employees to take a systems approach to service while at the same time pursuing excellence through continuous and incremental improvement.

Creating and learning culture is a fundamental precept of the management philosophy of both organizations. New employees are required to complete classes and take tests to measure acquisition of fundamental theories and concepts related to the delivery of services to people with developmental disabilities. After the employee passes a test related to a class, he or she is required to complete a "Transfer of Knowledge" project that is designed to evaluate the employee's ability to apply the knowledge acquired in the classroom to their daily work. These learning projects are an essential component of developing employee competency. The employee's supervisor, using a specific set of criteria, evaluates each class project.

After completion of the entry-level course work, employees are encouraged to continue their personal development by working together with their supervisor to develop a Staff Development Plan that is a collaborative approach to setting learning goals for each employee. These learning goals may involve additional course work in the organizations' Staff Development Program, continuing education in an accredited educational institution, and / or in-service training sessions designed to meet the individual needs of each employee.

Employee's are encouraged and reinforced for acquiring new knowledge and competencies. As employees progress through the organizations' Staff Development Program, they earn wage increases reinforcing the organizations' belief that the more an employee knows the more they can do. That knowledge and ability is valued by the organizations.

Although human relationships will always transcend business relations, the continuous quality improvement philosophy incorporates the financial constraints and reality checks of traditional business with the fundamental precept of human service. The foundation of human services is, of course, built upon person-to-person relationships. Most business relationships are built on the foundation of customer satisfaction. In this manner, human services can be delivered in measurable and quantifiable ways that seek to exceed the expectations and requirements of the organizations' varied customers.

At SPARC and Stepping Stone, the dedication and constant attention to continuous quality improvement and employee development and involvement have paid off. The organizations are recognized as leaders in the field of services to people with developmental disabilities.