LSCOG receives innovation awards

[AIKEN, SC] Lower Savannah Council of Governments received two 2018 Innovation Awards from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO).  The programs awarded were Dementia Dialogues® and the Summer Youth Jumpstart Program.

LSCOG’s Aging, Disability and Transportation Resource Center hosted two Dementia Dialogues® classes to provide caregivers with practical caregiving skills training. One of LSCOG’s Ombudsman Specialist became a certified trainer of the Dementia Dialogues® program, which was created in 2002 by the Office of the Study of Aging within the University Of South Carolina Arnold School Of Public Health. The classes used Dementia Dialogues® standardized materials, including handouts, PowerPoints, scenario discussions and specially-designed role play activity to provide free comprehensive training in the Lower Savannah region.

The Summer Youth Jumpstart Program provides summer employment for rising seniors in the Lower Savannah region. The program began in 2015 and has been expanded to all K-12 school districts in the region. Students enrolled in the program attend two soft-skills training sessions. After the sessions, they are placed on a job site for 240 hours at $9.25 an hour. The students then continue as participants of the WIOA Youth program which ends with placement in full-time employment or enrollment into a post-secondary educational environment.

NADO is a national association that promotes programs and policies that strengthen local governments, communities, and economies through regional cooperation, program delivery and comprehensive strategies. The association’s Innovation Awards program recognizes regional development organizations and their partners for improving the economic and community competitiveness of our nation’s regions and local communities. NADO presented the awards at their Annual Training Conference October 13-16, 2018.

For more information about these award-winning projects, contact Susan Garen, Regional Ombudsman or André Anderson, Workforce Development Administrator at 803-649-7981.

Lower Savannah Council of Governments is a regional quasi-governmental organization serving Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun and Orangeburg counties.

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