February’s Employee Spotlight of the Month: Investigative Agent, Amy Wilmer

Join us as we pay tribute to our incredible staff through “The Employee Spotlight of the Month!” Every month, we will spotlight a new employee so that we can share with the community the wonderful things our employees are doing every day!

Congratulations to Amy Wilmer, our Employee Spotlight for the month of February!

Amy was introduced to the world of Developmental Disabilities (DD) in college when she volunteered for 2 semesters at a Autism clinic for kids.

«I loved working with individuals with disabilities, so I decided to work as a Direct Support Professional (DSP) my junior year of college,» Amy said. » I graduated from college and worked for another 6 months then moved home in early 2013. I then worked as a Qualified Intellectual Disability Professional for 3 years at Community Concepts Inc.»

Amy joined the BCBDD in 2016 and worked as an SSA. For the past two years, Amy has been a part of the Quality Assurance (QA) department as an Investigative Agent (IA). An IA investigates Major Unusual Incidents (MUIs) that affect the health and welfare of individuals with developmental disabilities who receive services from the Board.

«I really enjoyed working as an SSA for the Board,» Amy said. «I have very fond memories of working with an individual on my caseload named Trevor. I worked with him and his family as a transition SSA. My family and his family are now very close! Taking on the role as an IA has been a little different, but I have realized how many parts of the IA role are very important. Being timely, being thorough, being open minded, and ensuring you have done everything you can do are just a few of the important parts of being an IA!»

Amy said that she loves so many things about working for the BCBDD especially getting the opportunity to impact and change people’s lives every day.

«I love that every day is different,» Amy said. «I love feeling like I am making a change for the better, having an impact, protecting someone, and advocating for something. Without the BCBDD, the individuals we serve would not be able to have the choices and be able to reach their goals as easily. They would have to find other ways to meet their needs. The BCBDD allows those we serve to move more freely throughout their community and have a safety net in society. It’s almost as if we are those extra set of eyes for them.»

Since entering the QA department as an IA, Amy has had her fair share of challenging cases. Over the past year, there have been 4 open significant cases involving a child that according to Amy, have been very tough and have involved more hours on her part than any other case she has ever had. Developmental Specialist II, Brittany Sizemore said she has been particularly impressed with how Amy has gone above and beyond for this case.

«Our departments do not get to work together a whole lot, but I have been working with Amy for over a year on this challenging case,» Brittany said. «Amy has gone above and beyond in this case to make sure that the children we serve have a healthy environment to live in. She has been an advocate for them! Amy has showed up to several hearings that no one else knew about, but Amy made sure she knew about them. Her communication has been open and clear keeping us on the same page as we support one another. Her support to the foster family once the children were removed was above and beyond her job description. She has been such a pleasure to get to know and partner with. Amy is amazing and we are lucky to have her on our team. Our individuals are lucky to have her on their side. She truly deserves employee of the year!»

Amy has made significant impacts on the cases she has taken on as an IA.

«Of course, calling some of these cases ‘success stories’ is hard, but truly the outcomes are what I try to focus on,» Amy said. «We have a gentleman right now who has been treated poorly, but we were able to find out who was doing this to him, get him a new provider, and get the person that was doing this to him on the abuser registry so this person will not be able to work with our individuals anymore. This really was a significant success!»

Amy’s supervisor, QA Director, Kara Frederick said Amy has been a great asset to the team since becoming an IA.

«With Amy’s background in SSA work and deep understanding of the different roles within the team, she’s been a key player in facilitating communication,» Kara said. «Her advocacy is outstanding, as she is always taking the time to listen to those we serve, ensuring thorough investigations to help prevent future incidents. She’s truly a pleasure to work with and her advocacy is outstanding!»

Is there someone from the BDBDD that has changed you and your family’s lives? Submissions for March’s Employee Spotlight of the Month are due by Monday, March 3!