Maxo Joseph Excellence in Direct Care Awards

The Maxo Joseph Excellence in Direct Care Award recognizes the daily vital work that direct care staff does to protect MAB participants’ health and safety and support their efforts to have full and satisfying lives. Our community united to fund a program to honor our best direct care staff each year. The program is named in honor of Maxo Joseph, a MAB direct care staff for over 19 years, who died of COVID-19. Read more about Maxo here.

Support the Maxo Joseph Excellence In Direct Care Awards!

Donate to the Maxo Joseph Fund HERE

Read more about the 2023 Award winners here: 2023 Maxo Joseph Awards 

To honor Maxo Joseph and the values he stood for, MAB  honors the best of our direct care staff with an annual event.  The annual awards total $50,000, with individual awards ranging from $2,000 to $10,000. Each year’s honorees will be selected by a committee representing staff, family members, and community supporters.

 Maxo exemplified all the qualities we value most in direct care staff:

• He was dedicated to ensuring that participants lived their best lives and went above and beyond to support the activities they loved.
• He gave his all and was a supportive team player, helping make his group home a great workplace.
• He was committed to ensuring that his work reflected the highest quality standards.

Great direct care staff is an asset to their team. They always have other staff’s back. They go out of their way to help other staff. They are considerate of other staff and will take the time to ease the load for other staff. They are always welcoming to other staff and make them feel comfortable and included. They would never do anything to bully other staff. Working with this staff member makes ADS a great place to work and makes other staff look forward to coming to work. Though this staff member has more experience in some areas than other staff, they never belittle others.

Be great with family members, state agency coordinators, medical providers, neighbors, and other members of the community.

A great direct care staff member always represents the organization in the best way possible. When family members, guardians, or DDS/MRC coordinators call or visit, the direct care staff member conducts themselves in a friendly, professional, and competent manner. They always follow through responsibly with requests that family members, guardians, state agency personnel make, even if that means communicating the request to the res coordinator rather than doing it themselves. They communicate with medical and day program providers in a professional and helpful manner. They are considerate of neighbors, representing ADS in a professional manner even when provoked by rude behavior.

Focus on the Participants

A great direct care staff member has excellent relationships with individual participants. They focus on activities that support participants’ desires to achieve their goals. They make time to support the participants in activities that they enjoy. They get to know the participants as individuals and treat them with respect. They are remarkable for doing something special or unexpected for participants, going above and beyond what is required.

Strive for the Highest Quality Standards in all the Work They Do

A great direct care staff member does an excellent job of complying with all relevant state regulations. They are up to date with all their required certifications, including MAP. They attend all required training. They do an excellent job of completing shift documentation and all assignments related to fulfilling state agency requirements. They are very careful about the quality of their work and have no history of med errors.