Erie County - Northwest Collaborative

Contact Information

Sandra Knittel, M.Ed., AE Lead, sknittel@eriecountypa.gov

Melissa Bible, Erie County AE-MH Program Specialist, mbible@eriecountypa.gov

Website/social media links

Placing information about CoP/Lifecourse tools on DHS facebook page.

Communication and Meetings Structure

Erie County’s focus is on educating our SCO’s. We expanded our communication with our SCO’s by conducting quarterly meetings with the SCO supervisors to discuss CoP/Lifecourse.  Also, expanding Erie County’s collaborative to include more community partners.

Goals, next steps or actions plans

Erie County Collaborative will expand our collaborative with the goal being becoming a community of practice.  Erie County’s SCO’s are trained and utilizing lifecourse tools to aid in program planning. Now that there is SCO involvement, it is time to take the next step to get more involvement by other community partners.

AE/SCO/Provider/DHS/Broad Community Partners Represented within Collaborative:

Erie County would like to expand representation to include other community partners. Currently, we have SCO involvement. Erie County Care Management (ECCM) and Supports Coordination Unlimited are part of Erie County’s collaborative team. Always On Our Own (AOOO)- Independent Monitoring for Quality (IM4Q) & Self-Advocacy group are also part of our collaborative. AOOO educates individuals and families who are part of AOOO’s self-advocacy group about CoP/Lifecourse. Plan to invite the Arc, Autism Society of NWPA, CRI, and other ID providers to Erie County's Collaborative group in the future.