Cerebral Palsy of
Initially, the Agency provided physical therapy services to 25 children with cerebral palsy. Within the first year of operation additional services were added to meet requests from other families who approached the Agency for services for their children. The additional services included speech therapy and orthopedic, neurological, psychological, and audiological evaluation and consultation services. The number of children continued to grow. By the
mid-1960’s, it was apparent that more space was required by United
Cerebral Palsy of
In 1976, the Social Service Department was established. The focus of the department was to provide case management, advocacy, and individual and group counseling to the children the Agency was serving and their families. A year later, in 1977, Occupational Therapy was added as another service available to individuals. Occupational Therapists were needed to concentrate on children who had difficulty with fine motor skills, or activities of daily living (feeding, dressing, grooming, etc.) or perceptual difficulties. That same year, the New York State Department of Education licensed the Agency to operate a specialized education program for school-age children with disabilities. Additionally, the Agency began operating therapeutic pre-school classes as well as parent-infant training programs for its very young children with disabilities. By 1979, over 300 children with a wide variety of disabilities were served by the Agency and the need to serve adults with disabilities was becoming evident. The Agency began serving adults who were in need of the medical rehabilitation and medical consultant services now offered by the Agency. In 1980, an adaptive equipment clinic was added to assist children and adults obtain appropriate assistive devices such as wheelchairs, walkers, and communication devices for non-verbal individuals. Although the Agency
continued to grow, one large gap still existed in services and programs for
individuals with disabilities – supervised residential facilities for
adolescents and young adults with disabilities. United Cerebral Palsy of
In the mid-1980’s,
CP of
In March 1988, a
supportive apartment program for thirteen adults with developmental
disabilities was opened in
Another residence completed in February, 1989, was the Koenig Community Residence. This residence is home for fourteen individuals with developmental disabilities in need of a group home with a moderate amount of supervision. These individuals have a high level of independence in most ADL (activities of daily living) skills. The common needs of these individuals are their physical disabilities, which have inherent limitation for total independent self-care, and an intellectual capacity, which necessitates a more independent life environment, socially and emotionally. The Oberkirch Children’s Residence for school-age children with multiple disabilities was opened in May, 1989, providing opportunity for twelve children to live in a home-like environment with education, treatment and rehabilitative services necessary to meet each child’s needs. This building was named in honor of another lifetime volunteer, Helen Oberkirch. In June, 1989, the
Children’s
In June of 1992,
another Intermediate Residential Care Facility was opened in New Paltz to address the growing need to provide a home for
young adults who had “aged-out” of programs suitable for
children. It was named the
United Cerebral
Palsy of
In March, 1994, the
Agency opened its first Individual Residential Alternative for a young woman
with multiple disabilities. This program was opened as part of the
Home and Community Based Waiver Program under the auspices of OMRDD (
Additionally in 1994, the Residential Program began comprehensive case management services in the community. Individuals receiving case management services receive referral help, advocacy, at-home visits and assistance in life planning. In the late 1990’s the Agency began to offer both extended and intensive supported work services to individuals with developmental disabilities who have the desire and motivation to obtain and retain employment. The Case Management department works with adults to secure supported employment opportunities as well as competitive employment in the community. Also in the 1990,s the Agency began its
Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities (TRAID) project
to serve people with disabilities, their family members, educators, service
providers and other professionals. The TRAID project provides an array of
services enabling persons with disabilities to choose their individual
interests and goals. The TRAID Project serves
In its history of over 50 years Cerebral Palsy of Ulster County has shown tremendous growth in both the scope of services it provides and increased number of individuals it servers. Originally founded to serve the needs of 25 children with cerebral palsy, the Agency now serves hundreds of individuals a year with a wide variety of disabilities and the numbers are continually growing. Cerebral
Palsy of
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