Support Services
In 1984, The Arc of Frederick County created Funding Conduit Services to allow parents and individuals with disabilities to utilize state funding to locate and purchase the services they need in the community. This includes supporting individuals with disabilities and their families to employ their own direct support staff to provide skills education, respite care, and community integration. Supporting individuals and families to employ their own staff and decide who provides care proves to be a successful model. This approach supports the importance of person directed planning and individual preference and control over one’s own life.
In addition, The Arc of Frederick County provides Service Coordination for children with Autism through the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Waiver for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Autism Waiver) in Frederick County. Services can include: Intensive Individual Support Services, Respite Care, Therapeutic Integration, Family Training, and Environmental Accessibility Adaptations.
The Arc has an Endowment Fund with The Community Foundation of Frederick County to support The Arc’s Futures and Estate Planning Services to help families through the process of developing a Letter of Intent to plan for one’s future once their primary caregiver is no longer able to provide the needed support, choose an attorney and financial planner to develop a will and trust, and provide information on alternatives to guardianship.
A grant provided by Frederick County Government supports The Arc of Frederick County to provide an Independent Living Program for adults who live on their own and a Transitioning Youth Program to help students with developmental disabilities plan for their transition from Public School to the adult world and workforce. The Arc’s Transitioning Youth Program recently partnered with Frederick County Public Schools, Division of Rehabilitation Services, Service Coordination, and Maryland State Department of Education to create a Transitioning Youth Portfolio that is used as a tool to guide students throughout Maryland with the transition planning process. The Arc also partners with a local college to offer a Leadership Class for transitioning age students with disabilities. This class takes place on the college campus.
Read more about this topic: The Arc Of Frederick County
Famous quotes containing the words support and/or services:
“... the outcome of the Clarence Thomas hearings and his subsequent appointment to the Supreme Court shows how misguided, narrow notions of racial solidarity that suppress dissent and critique can lead black folks to support individuals who will not protect their rights.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“The community and family networks which helped sustain earlier generations have become scarcer for growing numbers of young parents. Those who lack links to these traditional sources of support are hard-pressed to find other resources, given the emphasis in our society on providing treatment services, rather than preventive services and support for health maintenance and well-being.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)