More Services …
Overview of Services
- Services for children include Eastgate Early Childhood and Family Center and Rebecca Stallman Southgate School.
- Services for adults include habilitation and day programming, supported employment in the community and supported employment in enclaves.
- Residential services provide some level of support to more than 600 individuals.
- Family Support Service assists nearly 80 families in caring for individual family members in their homes.
About Stark County DD and Our Services
Our Vision:
"Ensuring opportunities for living, learning, working and pursuing dreams that will be self-directed by individuals served and/or their circle of support."
Our Mission:
"To be the support that connects individuals and families with the services they need."
The Stark County Board of Developmental Disabilities provides services from infancy onward to nearly 3,000 Stark County residents with mild, moderate, severe, or profound mental retardation or other developmental disabilities. These services include school programs beginning with Early Intervention and Preschool, and continuing throughout the school-age years. For adults, we provide workshops and supported employment in the community. Senior citizens also benefit from specially designed programs. The Board also provides residential care in the community with appropriate supports based on individual needs. In addition to a variety of programs, the Board also provides transportation throughout Stark County to more than 1200 individuals, traveling more than two million miles annually.
Support
Tax levies approved by the Stark County voters along with state and federal funds support the services at no cost to participants, their families or caregivers.
Referrals
Program participants are generally identified through referrals from public schools, social service and human service agencies, hospitals, doctors and from the parents, friends, and relatives.
Staff
The staff of the Stark County Board of DD is highly qualified and committed. All staff members providing direct services to individuals enrolled are certified/registered by either the Ohio Department of Education or the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities or a state licensing board. All employees of the Board also meet the rules and regulations of the State Department of Administrative Services.
About Mental Retardation
- Mental retardation is not something you have, like blue eyes, or a bad heart. Nor is it something you are, like short, or thin
- It is not a medical disorder, nor a mental disorder.
- Mental retardation is a particular state of functioning that begins in childhood and is characterized by limitation in both intelligence and adaptive skills.
- Mental retardation reflects the "fit" between the capabilities of individuals and the structure and expectations of their environment.
The American Association on Intellectual Disabilities defines mental retardation as the following: Mental retardation is a disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before age 18.
About Developmental Disabilities
Developmental disability is a severe, chronic disability that begins any time from birth through age 21 and is expected to last for a lifetime. Developmental disabilities may be cognitive, physical, or a combination of both. While not always visible, these disabilities can result in serious limitations in every day activities of life, including self-care, communication, learning, mobility, or being able to work or live independently. Such disabilities are almost sure to result in a lifetime of dependence on publicly funded services, unless families receive sufficient support, children receive appropriate education, and adults receive appropriate services that enable them to live and work in their local communities. Approximately four million Americans have developmental disabilities. Developmental disabilities can occur in any family, no matter what their ethnic, economic, religious or political background.
