TuscBDD and Area Agencies Receive Grant to Support Youth in Crisis

Mon, Apr 30th, 2018

PRESS RELEASE

New Philadelphia, April 30, 2018: At the April 2018 regularly scheduled board meeting for the Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities (TuscBDD), members voted to approve a grant agreement between TuscBDD and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD). TuscBDD will receive $372,705 from the DODD to develop a model to provide therapeutic respite and in-home support for youth with intensive behavioral needs in Tuscarawas and Carroll counties. As part of the grant application, TuscBDD partnered with the Carroll County Board of Developmental Disabilities (CCBDD), Personal Family Counseling services (PFCS), the Tuscarawas County Family and Children First Council (TCFCFC), and Alco Services LLC. (Alco), to develop a comprehensive model for serving youth who have both a developmental disability and intensive behavioral needs. It is the goal of this grant to develop our local capacity to serve this population in order to reduce the need for out-of-county residential placements. “Currently, our county lacks placement options for youth with developmental disabilities and intensive behavioral needs,” expressed Nate Kamban, TuscBDD’s Superintendent. “Many children that have multiple intense needs are placed outside of the county and often far away from their family and community, and this funding will be invested locally so that children can stay close to home.”

The agencies involved in this collaboration all share a common mission to address the needs of children and families in this community. “It is our mission at TCFCFC to identify any unmet needs of families in our county,” stated Robin Bowdish, TCFCFC’s Council Manager. “Our organization has a great deal of experience in collaborating with area agencies to implement needed services, and we look forward to having this local resource available for them.”

This grant is also unique in that this a partnership between two counties with TuscBDD and CCBDD submitting this proposal together. “There are several entities involved in this grant that work in Carroll and Tuscarawas counties,” shared Matt Campbell, CCBDD’s Superintendent. “This is a great chance for us to work together to develop a solution that many counties are currently facing.” This grant also provides a chance for developmental disabilities professionals and mental health professionals to collaborate with the addition of PFCS as a lead agency for this grant. “We appreciate the opportunity to serve this population even further and value the partnerships that we are building while expanding services for area youth,” remarked PFCS’s Executive Director Pam Trimmer.

The provider that will take on this transition for youth in crisis is Alco, a local service provider for people with developmental disabilities. “I have provided respite care for families in the area for over 17 years,” stated Alco’s owner and CEO, Alice Cooper. “We need a local, therapeutic respite option so that we can help children and families that are struggling to stay together, and Alco can do that. Children should not have to find services outside of their community when we can provide it right here at home.”

As this grant is implemented, several training opportunities will be conducted in order to inform partner agencies on how to utilize this respite option. Dates and times of the trainings will be shared in the coming weeks.

Additional Actions Included:

·A $5,000. 00 donation from Emerald BioAgriculture Corp was accepted for Starlight School c/o the Ruth Carlson Starlight Foundation in memory of Peter Carlson.

·The following Board Policies were updated and revised: 2.9 Workplace Safety, formerly titled Office Safety General Duty, 5.12 Family and Medical Leave.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 21st at 5:30 PM. This meeting will take place at TuscBDD's Service and Support Center located at 610 Commercial Ave. SW in New Philadelphia. More information about TuscBDD's programs and services can be found online at www.tuscbdd.org, www.facebook.com/tuscbdd, or www.twitter.com/tuscbdd.