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Examples of Academic

Community Resource Centers

  Northern Virginia Training Center's Regional Community Support Center, Fairfax, VA — Established in 1998, this program provides specialized medical, behavorial, dental and respite services for individuals with mental retardation and complex medical and behavioral needs. The program evolved from the residential training center. It includes services for people residing in community-based settings, and provides training for staff of community residential services and vocational providers. It also provides for the training of university students in health and other professions. Virginia is expanding this service model to other State training centers and to geriopsychiatric centers.  Contact: Mark DiOrio, Ph.D., M.P.H., Facility Director, Northern Virginia Training Center, 703‑ 323‑4002, mdiorio@nvtc.state.va.us

Regional Evaluation and Assessment for Community Habilitation (REACH) Clinic, Hogan Regional Center, Hathorne, MA — Over a decade ago, this project was designed as an initiative to develop a model of service delivery that integrated facility clinical resources into the community system. The REACH Clinic is a resource within the Department of Mental Retardation/Northeast Region and includes a team of clinical and medical professionals providing comprehensive evaluations and follow-up recommendations for individuals with MR/DD. Services include assistive technology, audiology, medical consultation, nursing, nutrition consultation, neuropsychiatric clinic, occupational therapy, pharmacological consultation, psychology, physical therapy, social services, speech and language therapy and therapeutic recreation. Recommendations are made to better support the person in her/his home and work environments. Suggestions may also be made for additional referrals, specific training, follow-up, and identification of available resources. The REACH Team is comprised of clinical professionals, including a Nurse Practitioner, Social Worker, two R.N.’s, and a Psychology clinician, who bring to the evaluation process many years of expertise in the field of developmental disabilities. In addition, for many years, REACH Clinic staff have provided clinical training to OT and PT interns from Boston College, Syracuse University, Louisiana State University, Quinsigamond College, Tufts University, University of New Hampshire Worcester State College and all Massachusetts Community Colleges. Contact: Pat Kelleher, Director, REACH Clinic, 978-774-5000 ext. 580.

University of Louisville School of Dentistry / Hazelwood Center’s Developmental Dentistry Program,  Louisville, KY — This University-Affiliated Developmental Dentistry Program is focused on three program areas: patient care, teaching and research.  Hazelwood’s teaching clinics provide dental care to residents and individuals residing in community-based settings. The program also features a Developmental Disabilities Dentistry Fellowship through the University of Louisville School of Dentistry. Additionally, the Developmental Dentistry Program features a University-affiliated research effort (The Hazelwood Study) that develops solutions to health care problems facing patients with MR/DD and the doctors who care for them. Contact: Underwood and Lee Clinic, 502‑368‑2348.

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Medicine’s Developmental Medicine Program, New Brunswick, New Jersey -- In 1998, the Developmental Medicine Program (DMP) was developed at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.  Hunterdon Developmental Center (HDC), a state‑operated ICF/MR serves as a major training site for the DMP for students in Family Medicine and Internal Medicine. Dental and Psychology services are provided to community‑based individuals by HDC dentists and psychologists. At present, HDC staff physicians do not provide community services, but some of the HDC consultants do so on a limited basis. In July 2004, HDC was designated as a training site for dental students and residents, in partnership with the UMDNJ Dental School. Efforts will also be made to create a dental training curriculum for dental students. Contact: Philip B. May, Jr., M.D., Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Director, Developmental Medicine Program, Department of Medicine, UMDNJ / Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Staff Physician, Hunterdon Developmental Center, Clinton, New Jersey, 908-735-4031, pmay1@mindspring.com.

Fircrest School, Shoreline, Washington -- In addition to serving its own residents, Fircrest School provides vital services to developmentally disabled individuals living within nearby communities as well as statewide. These services include medical care; nursing; dental care; psychology; physical, occupational, speech and behavior therapies; adaptive technologies; and recreational activities. The applied research at Fircrest through its strategic alliances with medical schools and colleges around the region and country is an example of the progress being made in Puget Sound in developing a world-class center for global medicine.  It has established important teaching, clinical and research relationships in 13 professional disciplines with the University of Washington, University of Kansas, New York Institute of Basic Research, North Seattle Community College and Shoreline Community College. Fircrest School's innovative Assistive Technology and Treatment Center is nationally recognized for its programs to find ways that people with the most severe developmental disabilities can independently control some aspect of their environment.  Fircrest School has a state-of-the-art dental clinic offering a full range of dental services for individuals with developmental disabilities. Working closely with Stevens Hospital and DECOD, a University of Washington group dedicated to providing dental services to persons with disabilities, the dental staff is widely recognized for its expertise in treating persons with the most severe physical challenges.  At Fircrest, a broad-based group of community organizations representing low-income housing advocates, social services, ethnic associations and the Shoreline business community are developing an exciting vision for multiple uses of the excess land. The proposed uses are compatible with Fircrest School and will provide much-needed services to the surrounding community - low-income housing, a world-class multicultural complex, a family resource center campus, and development of compatible private-sector retail or office space. Contact:  Fircrest School, 15230 15^th NE, Shoreline, WA 98155, (206) 361-2990.

Tachachale Dental Clinic, Gainesville, Florida  -- Tachachale is a state-operated facility for about 500 residents with developmental disabilities. Since 1987, it has contracted with the University of Florida’s College of Dentistry to provide needed dental services. The dental staff at Tacachale is working to change the perception that treating someone with a developmental disability requires too much time, too many staff, too much special knowledge or specialized equipment, to make it worthwhile. Contact: Tachachale Dental Clinic, 1621 NE Waldo Road, Gainesville, FL 352-955-5616.

Higginsville Habilitation Center, Higginsville, Missouri -- The Higginsville Habilitation Center "provides a full range of services and supports to enhance the independence of the ladies and gentlemen who reside both on campus and in community homes." See http://www.dmh.mo.gov/higginsville/services.htm. Northwest Community Services, a Home and Community Based Waiver program, is a unit of Higginsville Habilitation Center with its own staff. It serves more than 50 people in Higginsville, Independence, Warrenburg, Corder, Lexington, and Union. According to the website, all people living at Higginsville HC and those referred from the Albany and Kansas City Regional Centers and other agencies have the option of choosing Northwest Community Services. See http://www.dmh.mo.gov/higginsville/about.htm. Contact: April Maxwell, Community Services, Coordinator for Northwest Community Services at 660-584-2142.

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