The Shelby County Board of Developmental Disabilities (SCBDD) saw a few changes in 2018. One of these changes was the leadership as long-time Superintendent Zureich retired and was replaced by Leigh Anne Wenning. Even through these changes, SCBDD continues to flourish and provide innovative, quality services to people with disabilities in Shelby County.
“SCBDD’s Early Intervention (EI) program, which primarily serves children from newborn up to three years-old, continued to help children thrive,” said Wenning. “EI utilizes the child’s home or natural environment to teach therapeutic techniques to primary caregivers. These techniques (such as the PLAY Project) help children continuously work on skills that they need to be prepared to interact with peers their own age. In 2018, our EI department completed 97 evaluations while enriching the development of 133 children and their families.”
Her report continues:
SCBDD’s preschool, Shelby Hills, has had another very successful year. Beginning in 2016, Shelby Hills has received and maintained a 5-Star Step Up To Quality rating. This is the highest achievement possible awarded by the Ohio Department of Education. While the 5-Star rating and high enrollment (412 students) made the year good, it was the staff and extra activities that made the school year great. The B.E.S.T. organization held a Glow Run in October that raised funds for equipment and other resources for students and families at Shelby Hills. There were many other events like the Winter Wonderland Parade, Baseball Night, and Literacy Week that brings families together while providing an educational experience for the students.
Transitioning from school to adulthood can be a challenging time and it’s no different for students served by SCBDD. While students receive some job skills training from the schools they attend, SCBDD staff provides opportunities such as paid work experience, career exploration, and professional skills classes through the summer and evening time. Last year, SCBDD provided these career boosting activities to over 20 students who will look to graduate and join the Shelby County workforce in the near future.
In addition to these future workers, SCBDD assisted 32 people in our community with finding or maintaining employment. We are thankful for the incredible employers we have in and around Shelby County who showed that they are only interested in the ability of their workers and indifferent to disability. SCBDD contracts with great community partners like S&H Products and Capabilities to provide many employment services including job coaching and transportation.
The Community and Support Services (CSS) department of SCBDD have seen their numbers rise to serving 360 people in 2018. Through community partners and self-reporters, the CSS department assessed 99 people for SCBDD services last year and found 26 people eligible. Besides helping people plan for the future and linking them with community resources, CSS purchased on-going support services for 173 people last year. Many of the services are designed to teach independence in cooking, cleaning, money management, employment, self-care, and other activities of daily living.
SCBDD is planning on doing even greater things in 2019. Though many of the departments will serve at least as many people as they did in 2018, Shelby Hills staff will be reduced as many students will transition to Sidney City Schools for preschool in the fall of 2019. Another issue facing people served by SCBDD is the shortage of people to provide support for many of the services for which CSS contracts. However, with the support of Shelby County residents, businesses, and community partners, we know that great things will still be accomplished in 2019. Check on our progress by Liking us on Facebook or by visiting our website: https://shelbydd.org/
