Penn Foundation Announces Exciting New Autism Family Support Center
On Friday, January 28, 2005 , John Goshow, President and CEO of Penn Foundation , announced the opening of a new program at Penn Foundation called The Autism Family Support Center. In addition, Russell Johnson, Executive Director of the North Penn Community Health Foundation (NPCHF), announced NPCHF's largest grant to date to help fund this exciting new service for children with Autism and their families. Families of children with Autism also shared their experiences and explained how this new program will improve their lives.
“We are very pleased to be able to offer this new service to the community,” explained Goshow. “We received feedback from families about the need for more comprehensive services for their child with Autism. The goal of The Autism Family Support Center is to meet these needs and fill a void currently not being met.”
The Autism Family Support Center was made possible through the funding of two major sources. The North Penn Community Health Foundation has approved $100,000 over two years for the Autism program, the single largest grant in their history. “ The North Penn Community Health Foundation has a commitment to providing a portion of its grant resources to help individuals with disabilities and their family caregivers to gain access to needed healthcare services and to remain living in their own homes and communities,” states Johnson. “Penn Foundation is well positioned in our community to provide the leadership for this project. It has assembled several strategic and very reputable partners to help ensure the ultimate success of this initiative.”
The Autism Family Support Center also received funding from Bucks County Behavioral Health.
“The Autism Family Support Center was developed to meet the needs of all family members who deal with the daily struggles of having a loved one with Autism,” said Diane Devlin, Director of Children's Community Based Services. “We look to fill service gaps, provide education and support, decrease the family's isolation in the community and most importantly, create positive family memories.”
The opening of the Autism Family Support Center will be implemented in three major phases. The first phase is to hire an Autism Specialist to perform evaluations, make recommendations, and develop a training curriculum for staff. In addition, Debra Gould has already been named as the Autism Resource Professional. Knowledgeable in the trends, research, and services available in the community for children with Autism, Gould will gather info rmation which families can then access to make info rmed decisions regarding the care of their child.
A Parent Advisory Committee will also gear-up during phase one. Parents will provide input and feedback regarding existing services and the need for program development.
The final component of phase one will be to offer in-home respite care. Respite providers will work with the family and the child in social settings so the family can reduce their isolation and increase their participation in community activities. “We will offer more flexibility and less restriction as compared to traditional services,” stated Devlin.
Phase two will involve an increase in the capacity of the respite services and the number of evaluations available. The most significant aspect of phase two will be the initiation of support and education groups for parents and caregivers as well as for siblings of children with Autism. Groups will be facilitated by a Master's level clinician with experience in the field of Autism. The trained facilitator will address issues identified by the group as relevant to their needs. All services will be family driven.
The third phase will incorporate after school socialization groups and occupational therapy for children with Autism. Additionally, sibling social groups and family nights will complement existing programming.
“We hope to have all phases implemented by next school year, September or October 2005,” said Devlin.
Now celebrating its 50 th anniversary, Penn Foundation provides high-quality behavioral healthcare services primarily to the residents of Bucks and Montgomery counties. Since its founding in 1955 as a community-based provider (a novel idea at the time), Penn Foundation has pioneered innovative approaches to care. Today, the non-profit organization meets neighbors' needs for mental health, substance abuse, pastoral counseling, and employee assistance programs. Penn Foundation is continually expanding its offering of highly-evolved wellness programs that help people manage stress, life transitions, and personal growth.
The 298 employees of Penn Foundation serve over 7,500 individuals each year. Approximately 2,000 of these individuals receive ongoing therapeutic social services and support. These ongoing services provide in-community support, social rehabilitation, medication monitoring, and residential care for people with mental disabilities and/or drug and alcohol addiction.
