BVC supports hundreds

Blanchard Valley Center supports local residents with developmental disabilities, from offering therapies in early childhood and supporting preschool and school-age programs to providing job help and home assistance in adulthood. Blanchard Valley Center (BVC) and its programs helped 918 Hancock County residents in 2023. That is up from the 816 in 2019. In one program, BVC helps adults with 24-hour residential needs, said Kelli Grisham, superintendent of Blanchard Valley Center. Frequently two, three or four clients live together as a group. BVC staff support and care for clients in their homes, whether it is cooking, taking clients to medical appointments or generally supervising. BVC funds do not pay for rent or groceries. "A lot of our folks need staff all the time. They don't know what to do in an emergency situation. They don't know how to dial 911," Grisham said. "Some of them can't talk. Some of them can't walk." BVC also provides vocational support. Some clients spend six or seven hours learning a job in a workshop or spend time in a day support program. BVC also supports clients in their employment. "So a job coach may work with someone at their job at Kroger or at Lowe's Distribution or wherever they have chosen to get a job," she said. Early intervention Early childhood intervention, from infancy through 2 years of age, is a key program. It accounts for much of the growth in numbers of lives improved by BVC. Studies have found that early intervention with infants and toddlers showing developmental delays can prevent 33 percent of them from needing any further assistance, Grisham said. "It works wonders. We know lots of research has shown us that the earlier we get in there when kids have developmental delays some of it can resolve itself if you get in there early enough," she said. The number of infants/toddlers served in the program grew from 231 in 2019 to 320 in 2023. "This is because doctors, daycares, (Hancock County Job and Family Services), and other agencies send us referrals regarding these children so we can begin working with their developmental delays earlier with the hopes that some of the delays are corrected prior to starting school," Grisham said. In the early intervention program, a service coordinator and a developmental specialist meet with the family in its home. They assess the child. "Then they teach the family how to work with that child to get them on track developmentally," she said. "They have a lot of tips and tricks for parents." "They do speech therapy because lots of kiddos at that age are behind in speech. Occupational therapy, physical therapy … all of these supports are done in the family home," Grisham said. "It's not just working with the child, like you would think, taking them to a speech therapist or taking them to physical therapy. They do it in the home of the child so the parents learn how to help the child when the developmental specialist isn't there." Preschool/School BVC and the Hancock County Educational Service Center (ESC) cooperate to provide preschool which integrates children with developmental disabilities with children who do not. "We know that if we have kids with disabilities around kids without disabilities they are going to learn so much more than just being around all kids with disabilities," Grisham said. A preschool class, offered on BVC's campus, is taught by ESC staff. Besides providing the classroom space, BVC provides financial assistance to the program. When they reach school-age, most children with developmental disabilities attend their local school district. BVC provides those children and families with case management and other resources, she said. Vocation As its clients get into their teen years, BVC helps its clients prepare for adulthood by offering work rotations at local businesses. The job rotations help clients explore possible careers. "We've had job rotations at the YMCA, job rotations at Oler's, Culver's. We're doing one this summer with the (Hancock) Park District," Grisham said. "All of our interns have gotten job offers or have actually gotten jobs. So I think that is a real eye-opener to parents that there is stuff to do. They can get jobs. We just have to figure out what they're interested in, and then we can partner with businesses that they get that experience of the job." "This is all done under supervision of our staff. Our staff go with them to these job rotations. We have someone that works at the (YMCA) now," she said. "We have someone that works at Burger King now. It's been a really good partnership and businesses in the community have just been very welcoming to these recent graduates. … It's been really exciting."