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Residential Services
Dan Hurd, Director of
Residential Services,
residential@ardmoreinc.org
 Ardmore,
Inc., was founded in 1976 when its first home on Ardmore Avenue was
opened to provide services to two men. The Ardmore Agency has been a pioneer in Ohio, as it has challenged and defined the right of each
individual with a development disability to be a part of the community
in which he/she lives, works, and socializes.
The Ardmore tradition continues as we serve men and
women in supported living homes throughout Summit County. Each facility,
consisting of one to four individuals, has 24-hour staff availability
with low staff-to-clients ratios. Clients participate in vocational
and/or educational day programs outside the home as well as normal daily
routines in the home designed to teach daily living skills and foster
self-reliance.
Home Coordinators and staff are trained to provide
supervision, behavior management intervention, medical assessment, and
programming to meet the changing skill and functioning level of each
individual. Community activities and involvement is encouraged.
Ardmore is supporting the needs of clients who are
elderly with the addition of two accessible facilities designed to
handle mobility and increased medical concerns.
Autism Services
Mike Noe, Autism
Coordinator,
autism@ardmoreinc.org
.jpg) In
the summer of 2003 Ardmore opened its newly constructed 2,400 square
foot / four bedroom/four bathroom home that houses four adults with
autism. In July of 2005 we opened a home with services to four children
with autism.
Ardmores Frontier Initiative is expanding and
developing specialized residential services for those with Autism.
Ardmore is a member of the National Association of Residential
Providers for Adults with Autism (NARPAA). The Association consists
of twenty-six leading agencies across the country specializing in autism
specific residential services.
Not just houses ... Homes
 The
only group home in Summit County for children with autism was opened by
Ardmore, Inc. on July 1, 2005. The home, located in Ellet, was
established at the request of Summit County Board of MR/DD and is owned
by the Summit Housing Development Corporation.
There is only one other residential facility in Ohio
that provides for specialized needs for children with autism. The new
home in Akron provides caseworker support and an IPP plan to four boys
ages 9-12 that will attend Akron Public Schools.
We are very pleased to have been selected as the
residential provider for this innovative and pioneering initiative,
said Rebecca Lemasters, Executive Director of Ardmore. "CSBMR/DD and
Summit County Children Services are important partners in this
collaborative effort to provide quality services and supports to these
children in their home community. This project is in keeping with the
Ardmore tradition of developing service models to meet unmet needs in
the service system.
Training for excellence ...
The goal of the Ardmore Center for Autism to access
the field's most recent and current information was realized this
summer as Dan Hurd, Director of Residential Services, attended the
Autism Society of Americas (ASA) national conference in Nashville,
Tennessee.
We have connected with cutting edge resources at the national level via
our associations with ASA and the National Association of Residential
Providers for Adults with Autism (NARPAA). The information being
gathered is helping us to shape our services and improve quality of life
for individuals with autism. We are also using the information to
develop our own in-house autism-specific training for staff, says Dan
Hurd.
Brook Whack, Home Coordinator of the new facility for
boys, and Patti Tripp, Home Coordinator for the adult home for autism,
attended training at the Autism Services Center in Huntington, West
Virginia. They will be sharing information with staff at both homes.
Ardmore currently has a few open staff positions in these two homes for
individuals looking for a career opportunity to be trained in this
specialized field. Call Ardmore for more information and to apply.
The Ardmore Foundation, who supports Ardmores Center
for Autism and the Ohio Frontier Initiative Autism Project, provided
funding for the training. The Foundation funded a $7,000 grant to Kent
State University to develop an autism assessment tool that will be used
to help determine appropriate methods of intervention and support.
See also
FRONTIER INITIATIVE: Opening Doors for Individuals
with Autism at
www.frontiernet.us.
Respite Services
Yvette Diaz, Director of
Community Services,
ydiaz@ardmoreinc.org
.jpg) The
Ardmore Respite Services Program is a short-term, residential care and
support service designed to meet the planned and/or emergency needs of
an individual, family, care giver, or persons with disabilities served
by Ardmore.
The intra-agency respite program is beneficial to the
individuals we serve, as it allows for the continuity of services for
the person; program plan objectives and goals can be continued without
interruption.
The individual could be served in the respite program
for one to twelve days for planned care giver vacation, planned medical
leave, or holidays. Crisis respite is also available for short- or
long-term situations, often medically and/or psychiatrically
necessitated.
Respite providers must meet a certification process.
Providers are paid on a contract daily basis while providing services
from their own home in Summit County, Ohio.
Community Services
Yvette Diaz, Director of
Community Services,
ydiaz@ardmoreinc.org
 The
Community Services program was developed in 1979 to address the needs of
individuals living independently through Summit County ... and for those
ready to attempt to do so.
Ardmore, Inc.., provides case coordination and support
services to each individual served. Training and assistance with daily
living skills, medical appointments, benefit maintenance, crisis
intervention, and 24-hour emergency assistance are but some of the
support services offered in this program. Appointments with staff range
from once a day to once a month, depending on individual needs.
Foster Care
Yvette Diaz, Director of
Community Services,
ydiaz@ardmoreinc.org
 Ardmore's
Foster Care Program was established in 1982 and is an example of the
agency's leadership in forging new methods to provide services tailored
to individual needs. Ardmore received a state grant to provide technical
assistance on foster care services throughout Ohio.
Ardmore contracts with private families to provide
services in their homes for up to two individuals. All foster homes are
certified as Supported Living Sites by the County of Summit Board of
Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (CSBMR/DD).
The foster care provider participates as a core member
of the Interdisciplinary Program Team.
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