BAROCO'S LEDYARD PROGRAM

Location
          Our Ledyard facility is located at 1501 Route 12 in Ledyard, Connecticut.  The site has four large rooms, each with its own bathroom, kitchen area, and picture windows that provide a pleasant amount of natural light.  There is also a reception area and a conference area that houses our copier, media cart, baking cart, recycling center and various other project supplies. 

People served in this program
            The program serves people who have been diagnosed with severe developmental disabilities.  Many of the people in the program also have significant physical disabilities which limits their mobility.

Program Hours
            The Ledyard site is open to consumers Monday through Friday, 8:45am to 2:45pm.  We are closed for ten holidays and four staff development days throughout the year. 

Quality Assurance
            One of the things that has set Baroco apart from other providers been our consistent attention to looking at ways to improve our services.  Baroco has developed its own, in-depth, quality assurance tool to ensure that each of our programs is providing the best possible services.   All of our facilities are committed to programmatic improvement and maintaining the respect and dignity of every participant that we serve.  To this end, we are constantly  searching for innovative ways to enhance the services we provide.
            Additionally,  Baroco is evaluated throughout the year by various State auditors.  The auditors have consistently given us excellent evaluations frequently stating that our services are among the best that they have reviewed.  Baroco's recent review by the State in August 2004 revealed "no improvements needed".

Services Provided 
        The program provides  Community Experience Services,  Services for Older Adults, as well as Volunteer Services.   To learn more about each service area click on the underlined link.
             A support system is in place to provide our consumers with guidance throughout the day regarding their daily routines, hygiene needs and activities of daily living.  The natural adult role is prevalent in our site’s culture as individuals take responsibility for their classrooms and belongings.  Each month our site is engaged in a wide array of theme work.  Mandatory teaching units for the calendar year include human rights, safety, and healthy lifestyles.  Other areas of study include a variety of relevant and functional topics chosen by each class with the hopes of keeping our consumers’ interest piqued.  Each consumer has an individualized service plan that includes formalized programs in need areas such as communication, occupational therapy, recreation and leisure, physical therapy and community experience.  We have regular access to a Speech and Language Pathologist and a Registered Physical Therapist for specialized programs.  Programs are summarized quarterly for team and family review.  Family members and guardians are invited to participate in and give feedback on service development through annual program surveys and informal telephone calls.  They are also welcome to visit the site at any time.  Our site benefits from a degree of flexibility that allows us to adapt quickly to changes in our consumers’ needs.  Our consumers are assisted in writing to family members on a bi-monthly basis and we have found that this has become a special link for families.  

Person Centered Planning 
         Person-Centered Plans are developed in conjunction with the person's home and family.  With input from families and Instructors, either Baroco's Case Manager, the Program Director, or the Assistant Director writes these plans. The plans address needs in the areas of Communication, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Recreation and Leisure, Community Integration and Behavior Management. We also have Consultants who help to identify appropriate goals and objectives and provide staff with the training necessary to carry out the objectives.
     We work to coordinate programs, in the two settings, to ensure that the consumer can generalize his or her skills in both environments. Quarterly progress summaries are shared with the team and changes are made to meet the individual's needs as appropriate. We maintain close relationships with families and guardians through annual program surveys and telephone calls. We also assist many of our consumers in writing letters to those who are involved in their lives. Baroco maintains an open door policy in which visitors are always welcome with no appointment necessary.

Staffing
        Our staff is comprised of 6 full time & 3 part time instructors, an assistant director, a secretary and a program director.  The assistant director is a consistent substitute instructor as generally there is only one person off per day.  This system works well to alleviate the short staffing issues suffered by many other human service agencies as well as provide our consumers with a reliable and familiar replacement in the absence of their instructor.

Program Contact
For questions or to set up a tour of our Ledyard Facility call Colleen Phillips, Program Director at 860-464-7515 Ext 1#  or Marcy Colby, Clinical Coordinator, at 860-307-8277.