Play, learning programs to open in Washington
For many years, United Cerebral Palsy of Southwestern Pennsylvania has provided services to people from infants to seniors with physical or developmental disabilities, not just those afflicted by cerebral palsy. Beginning the week of Jan. 29, numerous families in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia will be able to take advantage of two new programs that will open in a recently renovated 14,000-square-foot building located at 289 North Ave. in Washington.
In the new facility, Rainbow’s End Recreation Station, a creative play center for children of all abilities, both disabled and non-disabled, will join Your Child’s Place, a prescribed pediatric extended care center for children who have complex medical needs that prevent them from attending typical child-care centers.
Open to the general public seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Recreation Station will allow families and children of diverse abilities and backgrounds to interact in a social setting. Children with disabilities will be able to participate in the same activities and play on the same equipment as children without disabilities, thus removing the stigma of children with disabilities being “different” than other children.
Families who have multiple children (with and without disabilities) can utilize a single location where, regardless of abilities, they all can participate in the same activities and play areas.
“Statistics show that children spend far too much time on computers and video games and are not learning socialization skills,” said Tony Mauro, director of development for United Cerebral Palsy of Southwestern Pennsylvania. “To encourage these abilities, Recreation Station will have old-fashioned play items such as an 18-by-6-foot train designed and built by students at California University of Pennsylvania’s Technology Education Department. The device will accommodate children and allow them to feel as if they were operating the train.”
Another play area will feature a clock tower that will include a lift for children in wheelchairs.
Recreation Station will be parental supervised and operate on a per-person daily fee of about $7. Participants can stay for as little as an hour or as long as eight hours each day.
The creative play area will be set up like a streetscape with different rooms offering different activities and adventures for children of all ages and likes and dislikes. Art, music and reading rooms will provide opportunities for children to display their creative sides, while a rotating theme room showcases the popular events of the month or season such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day or National Reading Week. Finally, multipurpose rooms can be used for events such as birthday parties.
“We see Recreation Station as a destination for parents and children in our area,” said Mauro. “It’ll be similar to parents taking their children to a big shopping mall or the Children’s Museum.”
The facility’s sister program, Your Child’s Place, is a prescribed pediatric extended care center for children between the ages of 6 weeks to 12 years who have complex medical needs that prevent them from attending typical child-care centers. Children, who require specialized care or support for acute health situations that require the support of a pediatric nurse, will be eligible for services.
Your Child’s Place will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and staffed by a medical director, who will function in an advisory capacity, and a clinical director, who will be in charge of the day-to-day, hands-on activities. A registered nurse with pediatric nursing experience will fill the latter position. Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, as well as aides, also will be employed at the center for an anticipated ratio of one staff professional to three children.
Mauro said Your Child’s Place will give children the opportunity to participate in medical and educational programs developed specifically for their conditions and abilities.
“The development of this pediatric extended care facility will also be a tremendous benefit to the families of the children receiving care,” said Mauro. “The families will feel confident that their children will receive the highest quality of care by skilled medical and educational staff. This will enable the parents to attend to other parental responsibilities including entering or returning to employment, furthering their own education, or simply receiving some much needed respite to accomplish domestic and personal tasks.”
To qualify, a letter of medical necessity must be written by the child’s primary care physician or specialist as an option to in-home skilled nursing. Two fees, a medical service fee and a child-care fee, will be assessed. The medical service fees can be billed to most health plans, and the child-care fees, tentatively set at $35 a day, are the responsibility of the parent and/or guardian. CCIS, or state Department of Public Welfare assistance payments also are accepted for child-care services.
According to Mauro, Your Child’s Place is greatly needed in southwestern Pennsylvania. Statistics compiled from the 2000 U.S. Census and the state departments of Health, Education and Welfare indicate more than 8,400 children between the ages of birth and 5 have been diagnosed with a disability, and/or receive early intervention services in communities within a one-hour drive from the new facility.
This area comprises Washington, Greene, Fayette and Allegheny counties in Pennsylvania, and Ohio, Marshall and Monongalia counties in West Virginia. At this time, only two pediatric extended care programs are available for medically fragile children in Pennsylvania.
To confirm the need and support for this service in the area, a survey was developed and sent to about 150 pediatricians, family practitioners and obstetricians. One hundred percent of the surveys returned indicated a need for this service in the area.
“Initially, we looked around for a facility to house just Your Child’s Place,” said Mauro. “But when we found a suitable 14,000-square-foot building and purchased it in May 2005, it’s large size allowed us also to install Rainbow’s End Recreation Station.”
The total cost of the projects is $4.6 million. To date, more than $2.2 million has been raised from various foundations, individual donors and the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA).
Washington Federal Savings Bank has approved a loan to help fund Your Child’s Place, 90 percent of which will be guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Plans also are under way to secure additional funding from the federal and state government as well as numerous national and local foundations, corporations and individuals.
“So far, we’ve received a lot of response for both programs,” said Mauro. “Several area schools have expressed an interest in bringing their students in for an outing at Recreation Station and hospitals, physicians’ networks and rehab and therapy centers have made inquiries about Your Child’s Place.”
Both Rainbow’s End Recreation Station and Your Child’s Place will open the week of Jan. 29. For more information, call 724-229-0851 and ask for Tony Mauro.