Development Centers

The Department of Developmental Services directly operates five State Developmental Centers and two Community Centers.These facilities provide services to individuals who have been determined by regional centers to require programs, training, care, treatment and supervision in a structured health facility setting on a 24-hour basis.

The five developmental centers are licensed and certified acute care hospitals and serve individuals with developmental disabilities in distinct parts licensed and certified as Nursing Facility (NF) and Intermediate Care Facility/Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR) services.

These facilities provide intensive training and supervision to individuals whose needs cannot readily be met by available private community-based services. They provide services to persons referred from a regional center or committed through the judicial system. Admission to one of these facilities requires either a formal determination that the individual meets stringent admission criteria, or a court order. Most individuals admitted in recent years have been persons committed by the courts because their behavior in the community led to involvement with the criminal justice system.

These 24-hour facilities deal with all aspects of the individuals' lives. This includes everything from residential services through skill training, specialized health-care and other therapies to leisure and recreational opportunities. Their primary mission is to provide habilitation and training services that are designed to increase residents' levels of independence and functioning skills, ability to control their environment, and ability to live in community settings. These services are supplemented, as needed, with medical, dental, nursing and a wide variety of other specialized services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and language development.

Persons admitted through the judicial system receive training on the skills and competency necessary to live successfully in the community. Individuals with medical conditions receive special supervision and medical and nursing care in NF units. A full-range of behavior intervention and behavior-skills training services are available for persons who need them. If able to participate, residents under age 22 attend school either in community schools or in developmental center classes. Adult individuals participate in a wide variety of vocational, and skill-development programs both on the grounds or in the community if appropriate. All individuals are given the opportunity to participate in a variety of recreational activities and leisure pursuits.