Program for disabled kids closes

From: Greeley Tribune, CO - May 22, 2003

Parents seek alternative in face of budget cuts

Story by Anne Cumming

The days are long for Emily Hartinger. Almost 12 hours of schools, teachers and kids. Sometimes she just wants to go home.

The 12-year-old has autism and cerebral palsy. She looks at magazines and talks to herself at a table in the cafeteria at Dos Rios Elementary School in Evans. She quietly gets up and moves toward the door.

Katrina Dane, a teacher in the before- and after-school program, stands at the door to keep her from leaving. Emily pouts, gets angry and tries to fight her way out.

"You're fine, Emily," Dane says in a reassuring voice. "We'll go home in a little bit."

School plus the before- and after-school program make a long day for Emily, but it allows Emily's mother, Anita Hartinger, to work and provide for her daughter. Without it, the single mother doesn't know what she'll do.

Today, the 15-year-old program will close. Centennial Developmental Services Inc. cut it in February because the agency doesn't have the money to keep it open.

Mary Lu Walton, executive director of Centennial, said cutting the program was difficult for the agency's 11-member board.

"The board really agonized about it," she said. "We know we filled a niche in the community."

Hartinger and a group of parents want to find an alternative. Few other child-care centers in Weld County are licensed for children older than 12, and most don't accept children with disabilities.

Of the 30 children in the program, 12 have disabilities, including autism, attention-deficit disorder, cerebral palsy and hearing loss.

It might not be easy to find a location and money for another program, especially because nonprofits across Weld are suffering because of decreased donations and state budget cuts.

Parents hope to find a child-care provider to expand its program for children with disabilities.

Centennial, 1050 37th St., is a 39-year-old organization that receives money from the state to run group homes, provide transportation and give job training to people with developmental disabilities.

The agency started an all-day child-care program 15 years ago. The idea was to have a mixed group of children with disabilities and other children so they could learn from each other. It was licensed for kids up to 18 years old and included an all-day summer program.

The child care closed in 1995, but the agency kept the before- and after-school program open at Dos Rios and Centennial elementary schools in Evans. Parents paid weekly fees, and Centennial Developmental Services supplemented the program from its family support services program.

Centennial cut $450,000 from its $12 million annual budget because of recent state cuts. But the agency has lost money on the before- and after-school program for years, Walton said. During the past few years, enrollment had decreased from more than 50 children to about 30.

"It was always a community service that had to fund itself," Walton said.

Without the program, parents like Hartinger will have to either quit working or find other care for their children. This summer, Emily will be in a program at the Evans Recreation Center and attend a summer camp in Michigan.

Rachel McLaird's 10-year-old son probably won't benefit from a new program. He is autistic and attends Chappelow Magnet School.

Who to contact

For more information on the support group for parents of children with disabilities, call Anita Hartinger, 506-2723, between 6-9 p.m.

The group needs ideas, a location and money for a before- and after-school program for children with disabilities. He can't go to child care because of his violent temperament. He has torn walls out of his room and ripped up the bathroom floor. McLaird quit her career as a violin teacher to care for him.

"This won't help my son, but I've watched many programs erode because of lack of money," said McLaird, a member of the parent support group. "I feel like I have to start fighting somewhere."

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