The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)
has awarded the Center for Human Services the highest level of accreditation continually since 1986.
In 1955, the Crippled Children’s Center was founded as a cooperative service model by a group of innovative community members. The Center began with one teacher and 9 children and has grown to be the Center for Human Services today, serving over 2000 children and adults with disabilities and their families in over 30 counties in Central Missouri. The Center for Human Services is an umbrella title which includes six (6) Corporations and four distinct program areas: Family and Child Development, Employment Services, Community Living, and Consumer Advocacy.
Children’s Services
During the early 1950′s, local citizens, mirroring national trends, saw the need to provide services closer to home for children with disabilities. At that time, parents were advised to place children with disabilities in institutions or send them to schools in larger cities. So, in 1955, the Crippled Children’s Center was established through funds provided by:
United Cerebral Palsy
March of Dimes
Easter Seals
the Community
That year, nine children received services from one teacher in a former nurses quarters. In 1963, the name was changed to the Children’s Therapy Center. Ten years later, the center moved to its own facility. In the fall of 2008, children’s services moved to a new facility in the Thompson Meadows Industrial Park.
Go to the Family & Child Development page for information on the state of the art children’s programs that CHS now provides.
Employment Services
The Center has grown and adapted over time as the needs of the people that it served have changed. By the mid 1960′s, some individuals who were receiving services were finishing their formal education and needing employment. At the time, it was generally believed that individuals with disabilities were incapable of working. In 1966, the Center’s leaders, working with local business, chartered Missouri’s first sheltered workshop, where employees work at their own pace and are paid according to their productivity.
The workshop’s first facility was the old building in east Sedalia shown here. In 1988, the workshop moved to the Ewing Vocational Center in the Sedalia Industrial Park .
In 1972, a second facility was opened in Marshall, Missouri, to serve residents of Saline County.
Today, the Center for Human Services is a Full Service Employment Center. Individuals with Disabilities have the choice to work in various settings, including Job Preparation, Facility Based Employment, Job Exploration, Crews in Industry or in the Community, Supported Employment, and Competitive Employment.
Go to the Employment Services page for details on the programs and services that the Center for Human Services provides.
Community Living
In 1979, responding to the need for affordable and safe housing for adults with disabilities, the Community Living program was added. The first group home, Tower Farm, (pictured left) was home to seven (7) adults with disabilities.
Today, a variety of residential options and support services are available in Pettis, Saline and Moniteau Counties. Residential options include: Activity Centers offering community and Center-based activities, Individualized Supported Living, HUD funded affordable housing with supports, Community housing with individualized supports, and group home settings with 24 hour supports.
Go to the Community Living page to learn more.
Consumer Advocacy
In February 1996, as a pilot project in conjunction with the Department of Mental Health – Division of Developmental Disabilities, CHS began providing Targeted Case Management services in Pettis and Saline Counties to approximately 300 individuals with seven Consumer Advocacy Services Professionals (CASP’s).
Today, we are providing Targeted Case Management Services in six counties, they include Benton, Clay, Dallas, Hickory, Pettis and Saline counties.
Go to Consumer Advocacy page to learn more.
Leadership
The Center for Human Services various operating boards are made up of members of the community who invest their time and energy offering effective leadership. Each board performs independently creating a close cooperative partnership. The following boards ensure the community of the most efficient and operative means for providing the highest quality services for individuals with disabilities.
CHILDREN’S THERAPY CENTER, INC.
Mike Moser, President
Michael Jackson, Treasurer
Deanna Nelson, Secretary
Van VanDyne, (Past President)
Roger Alewel
Margaret Ward*
Earl Finley
Dr. Bill Woolery
Sue Heckart
George Thompson, Sr.
Ken Norton
Betty Hopkins
Beth Ash
Cliff Callis
Eddie DeJaynes
CASA GRANDE INC. / PALMS RESIDENTIAL CENTER, INC.
Carol Scrimager, President*
Don Brandes Vice-Pres./Treas.*
Rick Thompson, Secretary*
Margaret Ward*
Michael Jackson
Aric Snyder, Jr.*
PETTIS COUNTY SB40 BOARD
Robert Upton, President
Pat Allen, Vice-President
Carol Scrimager, Secretary*
Rick Thompson, Treasurer*
Kim Graves
Sheree Norfleet
Jim T. Buckley
Karri Wilson
Linda Christle
COOPERATIVE WORKSHOPS, INC.
Dennis Eding, President
James P. Buckley, Vice President
Ray Haley, Secretary
Richard Parkhurst, Treasurer
Sue Cromley (Past President)
Joe Beykirch
Joe Bode
Linda Christle
Ron Ditzfeld
Chris Squires
Kathy Ross
Ben Embree
Aric Snyder, Jr.*
David Goodson
Carol Mason
CRESTWOOD COURT, INC./TRADEWINDS
Carol Scrimager, President*
Don Brandes , Vice-Pres./Treas.*
Rick Thompson, Secretary*
James L. Chervalier
Marshall Krause
Debbie Allison
SALINE COUNTY SB40 BOARD
Marshall Krause, President
James Chevalier, Vice-President
Hulda Dooley, Secretary
Lesa Banks, Treasurer
Jeanne Parkhurst
Carolyn Pearson
Ron Duvall
Kent Butler
Debbie Allison
DEERBROOK BOARD
Carol Scrimager, President*
Charlene Ford, Vice-President
Mike Moser, Secretary*
Rita Percival, Treasurer
Anita Gross
Barb Denker
Lindell Harrison
*-Member of more than one board
