UCP

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AGENCY OVERVIEW


History:

United Cerebral Palsy officially began in 1949 after previously existing in 1948 under the organizational name of the National Foundation for Cerebral Palsy. It was founded by Leonard and Isabelle Goldenson, as well as Mary laser, Anna Rosenberg and Florence Mahoney. They continued to expand during the 1950s, doing a UCP telethon in 1950 and continuing to support research and legislative changes throughout the decade. One of the leaders of the foundation, Isabelle Goldenson helped to increase the amount of research done for the prevention of cerebral palsy which eventually led to changing laws benefitting people with disabilities in 1958. With this, Congress increased the amount of neurological research and also created advanced professional seminar programs.
Then in 1988 UCP helped in the passing of the Technology-Related Assistance Act, with this states felt an incentive to advance and improve their access to people with disabilities. Following this, in 1990, UCP helped to pass the Americans With Disabilities Act which helps to improve basic civil rights protections for any person with disabilities in any field of employment, method of transportation, public accommodations and telecommunications.
In 1994, UCP received the American Society of Association Executive's Summit Award for the ADA Report Card it began producing in 1992. The award was received for the effect the report card had on improving the lives people with disabilities throughout the nation. And last year, UCP celebrated it's 55th anniversary of it's support and commitment to helping people with disabilities.
Today the United Cerebral Palsy continues to work on opening doors for people with disabilities. UCP is also one of the most efficent health charities in America. In giving to the charity, approximately 85% of all revenue collected are directly distributed to the programs and services of UCP, thus making them one of the more efficient charities in America. UCP is also the leading source of information on cerebral palsy and is a pivotal advocate for the rights of persons with any disablilty, 65% of people served at UCP have a disability other than cerebral palsy.


Mission Statement:

"UCP Central PA assists with infants, children,youth and adults with disabilities and their families achieve their goals of development, growth, independence and full citizenship."


Vision Statement:

"All persons in the community, regardless of ability or disability, have an equitable opportunity to fully participate in all facets of community life, in accord with their personal needs and interests."


Values Statement:

"The consumer always comes first. Each person served is at the center of hid or her plan. There is unconditional respect for individual rights and dignity and a commitment to optimal outcomes for each person. Each person served experiences some joy and success each day."


Services Offered:

  • Alternative Day Training-
offered to people with significant disabilities-focusing on improving functional, communication, socialization and prevocational skills.
  • Community Services-
help solve day to day problems dealing with medical care, transportation, housing, employment, education, and attendant care.
  • Assistive Technology-
offers devices or services that can help to improve the abilities of a person with disabilities.
  • Capital Connections-
allows people with disabilities to make more personalized decisions for what they wish their days to entail, also more individualized work and can involve a more extensive involvement in the ::community.


"The services offered are educational, recreational, socialization and volunteer opportunities for people with mental retardation and other disabilities."- Barry Claypool


Agency:

"The biggest problems the agency faces are funding and staffing.
Ways we attempt to overcome problems are trying to be as fiscally frugal
as possible, working at a state and federal level to attempt to make
people understand the challenges of the system, and trying to be
creative in regards to recruitment and retention issues to make the
agency a place people want to work even though we can't pay as much as
we would like."
-Interview with Barry Claypool through email


Our Service Experiences:

Maybe so that everyone can get some sort of personal reflection on this Wiki Page we can enter a personal quote or some sort of funny or cool experience that happened while we worked at UCP and then ended it with our name for example: "I learned a lot working with UCP...etc. etc. etc." -S. Paul Lukoskie
I really didn't have any idea what to expect when I first went to UCP. However, Stephanie let me know that all the clients had been diagnosed with mental disabilities and explained certain behaviors of some of the people there. The main people that I worked with during my time at UCP were Junior, Dru, and Mark. I did puzzles with Junior a lot, and computer games and crafts with Dru. Dru was very talkative, and we would talk about what was going on, what they had done that day, and what she was up to that weekend. She was always interested in what was going on with me and always asked me a ton of questions! Mark was always so friendly, and Dru and I helped him to crafts a lot. He loves to look at AutoTrader, pick out his favorite trucks, and then Dru and I would paste them on paper for him. He loved the John Deere trucks! For the most part, I got there around lunch, so I helped all the clients get their lunches opened, chatted with them while they ate, then helped them clean up and got started on some activities. I was able to go in the morning once and dyed Easter eggs with them, which was a nice change.
At first I have to admit I was a bit uncomfortable at UCP mainly because I didn't know anyone and was by myself the first time. I didn't really know what to expect of the clients and wasn't sure if they even wanted me there. However, after spending some time with the clients, I felt a lot more comfortable and quickly learned how to approach, talk to, and deal with most of the clients. I ended up really enjoying my time there. I think that I, and all of us, impacted the clients at UCP just by helping them and opening ourselves up to them as friends. They seemed to really like having me there and wanted to do activities as soon as I got there. I really learned a lot from my experience at UCP, and I think the most important thing that I learned during my time there was how to interact with people who have a disability. I don't think I had much experience in the past and that's why I was so uncomfortable in the beginning. After spending a few hours at UCP, though, I feel confident in my ability to have social interactions with a person with disabilities, something that a lot of people who didn't get this opportunity wouldn't have. -Melissa Paettie


Related Links:

http://www.ucp.org/
  • This page offers the best information available both on UCP and on Cerebral Palsy.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cerebral_palsy/cerebral_palsy.htm
  • This page gives an overview of CP as well as contact information.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/8950/
  • This page is part of Cerebral Palsy Network and connects parents with CP children and also those having CP to one another.
http://gait.aidi.udel.edu/res695/homepage/pd_ortho/clinics/c_palsy/cpweb.htm#RTFToC3
  • This site is a general guide to Cerebral Palsy.


UCP In The News/Current Events/Current Issues:

http://ga4.org/campaign/2006budget
  • This site is more of an awareness to everyone to write their Congressional Representatives to support budget policies to aid the general population as well as those who are disabled.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/22/nyregion/22housing.html
  • This New York Times article reflects on how housing for disabled citizens is in jeopardy due to newly proposed budget cuts.


Contact People:

Since our contact person at UCP, Carlise (Stephanie) no longer works there we have been trying to get a hold of someone else to help gather information for this project so that we can continue to add to our Wiki Page.
Kathy Seiderer:
(717)737-3477
Kathy is currently in charge of Central Pennsylvania's UCP. She has been extremely difficult to get a hold of (we have called and left several messages but have not heard back from her yet).
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