1980’s History – Reach Child & Youth Development Centre

1980: Delta Association for Handicapped Children’s integrated pre-school Delta Child Development Centre serves a total of 64 children, 12 of whom have special needs.  Each special needs child has a program designed to meet their own individual needs.  This is determined by the Special Education Teacher who uses documentation from the diagnostic centre and the Portage Assessment Guide, in consultation with the child’s parents or caregivers. Each child with special needs receives ½ – 1 hour of one-to-one individual programming daily as well as ½ hour weekly speech therapy.  Parent conferences and home visits are an integral part of each child’s program.

March 20, 1980: Review of services available for severely handicapped children and adolescents up to the age of 19 is carried out by a provincial inter-ministerial study team coordinated by John Talbot.

Archived press clippings:

March 1983: Delta Association for Handicapped Children sponsors Holly House, a group home for 3 people with special needs. Holy House was a residential training home that provided training in the development of self-care and daily living skills. It provided 4 training home staff, one Consultant whom developed programs for the children and liaised with school and parents and Childcare Workers to supplement the work of the staff if needed. It also provided an outreach program that provided support for 12 families in the community by assessing developing and monitoring programs for children in their family settings and Childcare Workers that provided help in the children’s homes. Management of Holly House is later transferred to Gateway House Society, a Ladner organization that provides services to children with autism.

April 1, 1983: The Delta Association for Handicapped Children changes its name to The Delta Association for the Handicapped.

March 1984: Delta Child Development Centre celebrates 10th Anniversary.

September 23, 1985: Minister of Health Jim Neilson announced a change in policy that would allow people labeled “extended care eligible” to live in group homes…In time, the success of these community placements led to changes in the Community Care Regulations to allow individuals who use wheelchairs to live in the community. It also led to the formation of a new division in the Ministry of Health – Services to the Handicapped (STTH). Over time, residents at the Variety Farm have moved into group homes, family care through the Independent Care Network or into semi-independent living arrangements in the community. Between 1986 and 1996, the government closed provincial institutions, and services were provided by Delta Community Living Society to provide community living for many more people as a result.

April 1986: Parents of children with severe special needs spearhead the development of Penny Sunshine Preschool for Multihandicapped Children, sponsored by the Delta Association for the Handicapped. The preschool opens in April 1986 at Holly Elementary School in Ladner and in 1987 moves to Port Guichon School Ladner. The preschool supports children with severe special needs that cannot otherwise be supported by Delta Child Development Centre Preschool. The objective of the school is to provide educational and developmental activities that help them to reach their full potential. Activities address language development, fine and gross motor development, auditory discrimination, feeding, and social and emotional development.  The school operates 5 mornings per week. Three children between the ages of 2 and 5 attend the preschool. The school has a teacher, Pat Mason, and an assistant along with some volunteers. Twice a month the children receive physiotherapy.

Archived press clippings:

April 1989: The Delta Association for The Handicapped opens 2 more new programs: The Infant Development Program (IDP) and The Respite program