The Children’s Center has been helping children with special needs reach their full potential for over 50 years and serves over 150 children within their Augusta, Farmington, and Skowhegan sites. With an emphasis on early intervention, the Center is proud to have already implemented many strategies from Impact2032’s Vision for Education.
The Children’s Center recognizes how critical early intervention is and brings together experts in early childhood development to offer a wide range of services with a heavy emphasis on social and emotional development as well as basic health and safety needs. Inclusive early education services include specialized programs for children with autism, complex medical needs and global delays, and behavioral day treatment. The Center also values the importance of supporting and educating caregivers of children with disabilities and provides targeted case management support and outpatient services, such as occupational therapy, speech therapy, and outpatient mental health for children and families.
The Children’s Center’s most rapidly growing program is a fully accredited Special Purpose Private School (SPPS). This program was designed to meet the needs of children who are not quite ready to transition to public school as recommended by their Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team. The SPPS currently provides kindergarten through third grade education where children are learning and growing in a specialized classroom working to meet specific goals and objectives.
When young children with special needs must wait to access specialized services, their window of opportunity to develop crucial life skills gets smaller. The Children’s Center currently has more than 100 children waiting for services, and the sooner they get help, the better their lives will be. In response and as part of its Impact2032 plan, the Center is focused on reducing these numbers so children can get the services they need in a timely manner. The Center has recently expanded its primary Augusta facility by 14,000 square feet, while also renovating 5,000 square feet of existing space, with most of the funding coming from the generosity of donors. This expansion brings the Center one step closer to achieving its goal of opening its doors to serve more children and their families.
