Services for the Disabled
The 2000 U.S. Census reports that in Newport News, the number of persons with physical disabilities are: 3,594 individuals between the ages of 5 and 20 (8.5 percent of that age group’s population); 18,363 individuals between the ages of 21 and 64 (19.4 percent of the population of that age group); and 7,424 individuals over 65 (or 43.1 percent of that age group’s population). Newport News provides employment placement, education assistance, life skills training, housing placement and other supportive human services to the disabled from numerous public and private agencies.
Insight Enterprises, Peninsula Center for Independent Living is a private nonprofit agency that provides individual and group counseling and placement services for employment and housing, including the administration of some Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers for persons with disabilities. Advocacy efforts include various studies identifying the needs of persons with disabilities and recommending policy changes. Their independent living and life skills’ training includes a myriad of skills such as money management and budgeting, computer training and cooking. The Center provides extensive community outreach and training in the areas of cultural awareness and sensitivity, accessibility, and universal access. For youth one program assists youth with adjusting as they transition out of school and into independent living. They provide parents with information and training on helping children and families adjust to disabilities. For employers and businesses, Insight provides assistance and consultative services and training in accessibility, employment accommodations, and sensitivity. Within nursing homes, Insight is assessing and identifying individuals who could successfully mainstream back into community living with appropriate supports in place as part of the Olmstead Initiative.
Hampton Roads Transit offers "Handi-Ride" which gives curb-to-curb van service for the physically and mentally disabled. All of HRT’s fixed route buses are handicapped accessible. There are “kneeling” buses, as well as wheelchair lifts or ramps for those who require them to board. One does not have to be in a wheelchair in order to use the wheelchair lift or ramp. All Handi-Ride vans are equipped with wheelchair lifts. There are no ramps on the Handi-Ride vehicles – lifts only.
Riverside Behavioral Health Center, an established mental health care provider in Hampton Roads since 1982, provides psychiatric and chemical dependency services to children, adolescents and adults. In April 2000, Riverside Health System acquired the facility and 11-acre campus located on Executive Drive in Hampton. RBHC serves over 30,000 unduplicated individuals annually.
RBHC provide crisis intervention through RESPOND. RESPOND is 24-hour, 7-day a week free, confidential comprehensive assessments and referral assistance for psychiatric and chemical dependency problems. The RESPOND Team is comprised of registered nurses who are mental health professionals experienced in assisting individuals, families and professionals.
RBHC’s services include an extensive 147-bed inpatient psychiatric and chemical dependency center. RBHC has Child and Adolescent psychiatric inpatient, as well as outpatient residential treatment programs. A variety of community support groups meet regularly at this site.
The Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind provides educational and life skills instruction for the visually and hearing-impaired populations in the State.
ARC of the Virginia Peninsula is a nonprofit agency that provides for the needs of persons with mental retardation through extensive supportive housing and employment, and placement services. The Arc of the Virginia Peninsula is a nonprofit agency that provides for the needs of persons with mental retardation through supportive housing and employment placement. It is the policy of the Arc of the Virginia Peninsula to identify potential or actual barriers to access to our services and community services and advocate for the removal of those barriers. The children services department works to address the needs of infants and toddlers with developmental delays and provide excellent after school and summer camp services for school age children with disabilities. Both programs are designed to support children in ways that help foster an improved quality of life for them and their families.
The Arc of the Virginia Peninsula provides the Early Prevention and Intervention for Children (E.P.I.C.) program. E.P.I.C. provides services to infants and toddlers from birth up to 3 years of age who have developmental delays or diagnosed disabilities. The program staff develops plans that are tailored to meet the individual needs of each child and family. Working together, E.P.I.C.’s service coordinators, therapists and parents set realistic developmental goals and implement a plan to reach those goals. As a parent training program, E.P.I.C. staff works with parents, caregivers, and daycare providers to ensure exercises designed to meet developmental goals are carried out in all environments to maximize the child’s progress. The Arc of the Virginia Peninsula offers a variety of residential opportunities for individuals including community residences and Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded. Housing options are available depending on the person's particular abilities and preferences.
The Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board has been helping those in the community affected by mental illness, substance abuse or mental retardation since 1971. Jointly established by the Cities of Hampton and Newport News, the HNNCSB was the first Virginia Community Services Board nationally accredited. HNNCSB has developed an extensive array of specialized services to meet the behavioral health and mental retardation needs of children, adolescents, adults, families and individuals. Each year HNNCSB serves over 10,000 individuals and families, providing both short and long-term treatment and community support.
Services provided by HNNCSB include consumer advocacy, mental health assessments and evaluations, education and outreach, community alternatives to institutionalization and coordination of existing services, emergency services, crisis intervention, case management, in-home supports and services, residential services and housing for persons with mental illness and mental retardation, assertive community treatment teams, and extensive homeless services. They operate HIV Early Intervention Services, a Partial Hospitalization Program, day programs for adults with mental illness or mental retardation, vocational services and employment services. For persons with substance abuse disorders there are Opioid Replacement Services, day treatment and counseling, individual and group supports, and individual and family case management. For children there is Juvenile Detention Services, in-home and therapeutic foster care, residential services, after school respite and summer programs, and individual and family case management. In 2006, HNNCSB initiated the regional 23-hour Crisis Stabilization Center on the campus of Riverside Behavioral Health Center. It created comprehensive Geriatric Services and an Ambulatory Detox Program.
In addition to its clinical programs, the Board coordinates a wide network of prevention and early intervention services to promote the health and well-being of children, adolescents, adults, and families in the community. The HNNCSB Community Builders Network has been so successful as a drug-free and positive youth development program that it was asked to duplicate its success in communities throughout Virginia. In partnership with the Newport News Court System, NN Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, Sheriff’s Department, Police, HNNCSB operates a therapeutic Drug Court for adults as an effective and successful alternative to jail for non-violent substance abusers. HNNCSB operates a 16-bed residential treatment facility for pregnant women and their children to promote healthy deliveries while helping mothers end chemical addictions.