PACT: Helping Children with Special Needs
PACT Building, 7000 Tudsbury Rd., Baltimore, MD 21244
Director:
The mission of PACT: Helping Children with Special Needs is to promote the development of young children
with special needs and/or high risk factors for developmental delays through programs providing comprehensive assessments; early intervention services; family support services; parent education, specialized childcare; and professional training.
PACT Operates five programs: a comprehensive therapy center, a specialized childcare program for medically fragile and developmentally delayed children, therapeutic nurseries for children and parents currently or recently homeless, a supported parenting program for mothers and fathers who are cognitively limited and have young children, and a training program for child care professionals that promotes inclusion of children with special needs in their centers.
Success at PACT is often measured in very small steps. For one child, success might be defined as learning how to walk without support. For another, it may be the ability to say a full sentence that a stranger could understand. It might even be a baby who for the first time is comforted by his mother’s voice and touch. For the Sulerzyski family, success was the smile on the face of their daughter Abby as she learned how to interact with the people and things in her environment. Abby is the youngest of three Sulerzyski daughters. According to her mother Victoria there were no complications during her pregnancy with Abby. Consequently, it was quite a shock to the family that shortly after Abby’s birth they were given the first installment of a long list of challenges Abby would be facing, challenges that would affect not only Abby's life but the entire dynamics of the family. Abby was born with cerebral palsy and a rare gastrointestinal condition that requires 24-hours/day tube feeding. Later the doctors told her parents that Abby was hearing and vision impaired as well as mentally retarded.
Abby came to PACT when she was just nine months old. Her first days in PACT’s medically-based childcare center were spent lying on a blanket on the floor with other children close by. She made no effort to explore her surroundings. Over the next two years in PACT’s World of Care childcare program, nurses, social workers, and a cadre of educators and childcare workers continually challenged Abby to do more and more. At the same time, PACT's physical, occupational and speech/language therapists worked closely with Abby. Now, Abby smiles when she knows someone is talking to her. She sits up and plays with toys. She is curious and giggles when her favorite toy plays a familiar tune. Abby has blossomed and with her blossoming came the time to say good-bye. Abby has graduated to the Maryland School for the Blind where thanks to all the preparation she received at PACT, she is doing well. The rest of the family is doing well, also. Both parents were able to continue their jobs and Abby’s mother Victoria has just completed law school and is now an attorney assisting parents in planning for the futures of their children with disabilities. Victoria is quick to note that without PACT, things may have turned out very differently for her family.
PACT Operates five programs: a comprehensive therapy center, a specialized childcare program for medically fragile and developmentally delayed children, therapeutic nurseries for children and parents currently or recently homeless, a supported parenting program for mothers and fathers who are cognitively limited and have young children, and a training program for child care professionals that promotes inclusion of children with special needs in their centers.
- Comprehensive Therapy Center:
The Comprehensive Therapy Center serves children from infancy up to 18 years of age with identified or suspected developmental delays. It offers evaluations; physical , occupational and speech/language therapies; mental health services; and service coordination. In addition, the program offers training and counseling for parents and other caregivers. - A World of Care:
World of Care provides specialized childcare services to children ages six weeks to five years of age with developmental delays and/or medical challenges that require daily nursing interventions. World of Care also offers after-school care for children age three and four who meet the medical eligibility requirements. World of Care is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), an honor afforded to only 7% of the childcare centers in the country. World of Care's staff includes nurses, social workers, special educators, and specially trained childcare workers. Daily nursing assessments are provided to all medically fragile children. Physical, occupational, and speech/language therapies are provided as needed, by Comprehensive Therapy Center therapists; mental health services are provided by PACT social workers. World of Care is one of only two medically-based child care centers in Maryland. It serves children and families from the entire Baltimore metropolitan region. - Growing Together:
Growing Together is a supported parenting program for mothers and fathers who are cognitively limited and have children under age three. The program has a dual focus: teaching safe, effective, and nurturing parenting techniques while also providing therapy (i.e., physical, occupational and speech/language therapy) to the children, if needed, and parent-child developmental activities to enhance the child's developmental progress. Growing Together is the only supported parenting program of its type in Maryland. - Therapeutic Nursery:
The Therapeutic Nursery provides childcare to children under age three who live with their parents in homeless shelters in Baltimore City. The Therapeutic Nursery is an Early Head Start program and meets all federal and state childcare licensing requirements. All children are provided with developmental screenings and receive physical, occupational, and/or speech language therapy, if needed. In addition to childcare services, the Nursery offers a strong mental health component designed to strengthen families and promote parent-child bonding. A second Therapeutic Nursery opened in 2008, located in Sandi’s Learning Center in West Baltimore. As parents leave the shelters and return to the community, this nursery provides ongoing child care, mental health and coordination of services to keep families connected with community resources.
- Inclusive Child Care Training Program: PACT, in partnership with Abilities Network’s Project ACT, received four multi-year grants, one through United Way of Central Maryland and three through the Maryland State Department of Education. These training grants enable PACT and Project ACT to provide techniques and strategies to: support the inclusion of all children in early education and child care programs throughout Maryland; reduce the number of children removed from child care due to behavioral issues; and ensure that children enter school fully ready to learn. The ultimate goal of this new initiative, titled Inclusive Child Care Training Program, is to promote the inclusion of all children by increasing the number of high quality early care and education programs.
Success at PACT is often measured in very small steps. For one child, success might be defined as learning how to walk without support. For another, it may be the ability to say a full sentence that a stranger could understand. It might even be a baby who for the first time is comforted by his mother’s voice and touch. For the Sulerzyski family, success was the smile on the face of their daughter Abby as she learned how to interact with the people and things in her environment. Abby is the youngest of three Sulerzyski daughters. According to her mother Victoria there were no complications during her pregnancy with Abby. Consequently, it was quite a shock to the family that shortly after Abby’s birth they were given the first installment of a long list of challenges Abby would be facing, challenges that would affect not only Abby's life but the entire dynamics of the family. Abby was born with cerebral palsy and a rare gastrointestinal condition that requires 24-hours/day tube feeding. Later the doctors told her parents that Abby was hearing and vision impaired as well as mentally retarded.
Abby came to PACT when she was just nine months old. Her first days in PACT’s medically-based childcare center were spent lying on a blanket on the floor with other children close by. She made no effort to explore her surroundings. Over the next two years in PACT’s World of Care childcare program, nurses, social workers, and a cadre of educators and childcare workers continually challenged Abby to do more and more. At the same time, PACT's physical, occupational and speech/language therapists worked closely with Abby. Now, Abby smiles when she knows someone is talking to her. She sits up and plays with toys. She is curious and giggles when her favorite toy plays a familiar tune. Abby has blossomed and with her blossoming came the time to say good-bye. Abby has graduated to the Maryland School for the Blind where thanks to all the preparation she received at PACT, she is doing well. The rest of the family is doing well, also. Both parents were able to continue their jobs and Abby’s mother Victoria has just completed law school and is now an attorney assisting parents in planning for the futures of their children with disabilities. Victoria is quick to note that without PACT, things may have turned out very differently for her family.
Hours of Operation:
Comprehensive Therapy Center: Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Evening hours by appointment.
World of Care: Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Growing Together: Monday and Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Therapeutic Nursery: Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
World of Care: Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Growing Together: Monday and Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Therapeutic Nursery: Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Contacts:
PACT:
7000 Tudsbury Road, Baltimore, MD 21244
Phone: (410) 298-7000
Fax: (410) 448-7366
Comprehensive Therapy Center:
Lori Tolen
Phone: (410) 298-7000
tolen@kennedykrieger.org
World of Care:
Sharon Holloway
Phone: (410) 298-7000
holloway@kennedykrieger.org
Growing Together:
Bridget McCusker
Phone: (410) 298-2645
mccusker@kennedykrieger.org
Therapeutic Nurseries:
Kim Cosgrove
Phone: (410) 298-7000
cosgrove@kennedykrieger.org
Inclusive Child Care Training Program
Mary Coster
Phone: (410) 298-7000
coster@kennedykrieger.org
7000 Tudsbury Road, Baltimore, MD 21244
Phone: (410) 298-7000
Fax: (410) 448-7366
Comprehensive Therapy Center:
Lori Tolen
Phone: (410) 298-7000
tolen@kennedykrieger.org
World of Care:
Sharon Holloway
Phone: (410) 298-7000
holloway@kennedykrieger.org
Growing Together:
Bridget McCusker
Phone: (410) 298-2645
mccusker@kennedykrieger.org
Therapeutic Nurseries:
Kim Cosgrove
Phone: (410) 298-7000
cosgrove@kennedykrieger.org
Inclusive Child Care Training Program
Mary Coster
Phone: (410) 298-7000
coster@kennedykrieger.org
·Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD)
·Brain Injury (BI)
·Cerebral Palsy (CP)
·Communication/Speech/Language Disorders
·Developmental Disability
·Down Syndrome
·Feeding Disorders
·Genetic Disorders
·Learning Disorders (LD)
·Metabolic Disorders
·Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI)
·Spina Bifida
·Brain Injury (BI)
·Cerebral Palsy (CP)
·Communication/Speech/Language Disorders
·Developmental Disability
·Down Syndrome
·Feeding Disorders
·Genetic Disorders
·Learning Disorders (LD)
·Metabolic Disorders
·Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI)
·Spina Bifida
Cognitive delay
Encephalopathy
Prader-Willi Syndome
Seizure disorder
Sensorineural hearing loss
Spastic hemiplegia
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