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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
A happy scarecrow sits in the backyard of the newest P.A.C.E. home on Gary Avenue in Sunnyvale. Starting in early December, the new home will house six autistic young adults between the ages of 18 and 25.
PACE opens new group home
Program provides services for those dealing with autism
By Jana Seshadri
The Pacific Autism Center for Education is ready to house six more adults with autism and/or developmental disabilities in its new group home. Named the LaMar Group Home after Dr. Ron LaMar, this three-bedroom home is located on 854 Gary Ave. in Sunnyvale.
PACE, headquartered at 572 Dunholme Way, is a private, nonprofit agency, which currently provides educational and recreational day programs to 55 individuals, including children and adults, ranging in age from 3 to 22 years old. There are six teachers in addition to the three speech therapists and three occupational therapists. Since the educational center is not a live-in facility, individuals are bused here from their homes and the center's group homes by school buses. Currently 12 students are in the residential program living in the center's group homes.
The San Andreas Regional Center places individuals diagnosed with autism in centers like PACE. Other disabilities treated by the PACE include, mental retardation, developmental delays, communication deficits, severely emotionally disturbed patients and Prader Willi Syndrome, which is an eating disorder and autistic-like behavior disorders.
The programs are tailored to fit the individual's needs in areas such as academics, recreation, family-life education, daily living skills training and pre-vocational training. To help participants to become more independent, the in-house programs are integrated with community-based programs such as swimming, bowling, horseback riding and other peer-related activities.
Depending on the level of disability, individuals learn from speech, language and occupational therapists how to communicate and adapt themselves to their environment and society. This type of care enables the individual to realize his or her maximum potential and become more independent by the age of 22. Some graduates of PACE are able to live in their homes with their families, while others who still require PACE's supervision live in the group homes.
"This is a wonderful program," said Sunnyvale City Manager Robert LaSala at the open house for the new group home Nov. 6. "They're really providing a service and a support system that cares for a very important group of our community."
PACE owns and operates five residential group homes--two children's homes in Cupertino, two adult group homes in San Jose and one adult group home in Sunnyvale. The LaMar group home, which will be the second adult home in Sunnyvale, will open its doors to its six new residents soon.
Rachel Banse is in her 12th year with PACE and her fourth year as residential director. Banse oversees the running of all the group homes; ensures that they are in compliance with the licensing regulations; and performs other administrative tasks.
"We are in the process of reviewing packets and hiring staff for the new home," Banse said.
Records of eligible individuals are very carefully reviewed before a decision is made about whether that individual can live in the group home. Although staff members do not live in the group homes, there is one staff member for every two residents around the clock in every home. A residential staff member has to have six months of experience before applying to a PACE group home.
Chris Barrow, who has been with PACE since 1995, is residential manager of the new home and will be in charge of 13 staff members. At the home, residents are encouraged to put their living skills into action, although a staff member is always on hand to help out. In order to fit in socially, they are taken to community events so they can interact with others and to shopping trips to the mall. Barrow said he also ensures that they are taken to all their medical and dental appointments.
LaMar is a former president of PACE who served on the board for more than 12 years.
"I am very impressed with the quality of caring I find in PACE," LaMar said as he accepted the symbolic key to the home during the open house from President of the board of PACE, Jerry Matranga. "We want to develop a day plan for adults," LaMar added, saying there are currently no good options for autistic adults.
However, PACE is currently facing a cut in state funding, which it relies on.
"There will be a 15 percent reduction in state funds starting next year," said Julie Domeny, director of community development. "And there has been a 300 percent increase in the diagnosis of autism since the 1980s."
The increase in diagnosis has resulted in a steady increase in PACE enrollment, which means more adults will be graduating in the years to come. In turn, more homes are needed to house them.
"Our goal is to have two adult homes for every children's home," Matranga said.
To buy the new home, more than $300,000 was contributed by the cities of Sunnyvale and Mountain View and the Santa Clara County. The rest was financed by PACE.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
