Rotary Program: 2/18/04

Program Chairperson: Jerry Kanney

Speaker(s): Mark Sohn, Travis Thompson, and Karen Lewis - Mountain Comprehensive Care

Mountain Comprehensive Care Centers can be found in the five county area of Pike, Floyd, Johnson, Magoffin and Martin and are governed by the MCCC Board of Directors. Dr. Mark Sohn, Professor of Educational Psychology at Pikeville College, has been a member of the Board since 1988 and now serves as the Chairman. Mark related to us how President John F. Kennedy established Mental Health Centers throughout the country in 1963. This facility is one of 14 districts throughout the state that serves the full range of mental health needs of the people in Kentucky. He recounted how that John and Janice Calvert started a school for the mentally handicapped in Pikeville which they named in honor of their daughter, Mary. In 1972, Mrs Calvert died and Mary went to live in Ohio. The Mary Calvert School, however, carried on under the leadership of Carl Thacker and the Council for Retarded Children. Then, in 1973, Mountain Comprehensive Care accepted the responsibility of caring for these individuals and all of the students were mainstreamed into the public schools. With a total of 360 employees and an annual budget of nearly $17 Million, MCCC now gives direct treatment to the mentally handicapped, the mentally ill, and those with developmental disabilities. Through employment specialists like Travis Thompson, these clients become productive citizens by working in the job market like all the rest of society. These employees have proven to be productive, prompt, and loyal to the businesses in which they work. With the assistance of MCCC , their job coaches, and the services of the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, the businesses that hire these individuals get tax breaks, fulfill their ADA requirements, and get good, hard-working employees all at the same time. Karen Lewis is a Therapeutic Rehabilitation Program Supervisor with MCCC. She says her role is to adapt the client as much as possible back into society with outpatient counseling, individual therapy, and sometimes inpatient care at the Adult Crisis Stabilization Unit in Prestonsburg, Ky. They also provide psychological evaluation services for the schools, courts, and the medical community as well as substance abuse counseling and rehabilitation. Children’s services include an “Impact Program” for children and adolescents and the “First Step” program for children from birth to 3 years of age. Adults with mental handicaps or developmental disabilities that cannot work in the public sector find work at one of the three greenhouse and sheltered workshop facilities provided by MCCC. The speakers were not sure how many clients are served in the five-county area, but were able to tell us that over 700 are served by the Pike County facilities. Sadly, she said, that is only about one-tenth of the population that need the services provided. Thanks Mark, Travis and Karen for the very interesting and enlightening program. Submitted by J. Morgan Chapman