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Monday, December 7, 2015

Inland Regional Center

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss services for the disabled.

Regional centers are private nonprofits that contract with Califorinia's Department of Developmental Services to coordinate or provide services for people with developmental disabilities. The 21 regional centers help disabled people and their families help find and access a variety of services.

The San Bernardino shooting took place at the Inland Regional Center, which may reopen this week. Matt Guilhem reports at NPR:
The Inland Regional Center connects families in need to care providers like Autism Response Team in the neighboring city of Redlands.
Dr. Kesjana Cake, the regional director of Autism Response Team, says her team works closely with clinicians, service coordinators and managers at IRC.
"We had several families that contacted our office just checking to see how our employees are doing, how we were doing," she says. "I mean, we work very closely with these families. We're in their homes most days of the week, so we kind of become an extended family to them."
Cake says she and her clients are dealing with a situation that feels surreal. While she wasn't at the IRC when the shooting occurred, she says she's not sure what she'll feel when she goes back.
As previous posts have noted, IRC has had severe difficulties.