After School Program
Medicaid Service Coordination
Saturday Recreation Program
Teen Recreation Program
Family Care Program
Parent Support Network


After School Program
The After School Program provides after school programming for CSE identified students and their siblings.  Curriculum includes fun and educational activities that help build communication skills among children.


Medicaid Service Coordination
Medicaid Service Coordination works with eligible children to create opportunities that fit their every need through case management. Program offers advocacy, linkage, and referrals to various programs within Allegany Arc and other agencies.


Saturday Recreation Program
The Saturday Recreation Program began in 1992 and currently serves 10-15 children. Children with developmental disabilities living at home with natural family in Allegany County are eligible. Additional funding is available for children with autism. A structured program for children with developmental disabilities runs four (4) Saturdays each month from 10am to 3pm in Wellsville. The program includes games, entertainment, crafts, meals, outings, themed activities with emphasis on learning.

Allegany Arc does not currently provide transportation to or from the Saturday Recreation program. Houghton College interns, with expertise in autism, became involved in 2008. Since 2005, special education and traditional education teachers have been frequent guests to the Saturday Recreation program. Other guests have included Santa and Mrs. Claus and musical entertainment provided by various educators and local musicians.


Teen Recreation Program
The Teen Recreation Program was started in 2006 and currently serves 20 teenagers. Teens with developmental disabilities living with natural family in Allegany County are eligible. Teens socialize in a well supervised atmosphere, usually at a local teen dance club, 3pm-6pm twice (2) each month, from September to June. Other activities may include: bowling, movies, snow tubing, and dining out.  Summer activities include trips to water parks, picnics, and school supply shopping. The schedule is subject to change due to weather or any other unforeseen events.


Family Care Program
Family Care was started in 1993 and serves between 3 and 10 people annually.  Family Care provides a safe and comfortable family environment for children or adults with developmental disabilities.  Families in Allegany County are carefully trained and screened. Allegany Arc is continuously seeking Family Care Providers. Stipends are available for providing a referral to Allegany Arc for Family Care Providers who successfully complete the certification process.


Parent Support Network
The Parent and Family Support Network meet for two hours the second Monday of each month. The first hour of the meeting is designated to provide parents, family members, or professionals with information from various topics chosen by the members of the group. Childcare is provided with proper notification.

The Network has an Allegany Arc Staff Facilitator who assists the parents in setting up the agenda, staying on task, assisting with the coordination and scheduling of the training and education pieces.   Allegany Arc will continue to provide the direct oversight to the program and follow up on training requests, scheduling of events and any needed documentation as requested by the parents.

A monthly letter is sent out to families participating in the program identifying the agenda, and any subsequent information as identified by the parents.  This announcement also goes out to the Allegany County School Districts, and other human service providers in both Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties.

It is the responsibility of the facilitator to make the necessary contacts for the informational session. If the speaker requires the full two hours for the training, that will be acceptable to the group.

The second hour is an open forum where the parents/family members are able to share their experiences and offer ideas and coping mechanisms to the group.  The Parent Network of Western New York has been a great resource for our support group. They have linked us with professionals from Summit Educational Resources and Neighborhood Legal Services.

There are limited support groups and resources in Allegany County. This group would like to develop its own library of resources which will include videos, games, and books which will help them better understand the issues they are dealing with on a daily basis. It is the Network's hope that we can share these resources with other families and agencies to improve understanding about individuals with special needs and developmental disabilities.

Childcare is an issue when it comes to participation. At this time we have one staff person that is willing to accommodate the small amount of children we have. We will be able to provide more staff if needed.


For additional information, please contact:

Cindy Polanowski RN
Senior Vice President of Support Services
cindy.polanowski@alleganyarc.org
(585) 593-5700 Ext. 526