The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – Although developmental disability services for eligible Columbia County residents are no longer administered locally, Walla Walla County coordinators were "delighted" to share with county leaders last week that a local woman, Mary Ann Ward, will lead Columbia County's employment services program.

Ward, who provides employment support at the Lillie Rice Center, in Walla Walla, is well known in Dayton. Columbia County Commissioners were pleased to hear that Ward would coordinate local employment services.

"She knows a lot of people here, and knows what makes this place move and click," agreed Debbie Dumont, human services contracts manager with the Walla Walla Department of Community Health.

Lillie Rice Center provides employment opportunities for developmentally disabled adults through Blue Mountain Industries, on East Isaacs Avenue in Walla Walla. The goal, however, is to eventually establish local employment opportunities for the county's six eligible, developmentally disabled adults, Dumont said.

The state's developmental disabilities program has a long history of advocating for local service options that provide alternatives to placing clients into state institutions. The big push now, according to Walla Walla's Developmental Disabilities County Coordinator Teri Hough, is to find gainful employment – preferably locally – for all eligible clients.

Dumont, along with Ward and Hough, plan to provide regular updates to commissioners as the program develops. "I think we [the board of commissioners] could help try to find employment opportunities in the community," Commissioner Dwight Robanske suggested.

Unfavorable State Review

Developmental disabilities services moved from Dayton's private, not-for-profit Blue Mountain Counseling to Walla Walla's Department of Community Health at the beginning of this year.

Walla Walla began by taking over responsibility for development disabilities billing in October, following a review by the State Department of Developmental Disabilities. This review outlined several problems with administration of the county's contract with BMC including billing mistakes and contract issues.

"I admit that we made some errors," Blue Mountain Counseling Director Dimita Warren told county commissioners last Wednesday. "We're human, we make mistakes." However she denies that her agency billed mental health services to the developmental disabilities administration, one error noted in the state's review.

"We use the same forms for both types of services; we don't have a different template for each type of service. That may account for the misunderstanding," she said in an interview with The Times. "We did not bill DDA for mental health services."

The biggest problem, Warren said, came from expecting Blue Mountain Counseling to continue providing developmental disabilities services with all the new changes and requirements to the program expected by the state.

Hough, from Walla Walla, agreed: "With these new legislative things that come along, you really wonder how on earth small counties are going to comply. It's just worked out really nicely that Walla Walla County has the ability to cover Columbia County's needs and help them meet these new requirements and restrictions."

Blue Mountain Counseling is already contracted with Columbia County to provide chemical dependency services to residents; BMC contracts directly with the state to provide mental health services as well.

"DDA is really moving in a different direction," Warren said. "The state is really pushing to get these clients on the pathway to employment making a living wage – so you're talking no less than 40 hours per week at no less than minimum wage. How are we going to do that in Columbia County?"

Warren and her board had already approached the county about giving up this contract, she said. "We really felt having Walla Walla cover DD services was a better move, and we had talked about this last spring when the annual contract came due," she said.

The state review just emphasized the need to make this change, Warren said. Staff at Blue Mountain Counseling still have their hands full with other vital services.

BMC, which opened its doors on Oct. 1, 2004, provides outpatient treatment for individuals, groups, and families under its chemical dependency and mental health contracts. Under chemical dependency, staff also provide an intensive outpatient program involving 72 hours of outpatient treatment in just eight weeks.

The agency, funded through a combination of state and federal contracts as well as third-party insurance reimbursements, also provides an alcohol-drug information school, 24/7 crisis coverage in the county, and sponsors the annual youth summer recreation program in Dayton.

BMC sees approximately 50-75 clients annually for chemical dependency and upwards of 200 people come through the doors each year for mental health services, Warren said. About 75 local children register for the summer recreation program annually.

Local Employment

With the state's emphasis on living-wage employment, the Walla Walla Department of Community Health has turned to Lillie Rice Center, Inc., to help provide employment training and support services to individuals with disabilities.

Currently Lillie Rice is the only agency with which Walla Walla contracts for DD employment services, according Developmental Disabilities Coordinator Teri Hough.

Courtesy Photo

Shawn Ahmann (left) of Waitsburg and Craig Lockard of Dayton pose for a photo while at work doing grounds maintenance at Blue Mountain Industries.

Walla Walla amended its contract with Lillie Rice in October to include services for eligible Columbia County residents, which should have happened some time ago, according to the state's review, as the agency has already been providing these services for a few residents.

Lillie Rice provides work experiences for adults with developmental disabilities through Blue Mountain Industries, which offers manufacturing assembly, grounds maintenance, janitorial, individual supported employment, and retirement services.

Some of the work is in a group environment, while some is more individually oriented. The goal, however, is to find gainful employment for all of Columbia County's developmentally disabled in their own communities.

"It can be really difficult in a smaller community to make this happen," Hough said. But this is what Mary Ann Ward and the county will be working on in the coming year.

"This all sounds great," Commissioner Mike Talbott said. "We're excited and looking forward to a good year."