Carson City United Cerebral Palsy location closing

Families of those afflicted with cerebral palsy in Gardnerville and Carson City are working on an alternative after they learned the United Cerebral Palsy locations are closing Nov. 1.

United Cerebral Palsy of Nevada notified the state’s Rural Regional Center that they can no longer afford to offer day-habilitation services for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities in the Carson City and Gardnerville areas.

Starting Nov. 1 the organization will focus entirely to employment-placement community-based programs. Jobs and day training programs in Sparks and Elko will not be affected and continue to thrive for those communities.

Funded by Nevada’s Medicaid reimbursement dollars, which remains 25 percent below the estimated costs of operations, is among the lowest in the country. The Carson City and Gardnerville day-habilitation programs have lost substantial money in the last year.

“We took on these areas to contribute to the rural district’s day-habilitation needs and it’s apparent the challenges to operating them in a way that provides the very best service for the individuals is just too difficult with the current reimbursement rates from the state,” said organization CEO Monica Elsbrock. “We simply can’t afford to operate day-habilitation in Carson City and Gardnerville and our Board of Trustees decided to focus more on helping people with disabilities get jobs.”

The Rural Regional Center is working to find a replacement provider for day-habilitation services in the areas, and will support the staff and families affected through the transition.