Caminar Butte County
Caminar’s services in Butte County focus on providing support services that enable people with disabilities to fully integrate and participate in community living. The emphasis is on assisting people with disabilities in to be active and contributing members of the community. This is accomplished by providing community based services in the areas of independent living, employment, socialization, education, and housing. Butte County primarily serves people with developmental disabilities, mental illness and physical disabilities in the Chico, Paradise and Oroville areas.
Caminar’s mission is to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities by providing opportunities and support to live in the community with dignity and independence.
When providing services, Caminar employees maintain the values of compassion, respect and individuality. Our employees see the people they serve as individuals with their own beliefs, desires, capabilities and goals. Employees act as facilitators to assist people with creating an interdependent life within the community.
The referral and funding sources for Caminar of Butte County are Far Northern Regional Center, the Department of Rehabilitation and Butte County Department of Behavioral Health. Funding is also received from the City of Chico and HUD.
 Caminar’s vocational services are CARF accredited. The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) is an independent nonprofit organization, whose focus is on ensuring that only high quality services get the CARF accreditation. CARF’s rigorous standards provide assurance that only the best available services receive their accreditation.
Besides serving people with developmental disabilities in the community, Caminar is also a member of the Butte County Coordinating Council (BCCC), whose focus is to promote an attitude of cooperation and community among all service providers for the disabled in Butte County.
Caminar Butte County History
Caminar’s history of service in Butte County started in the mid 1970s in Paradise, with a transitional residential transitional home, called Creekside, for people who had a mental illness. Due to decreased funding for mental health, this program closed in 1983. In the meantime, Caminar pursued a transitional program, called Skylark, for adults who have a developmental disability. This program consisted of 3 phases: Phase I, a transitional group residential home in Chico; Phase II, the Life Skills Training Program apartment complex, a semi- independent living component and Phase III, community-based independent living instruction and support services. The reason for the three-phased design was to provide independent living instruction and support through a planned, sequential program built on successive skill attainment. The Phase III part of Life Skills still exists to this present day. Since the beginning, Caminar of Butte County has grown to provide comprehensive services in a variety of community-based programs. These services enable people with disabilities to fully integrate and participate in the community. The following timeline shows the beginning of specific programs:
1982 – Life Skills: an independent living program
1990 – Jobs Plus: a supported employment program
1992 – Access Plus: a community-based day program
1993 – Community Activity Support Service (CASS) & Personal Attendant: transportation and assistance with self-care programs
1995 – Friendship Circles: a socialization program
1998 – Supported Vocational Work Crew: supported group work crews that perform duties associated with janitorial services, landscaping, bike repair and retail/store work
1999 – Personal, Vocational and Social Adjustment (PVSA): instruction and support services in appropriate work related behaviors
2001 – Situational Assessment: a vocational assessment program
2005 – Senior Ties: a socialization program geared towards seniors who are 50+
2007 – Supported Housing: the development of an affordable housing complex that offers housing as well as employment opportunities.
|
