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Big changes for Rockton’s Floberg Center:
By Ann Montgomery
Daily News correspondent
Published: Friday, April 15, 2011
The center is transitioning its residents from the facility on Rockton Road to group homes throughout Winnebago County after receiving approval from the State of Illinois. And with a capacity of 55 children, the project is a big undertaking.
“It’s something we’ve been pursuing for some time. It takes time to work out issues with the state,” Children Services Administrator and COO John Pingo said.
The goal, according to Pingo, is to continue to provide the best care for the developmentally disabled children, teens and young adults who call the Floberg Center home. So far, administrators at the center have purchased four family-style homes to begin moving residents and staff out of the center and into their own homes. In all, 14 homes will be purchased over the next two years to house the residents in groups of four.
The first two groups of residents should be moved into their homes by the end of April. Pingo said the residents are being matched up according to gender, age and personality.
“They are so excited. They ask every day if it’s time to move yet,” Pingo said.
The Goldie B. Floberg Center is the only facility in the area to provide special services to both ambulatory and non-ambulatory children and adults with developmental disabilities. The center has 54 children, teens and young adults at the facility, with another child making arrangements to move in soon. Those living at the Floberg Center range in age from 5 to 21, with an average age of 14. While some of the residents are from the area, several come from the Chicago suburbs and other parts of the state.
In addition to living in Rockton, the children at the Floberg Center attend local schools.
The center’s origins date back to 1918, when a home to provide protection and care for unwed mothers and young women following Camp Grant soldiers was founded in Rockford. The home became the Children’s Convalescent Home in 1927. In 1940, programming was changed to focus on neglected, dependent and abused children. The center moved to Rockton in 1970 and was renamed the Goldie B. Floberg Center for Children after the long-time Winnebago County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer. Over the years, the center has continued to evolve to meet the needs of children with disabilities.
More than 150 people work at the center, which provides three shifts for 24-hour care to the residents. Pingo said all of the people who live at the Floberg Center have some sort of developmental disability, including autism, cerebral palsy or seizure disorders.
Pingo said the advantages to group home living are numerous. The residents will learn life skills, such as cooking, laundry and other household chores. While many of the residents are excited about learning how to help take care of a house, the teenagers are excited to have their own space.
“We get a lot of requests from them to have their own room, but we can’t offer that here,” Pingo said looking around the Rockton Road facility. “The group home setting will allow for them to have their own space.”
Each house will have its own Direct Support Professionals, a house manager and a case worker. The staffs’ schedule will continue to be eight hour shifts, including a third shift that includes one person who is always awake. Pingo said the staff is very open to new living accommodations because many of them live in communities that will be housing a group home.
Pingo said while he is not in charge of finding homes to buy, he noted each house has to meet certain criteria to meet the needs of the new residents. The first two homes are in the process of being outfitted with other necessary amenities, such as ramps, lawn sprinklers and grab bars in the bathrooms.
The school-aged children will continue in schools, but may have to change schools depending on where each group home is located. The students will attend the same schools as their neighbors.
While moving the 55 residents out of the center and into homes is a big undertaking, Pingo noted it’s not the first time administrators have done so. In 1989 the staff saw a need for providing housing for those who had grown up at the center but had reached the age of 21. Administrators looked into the group home concept, and gave it a try. Today, Floberg Center staff oversees seven group homes serving 33 adults.
“We have a lot of experience with group homes,” Pingo said, adding several of the adults who live in the homes would have had to move into nursing homes because they suffer from seizure disorders. In the group home setting with Floberg staff, the residents have not only done well medically, but some are able to have jobs and participate in community activities.
Pingo families of the residents have been kept up to date during the transition period, and most are excited for their loved one to have a chance to live in a house in a neighborhood. The residents will still be able to visit their families on weekends and on holidays.
As the Floberg Center prepares to evolve into its next phase, it’s not clear what will happen to the existing facility on Rockton Road.
“Our focus right now is getting the residents out and into their group homes, then we’ll look at the future role of this facility,” Pingo said.
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