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ODRC - Communities - Maine

Augusta, Maine

The community of Augusta can boast about the development of a comprehensive group of services housed in an historic office building called the Vickery which overlooks the Kennebec River. This dream began a few years ago, when the building had several vacancies and was looking for new tenants. One of the occupants, Julie O'Brien, director of the Children's Museum, was talking with her family pediatrician, Dr. Barbara Crowley. It just so happened that Dr. Crowley's pediatric group had outgrown its offices and were planning a move. These women began to brainstorm about other private and public services and agencies that they could recruit as possible tenants. Their idea was to create a series of coordinated services that focus on the well-being of children and their families.

As a part of the process, Julie and Barbara negotiated an additional 800 square feet of rent-free space with the owners of the building to house the Family Room as a walk-in resource center for families.

In addition to the Children's Museum, Kennebec Pediatrics, and the Family Room, them other tenants that now call the Vickery home include: Child Development Services, which screens, evaluates and coordinates Part C and Part B services for children birth to age five with disabilities who live in the area; Catholic Charities' Therapeutic Foster Care for children under 18 who have emotional and behavioral problems; Families First, which works to prevent child abuse and neglect through parent education and family support; the WIC program; the Children's Health Collaborative and Healthy Families.

As part of its participation in the ODRC grant, the task force in Augusta focused its efforts on describing how its coordination of early intervention with the medical home evolved. The medical home model, already in place between Kennebec Pediatrics and the local Part C/early intervention agency, is described in a practical, user-friendly publication called The Vickery A Community Guide for Coordinating the Medical Home and Early Intervention. Copies of the guidebook cost $3.00 and can be ordered through the Family Health Resource Center at 1-877-814-0410 in Augusta.

A Division of the Center for
Persons with Disabilities